Benin - Libraries and museums

The National Archives and National Library, which has around 35,000 volumes, are in Porto-Novo. Also in the capital are the Institute of Applied Research which maintains a research collection of 8,000 volumes and the Library of the National University of Benin with 40,000 volumes. The French Cultural Center in Cotonou maintains a library of 30,000 volumes. There are historical museums in Abomey and Ouidah, an ethnological museums in Porto-Novo, and Cotonou, and a museum of natural history and ethnography in Parakou. There are monuments and historical sites maintained by the government and three zoos and botanical gardens.