Songs and dances are a part of the social fabric of Benin and celebrate joyous events such as festivals, childbirth, rites of passage, or occasions of sorrow such as mourning of the dead.
Politics of Benin takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Benin is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system.
Benin is divided into 12 departments (French: départements), and subdivided into 77 communes (see Communes of Benin). In 1999, the previous six departments were each split into two halves, forming the current 12. The new six departments have been assigned a capital in 2008.