Abomey-Calavi[a.bɔ.mɛ.ka.la.vi] is a city, arrondissement, and commune located in the Atlantique Department of Benin. It is now essentially a suburb of Cotonou and at its closest it begins approximately 18 km from the city centre of Cotonou. The main cities of the commune are Abomey-Calavi itself and Godomey to the south. The commune covers an area of 650 square kilometres and as at the May 2013 Census had a population of 655,965 people.[1] Projected to be the eleventh fastest growing city on the African continent between 2020 and 2025, with a 5.27% growth.[2]
The history of Abomey-Calavi is linked to that of Abomey and the Kingdom of Dahomey[4] Abomey-Calavi was founded to be near Cotonou, in order to facilitate trade.[5]
The inhabitants of the commune of Abomey-Calavi carry out several activities in different sectors such as agriculture, livestock farming, fishing, trade, crafts, transport, fuelwood exploitation, transformation of products.[9]