Natitingou

Sister cities

• Rillieux-la-Pape
• Huy

History

The town was founded by the Waama ethnic groups but is populated with Ditammari, Dendi, Nateni, Fulani, Fon, and many other ethnic groups. According to popular etymology, the town takes its name from the word Nantibatingou, from the Waama root "Nanto" meaning to crush, as the local people were renowned growers of sorghum which was native to the area and later millet. The mountains surrounding the region to the east and west sides are important in local animists, who believe them to be inhabited by spirits. Certain people subscribe to the idea that during the evening these spirits emit sounds similar to those produced by stones which women uses to crush cereal grains. Adherents do not crush cereals in the evening, so as not to confuse the two sounds. European missionaries visited Natitingou in the 19th century and early 20th century.

Geography

The town of Natitingou belongs to the Department of Atakora in northwestern Benin. It lies in a semi-valley, formed by the two mountain ridges that surround it. Natitingou is located 645 km from the economic capital of Cotonou and 100 km from Porga at the entrance of the Pendjari National Park. |source 2 = Meteo Climat (extremes) |date=January 2015 }}

Most-observed species

• Straw-coloured fruit bat

  Eidolon helvum (Kerr, 1792) · Mammalia
  1,082
• Mudar

  Calotropis procera (Aiton) W.T.Aiton · Magnoliopsida
  239
• Common Bulbul

  Pycnonotus barbatus (Desfontaines, 1789) · Aves
  93
• Yellow-billed Shrike

  Corvinella corvina (Shaw, 1809) · Aves
  80
• Western Plantain-eater

  Crinifer piscator (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  72
• bambouk-buttertree

  Vitellaria paradoxa C.F.Gaertn. · Magnoliopsida
  71
• Laughing Dove

  Spilopelia senegalensis (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  62
• Fork-tailed Drongo

  Dicrurus adsimilis (Bechstein, 1794) · Aves
  55