DUSHANBE, July 12, 2011, Asia-Plus  -- A joint communiqué on the establishment of diplomatic relations between Tajikistan and the Republic of Benin was signed in New York at the end of last week, according to the Tajik MFA information department.

The document was signed by Ambassador Sirojiddin Aslov, Tajikistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and Ambassador Jean-Francis Zinsu (phonetically spelled), Benin’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

In the course of the talks, the ambassadors exchanged views on establishment and expansion of bilateral mutually beneficial cooperation between their countries, the source said.

Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located.  The capital of Benin is Porto-Novo, but the seat of government is located in the country''s largest city of Cotonou.  Benin covers an area of approximately 110,000 square kilometers, with a population of approximately 9.05 million.  Benin is a tropical, sub-Saharan nation, highly dependent on agriculture, with substantial employment and income arising from subsistence farming.