Side by side
Benin and Nigeria compared
Two sourced records set beside each other — the figures each nation publishes, and the events each chronicle records of the other. Compared, never graded.
1 October 1960 — The Federation of Nigeria becomes independent of Britain
- Shared indicators
- 40
- Domains
- 9
- Crossed events
- 3
- Data through
- 2026-08-10
The figures, side by side
Each figure is the same observation, with the same source, as on the two dossiers. Every value shows the year it was observed — vintages differ by indicator and nation. A “—” is an absence in the source data, never a zero. Metric names link to the world ranking; values open the figure on its own dossier.
Economy
Society
Governance
Health
Education
Technology
Geography
Resources
Entangled histories
3 events in which either nation’s sourced chronicle names the other — including under earlier names of the same state. Each is the same record, with the same sources, as on its own chronicle; nothing here was written for this page.
- c. 13th–17th centuries
Flourishing of Benin and Oyo
The Edo kingdom of Benin and the Yoruba empire of Oyo rose as major forest powers, Benin renowned for its court art and Oyo for the cavalry empire of its Alaafin.
Formation · from the Nigeria chronicle · The great precolonial kingdoms: Kanem-Bornu, Hausa, Oyo and Benin · Oyo empire, Benin Bronzes, Nigeria (country overview and history)
- 16th century onward
The Atlantic slave trade
European demand drew the Bights of Benin and Biafra into the transatlantic slave trade; ports such as Bonny and Old Calabar became major export points, and vast numbers of people were deported in conditions of extreme violence.
Peoples & Migration · from the Nigeria chronicle · The Atlantic slave trade and the Sokoto Caliphate · Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database (Estimates), Bight of Biafra, Nigeria (country overview and history)
- February 1897
British sack of Benin City
A British punitive expedition destroyed Benin City, exiled the Oba, and looted thousands of the Benin Bronzes, dispersing centuries of court art to foreign museums and collectors.
Colonisation · from the Nigeria chronicle · British conquest, amalgamation and colonial Nigeria · Benin Bronzes, The Benin Bronzes, The British raid on Benin 1897