Benin is one of the smallest African states. It lies in West Africa on the Gulf   of Guinea, to the south of Burkina Faso and Niger, between Togo on the west and Nigeria on the east. Benin used to be called Dahomey and was controlled and ruled by France from 1893 to 1960, when it became independent. In 1963 the army general Soglo overthrew   the first president Maga. Soglo set up an army government and called himself head of state in 1965, but was overthrown and replaced by a civilian   government in 1967. In December 1969 Benin had another change of power with the army again taking over. In May 1970, Maga and two other men set up a new government, with each of them acting as president in turn for two years. However, half a year after Maga turned over power to the second man Ahomadegbe, the three-man government was overthrown by the army once more and General Kerekou became president. In November 1975 Kerekou changed the name of the nation from Dahomey to Benin, Benin being the name of a 17th century kingdom covering the same place. Kerekou also announced that Benin would be a People's Republic based on Marxism-Leninism. For how long was Benin an independent state before it became a People's Republic?
30 years. 25 years. 20 years. 15 years.