Benin was a kingdom in West Africa that came into being in the year 1180 and would continue to exist up to this day. The king of Benin was known as the Oba and commanded an army ranging from 20,000 to 180,000 soldiers armed with iron weapons. Benin's most important feature are it's walls. The Benin walls when combined together measured 9,900 miles or 16,000 kilometers. This makes it the one of the largest structures ever created along with the Great Wall of China. It is estimated that it took 150 million hours to build. Construction likely began in the year 800 and continued into the 15 century. Benin is also known for the amazing art and sculptures that existed there. In the year 1897 an army of British soldiers invaded Benin and stole most of the art work, burnt large parts of the city in the process and exiled the Oba. Today the art work can be found in many museums in Europe. The city of Benin itself was also an amazing site to Europeans when they first saw it and were shocked to see that Africans were capable of such construction.