Editing Cotonou (section)

==History==
[[File:Fort de Cotonou-1900 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|Fort of Cotonou in 1900]]
{{see also|Timeline of Cotonou}}
The name "Cotonou" means "by the river of death" in the [[Fon language]].<ref name="Bradt">Butler, Stuart (2019) ''Bradt Travel Guide - Benin'', pgs. 74-91</ref> At the beginning of the 19th century, Cotonou (then spelled "Kutonou") was a small fishing village, and is thought to have been formally founded by King [[Ghezo]] of [[Dahomey]] in 1830.<ref name="Bradt"/> It grew as a centre for the [[History of slavery|slave trade]], and later [[palm oil]] and [[cotton]].<ref name="Bradt"/> In 1851 the [[French Second Republic]] made a treaty with King Ghezo that allowed them to establish a trading post at Cotonou.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Benin - History|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Benin|access-date=2021-07-06|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref> During the reign of King [[Glele]] (1858–89), the territory was ceded to the [[Second French Empire]] by a treaty signed in 1878.<ref>Mathurin C. Houngnikpo, Samuel Decalo, ''Historical Dictionary of Benin'', Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2013, p. 117</ref> In 1883, the [[French Navy]] occupied the city to prevent British conquest of the area.

After Glele's death in 1889, King [[Béhanzin]] unsuccessfully tried to challenge the treaty. The town grew rapidly following the building of the harbour in 1908.<ref name="Bradt" />

The population in 1960 was only 70,000.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Benin Population (2021) - Worldometer|url=https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/benin-population/|access-date=2021-07-06|website=www.worldometers.info|language=en}}</ref>