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Commune and city
Allada is located in Benin
Location in Benin
Country  Benin
Department Atlantique Department
 • Total 381 km2 (147 sq mi)
Population (2002)
 • Total 91,778

Allada is a town, arrondissement, and commune, located in the Atlantique Department of Benin.

The current town of Allada corresponds to Kingdom of Dahomey.

The present-day commune of Allada covers an area of 381 square kilometres and as of 2002 had a population of 91,778 people.[1]


  • History 1
  • Notable citizens and residents 2
  • Demographics 3
  • References 4


In the mid-sixteenth century, Allada (then called Grand Ardra, or Arda) had a population of about 30,000 people.[2]

The original inhabitants of Ardra were ethnic Aja.[3]

According to oral tradition, the Aja migrated to southern Benin around the 12th or 13th centuries, coming from Tado, on the Mono River. They established themselves in the area that currently corresponds to southern Benin, until circa 1600, when three brothers – Kokpon, Do-Aklin, and Te-Agdanlin – split the rule of the region amongst themselves: Kokpon took the capital city of Great Ardra, reigning over the Allada kingdom, while his brother Do-Aklin founded Abomey (which would become capital of the Kingdom of Dahomey) and their brother Te-Agdanlin founded Little Ardra, also known as Ajatche, later called Porto Novo (literally, "New Port") by Portuguese traders (which is the current capital city of Benin).

Notable citizens and residents

The Haitian revolutionary, Toussaint L'Ouverture, was the son of Gaou Guinou, himself the son of the ruler of the Allada who was captured and enslaved.[4]


The main town demographics:

Year Population[5]
1979 12 022
2008 (estimate) 21 833


  2. ^ Monroe, Cameron. "Urbanism on West Africa’s Slave Coast". American Scientist. Retrieved 24 September 2014. 
  3. ^ Asiwaju, A. I. (1979). "The Aja-Speaking Peoples of Nigeria: A Note on Their Origins, Settlement and Cultural Adaptation up to 1945". Africa: Journal of the International African Institute 49 (1): 15.  
  4. ^ Beard, John R. (1863). Toussaint L'Ouverture: A Biography and Autobiography. Boston: James Redpath. p. 35. Retrieved 18 January 2015. 
  5. ^ "Allada". World Gazetteer. Retrieved 2008-12-19. 

