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 Bight of Benin between Benin and Ghana

Geographic coordinates: 8 00 N 1 10 E

Map reference: Africa

Area
Comparative: slightly smaller than West Virginia

Land boundaries

Coastline: 56 km

Maritime claims

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

Natural resources: phosphates limestone marble arable land

Land use

Irrigated land: 70 km² (1993 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

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

Geography


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Population: 5,018,502
Growth rate: 2.7% (2000 est.)
Below poverty line: 32% (1987-89 est.)

Nationality

Ethnic groups: native African (37 tribes; largest and most important are Ewe Mina and Kabre) 99% European and Syrian-Lebanese less than 1%

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)

Religions: indigenous beliefs 70% Christian 20% Muslim 10%

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 2.7% (2000 est.)

Birth rate: 38.02 births/1000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate: 11.18 deaths/1000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.16 migrant(s)/1000 population (2000 est.)

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

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 71.55 deaths/1000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

Total fertility rate: 5.5 children born/woman (2000 est.)

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

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name

Government type: republic under transition to multiparty democratic rule

Capital: Lome

Administrative divisions: 5 regions (regions singular - region); De La Kara Des Plateaux Des Savanes Du Centre Maritime

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

Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (81 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)

Judicial branch: Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel; Supreme Court or Cour Supreme

Political parties and leaders: Action Committee for Renewal or CAR [Yawovi AGBOYIBO]; Coordination des Forces Nouvelles or CFN [Joseph KOFFIGOH]; Democratic Convention of African Peoples or CDPA [Leopold GNININVI]; Party for Democracy and Renewal or PDR [Zarifou AYEVA]; Patriotic Pan-African Convergence or CPP [Edem KODJO]; Rally of the Togolese People or RPT [President Gen. Gnassingbe EYADEMA]; Union of Forces for Change or UFC [Gilchrist OLYMPIO (in exile) Jeane-Pierre FABRE general secretary in Togo]; Union of Independent Liberals or ULI [Jacques AMOUZO]

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 MIPONUH NAM OAU OIC OPCW UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UPU WADB WAEMU 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 both commercial and subsistence agriculture which provides employment for 65% 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 with occasional regional supply difficulties. 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 jeopardized the reform program shrunk the tax base and disrupted vital economic activity. The 12 January 1994 devaluation of the currency by 50% provided an important impetus to renewed structural adjustment; these efforts were facilitated by the end of strife in 1994 and a return to overt political calm. Progress depends on following through on privatization increased openness in government financial operations (to accommodate increased social service outlays) and possible downsizing of the military on which the regime has depended to stay in place. Lack of aid along with depressed cocoa prices generated a 1% fall in GDP in 1998 with growth resuming in 1999. Assuming no deterioration of the political atmosphere growth should rise to 5% a year in 2000-01.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 4% (1999 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $1700 (1999 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: coffee cocoa cotton yams cassava (tapioca) corn beans rice millet sorghum; livestock; fish

Industries: phosphate mining agricultural processing cement; handicrafts textiles beverages

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Labor force: 1.538 million (1993 est.)
By occupation agriculture: 65%
By occupation industry: 5%
By occupation services: 30% (1998 est.)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: 32% (1987-89 est.)

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 3% (1999 est.)

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: $400 million (f.o.b. 1999)
Commodities: cotton phosphates coffee cocoa
Partners: Canada Philippines Ghana France (1998)

Imports: $450 million (f.o.b. 1999)
Commodities: machinery and equipment foodstuffs petroleum products
Partners: Ghana France Cote d'Ivoire China (1998)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $1.3 billion (1997)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1 - 647.25 (January 2000) 615.70 (1999) 589.95 (1998) 583.67 (1997) 511.55 (1996) 499.15 (1995)


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Electricity
Production: 90 million kWh (1998)
Consumption: 434 million kWh (1998)
Exports: 0 kWh (1998)
Imports: 350 million kWh (1998)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Main lines in use: 22,000 (1995)
Mobile cellular: NA

Telephone system: fair system based on network of microwave radio relay routes supplemented by open-wire lines and cellular system

Broadcast media

Internet
Service providers isps: 1 (1999)

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $27 million (FY96)
Percent of gdp: 2% (FY96)

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: 9 (1999 est.)

Heliports

Pipelines

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: 50 km Mono river

Merchant marine

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: none

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs: transit hub for Nigerian heroin and cocaine traffickers