Who remembers the country called " Dahomey " in Africa? What is it called now? Why did they change name?

Question

I had a friend in France who was from Dahomey. Nobody seems to know this country anymore.

Answer 1

The country is now known as Benin. Dahomey was a kingdom in West Africa in the 17th & 18th centuries, and much dispised by its neighboring nations because of its practice of slave trading with European & American slavers. The introduction of a more liberal French rule that followed was much appreciated throughout the region.
Dahomey gained independence in 1960 and changed its name to Benin in 1975. This was done in the mistaken belief that the name Dahomey was associated with colonialism; although the kingdom itself existed under that name well before the colonial period. Perhaps, this was just as well since it helps the current nation to disassociate itself from its ugly past.