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.

Map reference: Africa

Area
Total 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 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

Natural resources: phosphates, limestone, marble

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

Irrigated land: 70 km² (1989 est.)

Population: 4,410,370 (July 1995 est.)
Growth rate: 3.58% (1995 est.)

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

Age structure
0-14 years: 49% (female 1,069,171; male 1,079,999)
15-64 years: 49% (female 1,121,685; male 1,043,000)
65 years and over: 2% (female 51,392; male 45,123) (July 1995 est.)

Population growth rate: 3.58% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 46.78 births/1000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate: 11.01 deaths/1000 population (1995 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1000 population (1995 est.)

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
Current issues 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

Infant mortality rate: 86.5 deaths/1000 live births (1995 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 57.42 years
Male: 55.29 years
Female: 59.6 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate: 6.83 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
Total population: 43%
Male: 56%
Female: 31%

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

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

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)

International organization participation: ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, CEAO (observer), ECA, ECOWAS, Entente, FAO, FZ, G-77, GATT, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, MINURSO, NAM, OAU, UN, UNAMIR, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WADB, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Charge d'Affaires Edem Frederic HEGBE
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 Johnny YOUNG (since September 1994)
From the us embassy: Rue Pelletier Caventou and Rue Vauban, Lome
From the us mailing address: B. P. 852, Lome
From the us telephone: [228] 21 77 17, 21 29 91 through 21 29 94
From the us FAX: [228] 21 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

Economy overview: The economy is heavily dependent on subsistence agriculture, which accounts for about half of GDP and provides employment for 80% of the labor force. Primary agricultural exports are cocoa, coffee, and cotton, which together generate about 30% of total 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 IMF and World Bank supported effort to implement economic reform measures to 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 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 growth rate: NA%

Real gdp per capita: $800 (1993 est.)

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

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

Labor force: NA
By occupation: agriculture 80%
Note: about 88,600 wage earners, evenly divided between public and private sectors

Unemployment rate: NA%

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

Fiscal year: calendar year

Exports: $221 million (f.o.b., 1993)
Commodoties: phosphates, cotton, cocoa, coffee
Partners: EC 40%, Africa 16%, US 1% (1990)

Imports: $292 million (c.i.f., 1993)
Commodoties: machinery and equipment, consumer goods, food, chemical products
Partners: EC 57%, Africa 17%, US 5%, Japan 4% (1990)

Debt external: $1.3 billion (1991)

Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1 - 529.43 (January 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

Electricity
Capacity: 30,000 kW
Production: 60 million kWh
Production consumption per capita: 83 kWh (1993)

Telephone system: NA telephones; 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

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

Airports: 9
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 2
With paved runways under 914 m: 2
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 5

Waterways: 50 km Mono River

Merchant marine: none

Disputes international: none

Illicit drugs: increasingly used as transit hub by heroin traffickers