Map of Togo | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024 | More stats

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Background: French Togoland became Togo in 1960. Despite the facade of multiparty rule instituted in the early 1990s the government continues to be dominated by the military which has maintained its power almost continuously since 1967.


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Location: Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Benin and Ghana

Geographic coordinates

Map reference

Area
Total: 56,790 km²
Land: 54,390 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than West Virginia

Land boundaries: Total 1,647 km, Benin 644 km, Burkina Faso 126 km, Ghana 877 km

Coastline: 56 km

Maritime claims
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 30 nm

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

Terrain: Gently rolling savanna in north; central hills; southern plateau; low coastal plain with extensive lagoons and marshes

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
Extremes highest point: Pic Baumann 986 m

Natural resources:

Land use
Arable land: 25%
Permanent crops: 1%
Permanent pastures: 4%
Forests and woodland: 28%
Other: 42%

Irrigated land: 70 km² (1989 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography


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Population:
Growth rate:

Nationality
Noun: Togolese (singular and plural)
Adjective: Togolese

Ethnic groups: 37 tribes; largest and most important are Ewe, Mina, and Kabye, European and Syrian-Lebanese under 1%

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

Religions:

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 49% (male 1,116,030; female 1,105,957) (July 1996 est.) 49% (male 1,079,999; female 1,069,171) (July 1995 est.)
15-64 years:
65 years and over:

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate:

Birth rate:

Death rate:

Net migration rate:

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: deforestation attributable to slash-and-burn agriculture and the use of wood for fuel; recent droughts affecting agriculture
Current issues Natural hazards: hot, dry harmattan wind can reduce visibility in north during winter; periodic droughts
International agreements: party to_Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83; signed, but not ratified_Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Tropical Timber 94

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
Under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.86 male(s)/female
All ages:

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 57.87 years (1996 est.), 57.42 years (1995 est.)
Male: 55.7 years (1996 est.), 55.29 years (1995 est.)
Female: 60.1 years (1996 est.), 59.6 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate:

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over that can read and write (1995 est.)
Total population: 51.7%
Male: 67%
Female: 37%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of Togo
Conventional short form: Togo
Local long form: Republique Togolaise
Local short form: none
Former: French Togo

Government type: Republic under transition to multiparty democratic rule

Capital: Lome

Administrative divisions: 23 circumscriptions (circonscriptions, singular_circonscription); Amlame (Amou), Aneho (Lacs), Atakpame (Ogou), Badou (Wawa), Bafilo (Assoli), Bassar (Bassari), Dapango (Tone), Kande (Keran), Klouto (Kloto), Pagouda (Binah), Lama-Kara (Kozah), Lome (Golfe), Mango (Oti), Niamtougou (Doufelgou), Notse (Haho), Pagouda, Sotouboua, Tabligbo (Yoto), Tchamba, Nyala, Tchaoudjo, Tsevie (Zio), Vogan (Vo)
Note: The 23 units may now be called prefectures (singular_prefecture) and reported name changes for individual units are included in parentheses

Dependent areas

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

National holiday: Independence Day, 27 April (1960)

Constitution: Multiparty draft constitution approved by High Council of the Republic 1 July 1992; adopted by public referendum 27 September 1992

Legal system: French-based court system

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: NA years of age; universal adult

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Gen. Gnassingbe EYADEMA (since 14 April 1967); election last held 25 August 1993 (next election to be held NA 1998); all major opposition parties boycotted the election; Gen. EYADEMA won 96.5% of the vote
Head of government: Prime Minister Edem KODJO (since April 1994)
Cabinet: Council of Ministers; appointed by the president and the prime minister

Legislative branch: Unicameral National Assembly:Elections last held 6 and 20 February 1994 (next to be held NA); results_percent of vote by party NA; seats_(81 total) CAR 36, RPT 35, UTD 7, UJD 2, CFN 1
Note: The Supreme Court ordered new elections for 3 seats of the Action Committee for Renewal (CAR) and the Togolese Union for Democracy (UTD), lowering their total to 34 and 6 seats, respectively; the remaining 3 seats have not been filled

Judicial branch: Court of Appeal (Cour d'Appel), Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, Entente, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ITU, MINURSO, NAM, OAU, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIH, UPU, WADB, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation

Flag description: Five equal horizontal bands of green (top and bottom) alternating with yellow; there is a white five-pointed star on a red square in the upper hoist-side corner; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: This small sub-Saharan economy is heavily dependent on subsistence agriculture, which provides employment for more than 60% of the labor force. Cocoa, coffee, and cotton together generate about 30% of export earnings. Togo is self-sufficient in basic foodstuffs when harvests are normal. In the industrial sector, phosphate mining is by far the most important activity, although it has suffered from the collapse of world phosphate prices and increased foreign competition. Togo serves as a regional commercial and trade center. 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 stalled. Political unrest, including private and public sector strikes throughout 1992 and 1993, has jeopardized the reform program, shrunk the tax base, and disrupted vital economic activity. Although strikes had ended in 1994, political unrest and lack of funds prevented the government from taking advantage of the 50% currency devaluation of 12 January 1994. Resumption of World Bank and IMF flows will depend on implementation of several controversial moves toward privatization and on downsizing the military, on which the regime depends to stay in power.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 6% (1995 est.)

Real gdp per capita:

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: Accounts for 49% of GDP; cash crops_coffee, cocoa, cotton; food crops_yams, cassava, corn, beans, rice, millet, sorghum; livestock production not significant; annual fish catch of 10,000-14,000 tons

Industries:

Industrial production growth rate: Growth rate 9% (1991 est.), accounts for 20% of GDP

Labor force: 1.538 million (1993 est.)
By occupation Agriculture: 64%
By occupation Industry: 9%
By occupation Services: 21%
By occupation unemployed: 6% (1981 est.)

Unemployment rate: 6% (1981 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $165 million (1995 est.), $284 million (1991 est.)
Expenditures: $274 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1995 est.), $407 million, including capital expenditures of NA (1991 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: Calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports:
Commodities:
Partners:

Imports
Total value:
Commodities:
Partners:

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $1.3 billion (1991)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1_500.56 (January 1996), 499.15 (1995), 555.20 (1994), 283.16 (1993), 264.69 (1992), 282.11 (1991), 272.26 (1990)
Note: The official rate is pegged to the French franc, and beginning 12 January 1994, the CFA franc was devalued to CFAF 100 per French franc from CFAF 50 at which it had been fixed since 1948


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Electricity
Capacity: 34,000 kW
Production: 41.004 million kWh
Consumption per capita: 9 kWh (1990)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones

Telephone system: 12,000 telephones (1987 est.); fair system based on network of radio relay routes supplemented by open wire lines
Local: NA
Intercity: microwave radio relay and open wire lines
International: 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 1 SYMPHONIE earth station

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $48 million, 2.9% of GDP (1993)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 8
2438 to 3047 m: 2
Under 914 m: 2
914 to 1523 m: 4 (1995 est.)

Heliports

Pipelines

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: 50 km Mono River

Merchant marine: None

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs: Increasingly used as transit hub by heroin traffickers