Benin, Bight Of

Bight of Benin, bay of the Atlantic Ocean on the western coast of Africa that extends eastward for about 400 miles (640 km) from Cape St. Paul (Ghana) to the Nun outlet of the Niger River (Nigeria). It lies within the Gulf of Guinea and is bordered by southeastern Ghana, Togo, Benin, and southwestern Nigeria. The Bight of Benin receives a portion of the Niger River discharge and also the Sio, Haho, Mono, Couffo, Ouémé, Benin, Forcados, and other rivers. Major ports on the bay are Lomé, Togo; Cotonou, Benin; and Lagos, Nigeria.

The Bight of Benin was the scene of extensive slave trading between the 16th and the 19th century, and the region of coastal lagoons west of the Niger delta became known as the Slave Coast. By the 1830s trade in palm oil became the main economic activity, and it has maintained its importance. Petroleum, discovered in the late 1950s in the Niger delta area, is now a major economic asset to Nigeria. Palm kernels, cocoa, coffee, hardwood, and rubber are other major coastal exports.