Human rights in Benin citizens?" The report called on Benin to "[d]ecriminalize sexual relations between consenting, same-sex individuals and establish educational programs and appropriate policies for police that promote the personal security of all Benin citizens regardless of sexual orientation". It is illegal to discriminate against people based on HIV status, and overt instances of such discrimination are reportedly not frequent. There is no majority ethnic group in Benin. A range of ethnic groups is represented in the public sector. There is a system for protecting refugees, of which the country held about 7,300 at the end of 2010, most of them from Togo.
Benin has had a tumultuous history since then, with many different democratic governments, military coups, and military governments. A Marxist–Leninist state called the People's Republic of Benin existed between 1975 and 1990. In 1991, it was replaced by the current multi-party Republic of Benin. During the colonial period and at independence, the country was known as Dahomey. On 30 November 1975, it was renamed to Benin, after the body of water on which the country lies—the Bight of Benin. This had been named by Europeans after the Benin Empire in present-day Nigeria. The country of Benin has no connection to Benin