Location of Togo. Source: Vardion/Wikipedia

Map of Togo. Source: CIA World Factbook

Togo is a nation in western-Africa, bordering the Bight of Benin in the Atlantic Ocean, between Benin to the east and Ghana to the west. It is a long narrow country running north and south between the ocean in the south and the Burkina Faso in the north. The country's length allows it to stretch through six distinct geographic regions; climate varies from tropical to savanna. Togo has gently rolling savanna in the north; central hills; a southern plateau; and a low coastal plain with extensive lagoons and marshes.

Togo's major environmental issues include: deforestation attributable to slash-and-burn agriculture and the use of wood for fuel; water pollution which presents health hazards and hinders the fishing industry; and, air pollution increasing in urban areas. It is also susceptible to hot, dry harmattan winds which can reduce visibility in north during winter; and to periodic droughts.

French Togoland became Togo in 1960. Gen. Gnassingbe Eyadema, installed as military ruler in 1967, ruled Togo with a heavy hand for almost four decades. Despite the facade of multiparty elections instituted in the early 1990s, the government was largely dominated by President Eyadema, whose Rally of the Togolese People (RPT) party has maintained power almost continually since 1967 and maintains a majority of seats in today's legislature. Upon Eyadema's death in February 2005, the military installed the president's son, Faure Gnassingbe, and then engineered his formal election two months later. Democratic gains since then allowed Togo to hold its first relatively free and fair legislative elections in October 2007. After years of political unrest and fire from international organizations for human rights abuses, Togo is finally being re-welcomed into the international community.

Geography

Location: Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Benin, between Benin and Ghana

Geographic Coordinates: 8 00 N, 1 10 E

Area:  56,785 km² (54,385 km² land and 2,400 km² water)

arable land: 44.2%
permanent crops: 2.11%
other: 53.69% (2005) 

Land Boundaries: 1,647 km. Border countries: Benin 644 km, Burkina Faso 126 km, Ghana 877 km

Coastline: 56 km

Maritime Claims: Territorial sea to 30 nautical miles and an exclusive economic zone to 200 nautical miles

Natural Hazards: hot, dry harmattan wind can reduce visibility in north during winter; periodic droughts

Terrain: Gently rolling savanna in north; central hills; southern plateau; low coastal plain with extensive lagoons and marshes. Its lowest point is the Atlantic Ocean (0 metres)and its highest point is Mont Agou (986 metres).

Climate: Tropical; hot, humid in south; semiarid in north

Government

Government Type: republic under transition to multiparty democratic rule

Capital: Lome

Independence Date: 27 April 1960 (from French-administered UN trusteeship)

Legal System: French-based court system; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage: NA

International Environmental Agreements

Togo is party to international agreeements on: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, and Whaling.

People and Society

Population: 5,858,673

Age Structure:

0-14 years: 41.7% (male 1,226,320/female 1,218,182)
15-64 years: 55.6% (male 1,588,354/female 1,666,274)
65 years and over: 2.7% (male 63,508/female 96,035) (2008 est.)

Population Growth Rate: 2.717% (2008 est.)

Birth Rate: 36.66 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death Rate: 9.48 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net Migration Rate: NA

Life Expectancy at Birth:  58.28 years (2008 est.)

Total Fertility Rate: 4.85 children born/woman (2008 est.)

Languages: French (official and the language of commerce), Ewe and Mina (the two major African languages in the south), Kabye (sometimes spelled Kabiye) and Dagomba (the two major African languages in the north)

Literacy (2003 est.) 60.9% (male: 75.4% - female: 46.9%)

Water

Total Renewable Water Resources: 14.7 cu km (2001)

Freshwater Withdrawal: Total: 0.17 cu km/yr (53% domestic, 2% industrial, 45% agricultural). Per capita: 28 cu m/yr (2000)

Agriculture

Agricultural Products: coffee, cocoa, cotton, yams, cassava (tapioca), corn, beans, rice, millet, sorghum; livestock; fish

Irrigated Land: 70 sq km (2003)

Resources

Natural Resources: phosphates, limestone, marble, arable land.

Energy

Health

Prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Adults: 4.1% (2003 est.)

Major Infectious Diseases: Degree of risk: very high

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria and yellow fever
water contact disease: schistosomiasis
respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis

Conflict

International Disputes: in 2001, Benin claimed Togo moved boundary monuments - joint commission continues to resurvey the boundary; in 2006 14,000 Togolese refugees remain in Benin and Ghana out of the 40,000 who fled there in 2005

Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons:  refugees (country of origin): 5,000 (Ghana) - IDPs: 1,500 (2007)

Economy

This small, sub-Saharan economy is heavily dependent on both commercial and subsistence agriculture, which provides employment for 65% of the labor force. Some basic foodstuffs must still be imported. Cocoa, coffee, and cotton generate about 40% of export earnings with cotton being the most important cash crop. Togo is the world's fourth-largest producer of phosphate. The government's decade-long effort, supported by the World Bank and the IMF, to implement economic reform measures, encourage foreign investment, and bring revenues in line with expenditures has moved slowly. Progress depends on follow through on privatization, increased openness in government financial operations, progress toward legislative elections, and continued support from foreign donors. Togo is working with donors to write a Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) that could eventually lead to a debt reduction plan. Economic growth remains marginal due to declining cotton production, underinvestment in phosphate mining, and strained relations with donors.

GDP (Purchasing Power Parity): $5.208 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (Official Exchange Rate): $2.497 billion (2007 est.)

GDP- real growth rate: 2.1% (2007 est.)

GDP- per capita (PPP): $800 (2007 est.)

GDP- composition by sector:

agriculture: 40%
industry: 25%
services: 35% (2003 est.)

Population Below Poverty Line: 32% (1989 est.)

Industries: phosphate mining, agricultural processing, cement, handicrafts, textiles, beverages

Exports: reexports, cotton, phosphates, coffee, cocoa

Export Partners:  Ghana 16.5%, Burkina Faso 14.3%, Germany 9.1%, Benin 9%, Netherlands 5.8%, Mali 5.7%, India 4.6% (2006)

Imports: machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products

Import Partners:  China 36.1%, Estonia 9.9%, Netherlands 8%, US 7.8%, France 7.2% (2006)

Economic Aid Recipient: ODA, $86.71 million (2005 est.)

Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF)

Ports and Terminals: Lome Kpeme

Further Reading

1. CIA World Factbook