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.

Geographic coordinates: 8 00 N, 1 10 E

Map reference: Africa

Area
Total: 56,790 km²
Land: 54,390 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
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 Agou 986 m

Natural resources: phosphates, limestone, marble

Land use
Arable land: 38%
Permanent crops: 7%
Permanent pastures: 4%
Forests and woodland: 17%
Other: 34% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 70 km² (1993 est.)

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

Population: 5,081,413 (July 1999 est.)
Growth rate: 3.51% (1999 est.)
Below poverty line: 32.3% (1987-89 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 70%, Christian 20%, Muslim 10%

Age structure
0-14 years: 48% (male 1,229,026; female 1,218,956)
15-64 years: 50% (male 1,223,371; female 1,299,519)
65 years and over: 2% (male 49,890; female 60,651) (1999 est.)

Population growth rate: 3.51% (1999 est.)

Birth rate: 44.78 births/1000 population (1999 est.)

Death rate: 9.69 deaths/1000 population (1999 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1000 population (1999 est.)

Environment
Current issues: deforestation attributable to slash-and-burn agriculture and the use of wood for fuel; recent droughts affecting agriculture
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
Under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.82 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 77.55 deaths/1000 live births (1999 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 59.25 years
Male: 56.93 years
Female: 61.64 years (1999 est.)

Total fertility rate: 6.53 children born/woman (1999 est.)

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

Country name
Conventional long form: Togolese Republic
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: 5 regions (regions, singular_region; De La Kara, Des Plateaux, Des Savanes, Du Centre, Maritime

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)
Head of government: Prime Minister Kwassi KLUTSE (since August 1996)
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 21 June 1998 (next to be held NA 2003); prime minister appointed by the president
Election results: Gnassingbe EYADEMA reelected president; percent of vote_Gnassingbe EYADEMA 52.13%

Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (81 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
Elections: last held 6 and 20 February 1994 (next to be held NA February 1999)
Election results: percent of vote by party_NA; seats by party_CAR 36, RPT 35, UTD 7, UJD 2, CFN 1
Note: as a result of defections from the CAR to the RPT and the merging of the UJD with the RPT, representation in the National Assembly in August 1997 was RPT 42, CAR 32, UTD 5, CFN 1, independent 1

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

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, MINURCA, MINURSO, MIPONUH, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WADB, WAEMU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Akosita FINEANGANOFO
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 Brenda Brown SCHOONOVER
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: 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 transparency in government accounting to accommodate increased social service outlays, and possible downsizing of the military, on which the regime has depended to stay in place. However, in late 1998 the EU suspended aid and trade preferences for Togo because of grave doubts over the conduct of the presidential elections. The World Bank also suspended its disbursements at yearend 1998 because Togo was unable to pay its arrears.

Real gdp growth rate: 3.8% (1998 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity: $1,670 (1998 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 32%
Industry: 23%
Services: 45% (1995)

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: 13.6% (1995)

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

Unemployment rate: NA%

Population below poverty line: 32.3% (1987-89 est.)

Budget
Revenues: $232 million
Expenditures: $252 million, including capital expenditures of $N/A (1997 est.)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Exports: $345 million (f.o.b., 1997)
Commodities: cotton, phosphates, coffee, cocoa
Partners: Canada 7.6%, Taiwan 7.1%, Nigeria 6.8%, South Africa 5.2% (1996 est.)

Imports: $400 million (f.o.b., 1997)
Commodities: machinery and equipment, consumer goods, petroleum products
Partners: Ghana 19.1%, France 10.8%, China 8.2%, Cameroon 6.8% (1996 est.)

Debt external: $1.5 billion (1996)

Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1_560.01 (December 1998), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997), 511.55 (1996), 499.15 (1995), 555.20 (1994)

Electricity
Production: 88 million kWh (1996)
Production by source fossil fuel: 93.18%
Production by source hydro: 6.82%
Production by source nuclear: 0%
Production by source other: 0% (1996)
Consumption: 408 million kWh (1996)
Exports: 0 kWh (1996)
Imports: 320 million kWh (1996)
Imports note: imports electricity from Ghana

Telephones: 47,000 (10,000 cellular telephone subscribers) (1998 est.)

Telephone system: fair system based on network of microwave radio relay routes supplemented by open-wire lines and cellular system
Domestic: microwave radio relay and open-wire lines for conventional system; cellular system has capacity of 10,000 telephones
International: satellite earth stations_1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) and 1 Symphonie

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $27 million (1996)
Percent of gdp: 2% (1996)

Airports: 9 (1998 est.)
With paved runways total: 2
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 2 (1998 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 7
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 5
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 2 (1998 est.)

Railways
Total: 525 km (1995)
Narrow gauge: 525 km 1.000-m gauge

Waterways: 50 km Mono river

Merchant marine: none

Disputes international: none

Illicit drugs: transit hub for Nigerian heroin and cocaine traffickers