Map of Togo | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | More stats

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Background: French Togoland became Togo in 1960. Gen. Gnassingbe EYADEMA installed as military ruler in 1967 is Africa's longest-serving head of state. Despite the facade of multiparty elections instituted in the early 1990s the government continues to be dominated by President EYADEMA whose Rally of the Togolese People (RPT) party has maintained power almost continually since 1967. In addition Togo has come under fire from international organizations for human rights abuses and is plagued by political unrest. While most bilateral and multilateral aid to Togo remains frozen the European Union initiated a partial resumption of cooperation and development aid to Togo in late 2004.


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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
Total: 56,785 km²
Land: 54,385 km²
Water: 2,400 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than West Virginia

Land boundaries
Total: 1,647 km
Border countries: (3) Benin 644 km; , Burkina Faso 126 km; , Ghana 877 km

Coastline: 56 km

Maritime claims
Territorial sea: 30 nm
Exclusive economic zone: 200 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: Mont Agou 986 m

Natural resources: phosphates limestone marble arable land

Land use
Arable land: 46.15%
Permanent crops: 2.21%
Other: 51.64% (2001)

Irrigated land: 70 km² (1998 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
Note: the country's length allows it to stretch through six distinct geographic regions; climate varies from tropical to savanna


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Population
Note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2004 est.)
Growth rate: 2.27% (2004 est.)
Below poverty line: 32% (1989 est.)

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

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 51% Christian 29% Muslim 20%

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 43.9% (male 1,222,622; female 1,214,443)
15-64 years: 53.6% (male 1,455,373; female 1,522,456)
65 years and over: 2.6% (male 59,165; female 82,753) (2004 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age
Total: 17.6 years
Male: 17.2 years
Female: 17.9 years (2004 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.27% (2004 est.)

Birth rate: 34.36 births/1000 population (2004 est.)

Death rate: 11.64 deaths/1000 population (2004 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1000 population (2004 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: deforestation attributable to slash-and-burn agriculture and the use of wood for fuel; water pollution presents health hazards and hinders the fishing industry; air pollution increasing in urban areas
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.03 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.01 male/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male/female
65 years and over: 0.72 male/female
Total population: 0.97 male/female (2004 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate
Total: 67.66 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 75.4 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 59.69 deaths/1000 live births (2004 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 53.05 years
Male: 51.07 years
Female: 55.09 years (2004 est.)

Total fertility rate: 4.79 children born/woman (2004 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: 4.1% (2003 est.)
People living with hivaids: 110,000 (2003 est.)
Deaths: 10,000 (2003 est.)

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 can read and write
Total population: 60.9%
Male: 75.4%
Female: 46.9% (2003 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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

Government type: republic under transition to multiparty democratic rule

Capital: Lome

Administrative divisions: 5 regions (regions singular - region); Kara Plateaux Savanes Centrale 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
Chief of state: President Faure GNASSINGBE (since 6 February 2005); note - Gnassingbe EYADEMA died on 5 February 2005 and was succeeded by his son, Faure GNASSINGBE, who will be allowed to complete his father's term
Head of government: Prime Minister Koffi SAMA (since 29 June 2002)
Cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president and the prime minister
Elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 1 June 2003 (next to be held NA June 2008); prime minister appointed by the president
Election results: Gnassingbe EYADEMA reelected president; percent of vote - Gnassingbe EYADEMA 57.2%, Emmanuel Akitani BOB 34.1%, Yawovi AGBOYIBO 5.2%, Maurice Dahuku PERE 2.3%, Edem KODJO 1.0%

Legislative branch
Elections: last held 27 October 2002 (next NA 2007)
Election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - RPT 72, RSDD 3, UDPS 2, Juvento 2, MOCEP 1, independents 1
Note: two opposition parties boycotted the election, the Union of the Forces for Change, and the Action Committee for Renewal

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

Political parties and leaders
Note: Rally of the Togolese People or RPT, led by President EYADEMA, was the only party until the formation of multiple parties was legalized 12 April 1991

International organization participation: ABEDA ACCT ACP AfDB AU ECOWAS Entente FAO FZ G-77 IBRD ICAO ICC ICFTU ICRM IDA IDB IFAD IFC IFRCS ILO IMF IMO Interpol IOC ITU MIGA NAM OIC ONUB OPCW PCA UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UNMIL UNOCI UPU WADB (regional) WAEMU WCL WCO WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WToO WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Akoussoulelou BODJONA
In the us chancery: 2,208 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 234-4,212
In the us fax: [1] (202) 232-3,190
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Gregory ENGLE
From the us embassy: Angle Rue Kouenou and Rue 15 Beniglato, Lome
From the us mailing address: B. P. 852, Lome
From the us telephone: [228] 221 29 91 through 221 29 94
From the us fax: [228] 221 79 52

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. 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 but production fell an estimated 22% in 2002 due to power shortages and the cost of developing new deposits. 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 following through on privatization increased openness in government financial operations progress toward legislative elections and continued support from foreign donors.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 3.3% (2003 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $1500 (2003 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 39.5%
Industry: 20.4%
Services: 40.1% (2003 est.)

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: 1.74 million (1996)
By occupation agriculture: 65%
By occupation industry: 5%
By occupation services: 30% (1998 est.)

Unemployment rate: NA (2003 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: 32% (1989 est.)

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: NA
Highest 10: NA

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $214.5 million
Expenditures: $296.4 million, including capital expenditures of NA (2003 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: -1% (2003 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: $-140 million (2003)

Exports: $398.1 million f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Commodities: reexports cotton phosphates coffee cocoa
Partners: Burkina Faso 16.6% Ghana 15.4% Netherlands 13% Benin 9.6% Mali 7.7% (2003)

Imports: $501.3 million f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Commodities: machinery and equipment foodstuffs petroleum products
Partners: France 21.1% Netherlands 12.1% Cote d'Ivoire 5.9% Germany 4.6% Italy 4.4% South Africa 4.3% China 4.1% (2003)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $1.4 billion (2000)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 581.2 (2003) 696.988 (2002) 733.039 (2001) 711.976 (2000) 615.699 (1999)


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Electricity
Production: 101.6 million kWh (2001)
Consumption: 614.5 million kWh (2001)
Exports: 0 kWh (2001)
Imports: 520 million kWh; note - electricity supplied by Ghana (2001)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Main lines in use: 60,600 (2003)
Mobile cellular: 220,000 (2003)

Telephone system
General assessment: fair system based on a network of microwave radio relay routes supplemented by open-wire lines and a mobile cellular system
Domestic: microwave radio relay and open-wire lines for conventional system; cellular system has capacity of 10,000 telephones
International: country code - 228; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) and 1 Symphonie

Broadcast media

Internet
Country code: .tg
Hosts: 82 (2003)
Users: 210,000 (2003)

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $32.6 million (2003)
Percent of gdp: 1.9% (2003)

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 (2003 est.)
With paved runways total: 2
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 2 (2004 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 7
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 5
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 2 (2004 est.)

Heliports

Pipelines

Railways
Total: 568 km
Narrow gauge: 568 km 1.000-m gauge (2003)

Roadways

Waterways: 50 km (seasonally on Mono River depending on rainfall) (2003)

Merchant marine
Total: 2 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 3,918 GRT/3,852 DWT
By type: cargo 1, specialized tanker 1
Registered in other countries: 1 (2004 est.)

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: in 2001 Benin claimed Togo moved boundary monuments - joint commission continues to resurvey the boundary

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs: transit hub for Nigerian heroin and cocaine traffickers; money laundering not a significant problem