Land and Resources

In the south of Togo is a narrow, low-lying coastal belt containing a series of inland lagoons. To the north lies a plateau region that increases in elevation from about 60 m (about 200 ft) in the south to about 425 m (about 1,400 ft) to the northeast. A central chain of hills, the Akwapim-Togo Ranges, extends across the country from southwest to northeast. They have an average elevation of about 700 m (about 2,300 ft) and reach a maximum of 986 m (3,235 ft) in Mount Agou (Pic Baumann) in the southwest. To the north of the hills lies a plateau drained by the Oti River; the terrain increases in elevation and becomes more rugged to the northeast. Much of the southern part of the country is drained by the Mono River and its tributaries.

Climate

The climate of Togo is tropical. Average annual temperatures range from 27° C (81° F) at the coast to 30° C (86° F) in the north. The south has two rainy seasons, from March to July and from October to November; the average annual rainfall on the coast is about 890 mm (about 35 in). It doubles in the mountains a few kilometers inland. The north has one rainy season (April to July) and receives nearly all of its annual precipitation (1,140 mm/45 in) during this period.

Plants and Animal Life

Mangrove swamps are found in the coastal regions of Togo, and tropical forests occur in the southwest. Savanna vegetation, however, predominates in the rest of the country. Crocodiles and hippopotamuses are found in the rivers. Large mammals are limited mostly to the north and include buffalo, antelope, lion, and deer. Various species of monkeys and snakes are common.

Natural Resources

Togo is not especially rich in mineral resources. Phosphates are most important, and limestone and marble are quarried.

Back to Top

POPULATION

Togo has 37 ethnic groups. The principal groups in the south are Ewe-speaking peoples; in the north, the Kabre (or Kabye) and Gurma are most numerous.

Population Characteristics

The population of Togo (1998 estimate) is 4,905,827, giving the country an overall population density of 86 persons per sq km (224 per sq mi). The majority of the people are farmers or pastoralists and live in small villages. The capital and principal city, Lomé (population, 1994 estimate, 600,000), is also the leading port. Other towns include Sokodé (1987 estimate, 55,000) and Kpalimé (31,000).

Language and Religion

French is the official language of Togo and is used in administration and commerce. Ewe and Kabre are the principal African languages and are used along with French in the schools. About 50 percent of the people are adherents of traditional religions; 35 percent of the population is Christian, and 15 percent is Muslim.

Education

During the 1970s the Togolese government undertook a campaign to provide free education for all children between the ages of 2 and 15. In 1996 nearly all primary school-aged children attended school, but only 27 percent of secondary school-aged students were enrolled. In the 1996 school year 859,600 pupils were enrolled in primary schools, and 178,300 students were enrolled in secondary schools. Missionary schools remain important in the country, educating about half the pupils. Approximately 11,600 students were enrolled in 1995 at the University of Benin (1965), at Lomé.

Back to Top

GOVERNMENT

Togo was governed as a single-party republic from 1969 until 1991; that year, the president allowed opposition parties to form, and in 1992 a new constitution officially established the country as a multiparty democracy.

The 1992 constitution vests executive power in a president who is popularly elected to a five-year term. Legislative power is exercised by the unicameral (single-chamber) National Assembly; its 81 members serve five-year terms. The prime minister is appointed by the president from among the majority in the legislature.

Judiciary

The highest court of Togo is the Supreme Court, located at Lomé. Criminal justice is administered by two appeals courts, a tribunal of first instance, and several special tribunals. A tribunal of state security was established in 1970.

Political Parties

The Rassemblement du Peuple Togolais (RPT, or Togolese People’s Assembly) was the sole political party from 1969 until 1991, when opposition parties were legalized. By the mid-1990s dozens of parties were officially acknowledged.

Back to Top

ECONOMY

The economy of Togo is dominated by subsistence and commercial agriculture. Mineral products are a major source of foreign exchange. In 1991 the national budget included $284 million in revenues and $407 million in expenditures.

Agriculture

Some 66 percent of Togo’s labor force is engaged in agriculture; these farmers cultivate 38 percent of the country’s land. The principal food crops are cassava, yams, corn, millet, and sorghum. The leading export crops are coffee (11,000 metric tons produced in 1998), cotton (170,000 metric tons), and cacao (6,110 metric tons). Livestock raising is important on the northern plateau. In 1998 the country had 1.4 million sheep, 1.7 million goats, 850,000 pigs, and 263,900 cattle. The fishing industry had a catch in 1996 of 12,222 metric tons.

Mining and Manufacturing

Togo is a leading world producer of phosphates, which are by far the country’s most significant mineral product. In 1997, 2.6 million metric tons of phosphate rock were mined. Industrial activity is limited but growing. The leading manufactures include cement, flour, palm oil, cotton textiles, beverages, and soap. Back to Top

Currency and Banking

The unit of currency in Togo is the CFA franc, consisting of 100 centimes. (584 francs equal U.S.$1; 1997 average). It is issued by the Central Bank of West African States, Lomé is the center of Togo’s banking activities.

Foreign Trade

Togo’s yearly foreign trade often shows a deficit. In 1996 exports totaled $196 million and imports totaled $404 million. The leading exports are metals and ores, including phosphates and accounting for 45 percent of total exports; raw cotton; cacao; coffee; cement; karite nuts; and palm kernels. The principal imports were food and food products, textiles, machinery, electrical equipment, construction materials, and transportation equipment. Togo’s chief trading partners for exports are Canada, the United States, Taiwan, Nigeria, Bolivia, and Indonesia; principal partners for imports are Ghana, China, France, and Cameroon.

Transportation

Togo has some 7,520 km (4,673 mi) of roads, 32 percent of which are paved. A northern-southern road system links the port of Lomé with Burkina Faso (Upper Volta). The country is also served by a 537-km (about 334-mi) railroad network that includes three northern-southern lines. Lomé is the country’s major port; the port of Kpémé handles phosphate shipments. An international airport is located near Lomé.

Back to Top

HISTORY

Most of the ethnic groups inhabiting Togo are descended from peoples driven into the area during the 18th and 19th centuries, except for the Ewe, who left the Niger River area for Togo some time between the 11th and 16th centuries. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the area was under pressure from the Akwamu confederacy and the Ashanti Kingdom to the west and from the Kingdom of Dahomey to the east. Togo was a part of the Slave Coast, a primary area of European slaving activities. Small slave posts were established in that region in the 17th century, but most of the slave trade was carried on in Dahomey (now Benin) and the Gold Coast (now Ghana).

The German protectorate of Togoland was established in 1884, when the rulers of the region signed a treaty granting suzerainty to the Germans. From 1887 to 1889, Germany, Britain, and France fixed the territorial limits of the protectorate. The Germans created the port of Lomé and developed the resources of the region. During August 1914, the first month of World War I, the Germans surrendered the region after an invasion by French and British forces.

In 1920 the final division of the area between the two countries took place, and Lomé and the entire coastline were assigned to French Togo in exchange for an enlarged British territory in the interior. In 1922 the League of Nations granted both nations mandates over their respective territories. On December 13, 1946, the United Nations (UN) granted France and the United Kingdom trusteeships over Togo to supersede the mandates established by the League of Nations. As a result of a plebiscite held in 1956, the British territory became part of the Gold Coast and was later incorporated into Ghana. In another UN-supervised plebiscite in 1958, a majority of the votes in the French territory was gained by the National Union Party, which favored complete independence. Sylvanus Olympio, head of the party, became premier. In February 1960 Olympio rejected the suggestion advanced by President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana that the two countries be united. Togo achieved independence on April 27, 1960, and was admitted to the UN in September.

President Olympio was assassinated in January 1963, during a military coup. The army selected Nicolas Grunitzky to form a provisional government, and he subsequently assumed the office of president. A new constitution was approved by a national referendum. In January 1967 the army staged another coup, installing Lieutenant Colonel Étienne Eyadéma (later Gnassingbe Eyadéma), the army chief of staff, as head of government. The constitution was abrogated and the legislative body dissolved. In April Eyadéma assumed the offices of president and defense minister. A new party, the Rassemblement du Peuple Togolais (RPT, or Togolese People’s Assembly), was founded in 1969. In 1970 a plot to overthrow Eyadéma was foiled. In early 1975 a treaty between 46 developing nations and the European Community (now the European Union) was signed in Lomé.

President Eyadéma promulgated a new constitution in December 1979, under which he was almost unanimously reelected to office. In January 1980, the 13th anniversary of his coup, he proclaimed the Third Togolese Republic. France sent troops to Togo in September 1986 to help suppress a coup attempt. Reelected to another seven-year term in December 1986, in August 1991 Eyadéma agreed to split power with a transitional government, pending democratic elections. Eyadéma was reelected in 1993 multiparty elections. In April 1994 he appointed Edem Kodjo prime minister of a new coalition government, formed as a result of legislative elections held that February. Eyadéma was declared the winner of June 1998 elections.

Back to Top

History Timeline

Togo, with a great diversity of ethnic groups, was not regarded or ruled as a territory or nation until recent centuries.

In the 15th century, Portuguese traders arrived along the coast but didn't settle.

In the 17th century, Portuguese settled in Togo to include the area as part of the "Slave Coast."

In the 18th century, the Danes controlled the region's trade--particularly of slaves.

During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Brazilian freed slaves returned to Togo and controlled trade and brought the Catholic church.

After various Protestant attempts to start mission points failed in the 18th century, Methodists and Anglicans from Great Britain started a small mission on the coast at Aneho in 1842.

German and French traders arrived towards the second half of the 19th century searching for new commodities as the slave trade was coming to an end.

Togo became a German colony on July 4th 1884.

In August 1914, during WWI, the Germans surrendered Togo and the territory was provisionally divided between the British and French.

On July 10, 1919, The League of Nations formally divided for governing purposes the territory of Togo by giving 2/3 to France and 1/3 to Britain.

In December 1946, at the end of WWII, both French and British Togo became United Nations holdings while France and Great Britain continued to serve as the administrative powers.

After Ghana became an independent republic in 1955, in May 1956, British governed Togo voted to become part of Ghana.

In August 1956, France assisted the remaining territory of Togo to become the autonomous Republic of Togo.

Back to Top

Travel

From Dallas to Togo, the trip takes about 24 hours. To Europe it takes about 11 hours.

After a layover, the trip from Europe to Togo takes about 7 hours.

The only vaccination required for entry into Togo is Yellow Fever. However, others are a good idea.

Togo requires all Americans to have a visa issued in their passport upon arrival in Togo.

The international airport in the capital of Togo has one departing gate and one arrival center. The airport is not air-conditioned.

It is very common to see armed soldiers in the airport. Soldiers act as the security force.

Bags usually make it but…Customs agents usually search all bags for items requiring customs fees.

The airport is only about 90 minutes from our home in Tabligbo.

Back to Top

The Republic of Togo is located in West Africa, bounded on the north by Burkina Faso, on the east by Benin, on the south by the Gulf of Guinea, and on the west by Ghana.

The Watchi people live in the area of southern Togo indicated by the red circle.