Togo officially the Togolese Republic is a country in West
Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the
north. The country extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its capital Lomé
is located. Togo covers 57,000 square kilometres (22,008 square miles), making
it one of the smallest countries in Africa, with a population of approximately
8 million, 9 as well as one of the
narrowest countries in the world with a width of less than 115 km (71 mi)
between Ghana and its slightly larger eastern neighbor, Benin
From the 11th to the 16th centuries, various ethnic groups
settled the Togo region. Various tribes
moved into the country from all sides - the Ewe from Benin, and the Mina and
the Guin from Ghana. These three groups settled along the coast.
when Portuguese explorers arrived in 1471, there are signs
of Ewe settlement for several centuries before their arrival. From the 16th to
the 18th centuries, the coastal region became a major slave trading center and
the surrounding region took on the name
of "The Slave Coast." For during these 200 years, the coastal region
was a major trading center for Europeans in search of slaves. Established by
the Portuguese.
The German Empire established the protectorate of Togoland
(in what is now the nation of Togo and most of what is now the Volta Region of
Ghana) in 1884 during the period generally known as the "Scramble for
Africa".
At the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 the colony
was drawn into the conflict. It was invaded and quickly overrun by British and
French forces during the Togoland campaign and placed under military rule. In
1916 the territory was divided into separate British and French administrative
zones, and this was formalized in 1922 with the creation of British Togoland
and French Togoland.
The Country gained independence in 1960 but was placed under
a hard-handed single-family rule. Since 2007, the country along a gradual path
to democratic reform. Togo has since held multiple presidential and legislative
elections deemed generally free and fair by international observers.
Chief of State
President Faure GNASSINGBE
Head of Government
Prime Minister Komi KLASSOU
Government Type
presidential republic
Capital
Lome
Legislature
unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee
Nationale (91 seats)
Judiciary
Supreme Court (organized
into criminal and administrative chambers,
each with a chamber president and advisors);
Constitutional Court (consists of 9 judges,
including the court president)
GEOGRAPHY Area Total: 56,785 sq km Land: 54,385 sq km Water:
2,400 sq km Climate tropical; hot, humid in south; semiarid in north Natural
Resources phosphates, limestone, marble, arable land
PEOPLE & SOCIETY
Population
8.6 million (July 2020 est.)
Population Growth
2.56% (2020 est.)
Ethnicity
Adja-Ewe/Mina 42.4%,
Kabye/Tem 25.9%, ParaGourma/Akan 17.1%, Akposso/Akebu 4.1%,
Ana-Ife 3.2%, other
Togolese 1.7%, foreigners 5.2%, no response .4% (2013-14
est.)
Language
French (official, the language of commerce), Dagomba, Ewe,
Kabye, Mina
Religion
Christian 43.7%, folk 35.6%, Muslim 14%, Hindu <.1%,
Buddhist
<.1%, Jewish <.1%, other .5%, none 6.2% (2010 est.)
Urbanization
urban population: 42.8% of total population (2020)
rate of urbanization: 3.76% annual rate of change (2015-20
est.)
Literacy
63.7% (2015
ECONOMY
Economic Overview
steady economic growth fueled by political stability and
government efforts to modernize commercial infrastructure;
depends heavily on commercial and subsistence agriculture;
among the world's largest producers of phosphate
GDP (Purchasing Power Parity)
$12.97 billion (2017 est.)
GDP per capita (Purchasing Power Parity)
$1,700 (2017 est.)
Exports
$1.05 billion (2017 est.)
partners: Benin 16.7%, Burkina Faso 15.2%, Niger 8.9%, India
7.3%, Mali 6.7%, Ghana 5.5%, Cote dIvoire 5.4%, Nigeria 4.1%
(2017)
Imports
$2 billion (2017 est.)
partners: China 27.5%, France 9.1%, Netherlands 4.4%, Japan
4.3%
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