Republic of Dahomey Doc"). Dahomey resembled Haiti in many ways, both geographically and culturally, and it was safer to film there than in Haiti. Republic of Dahomey The Republic of Dahomey ( ) was established on December 11, 1958, as a self-governing colony within the French Community. Prior to attaining autonomy it had been French Dahomey, part of the French Union. On August 1, 1960, it attained full independence from France. In 1975, the country was renamed Benin after the Bight of Benin (which was in turn named after the Benin Empire which had its seat of power in Benin City, modern-day Nigeria),
History of the Kingdom of Dahomey in the 15th century, but significant trade did not start until 1533 when the Portuguese and the city of Grand-Popo signed a trade agreement. There are a number of different folk stories about the founding of the Kingdom of Dahomey. Most scholars believe many of these stories were created or exaggerated in the 18th century to promote the legitimacy of the Dahomey royal regimes at the time and thus may be based only loosely on actual events. The most common founding myth traces the establishment of the kingdom to the royal lineage of Allada. According to this story, there was