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

Coat of Arms

• tropical; hot, humid in south; semiarid in north

• 8 00 N, 1 10 E

• total: 1,647 km
  border countries: Benin 644 km, Burkina Faso 126 km, Ghana 877 km

• Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Benin , between Benin and Ghana

• phosphates, limestone, marble, arable land

• total: 56,785 sq km
  land: 54,385 sq km
  water: 2,400 sq km
• (Compare to other countries)

• gently rolling savanna in north; central hills; southern plateau; low coastal plain with extensive lagoons and marshes

• the country's length allows it to stretch through six distinct geographic regions; climate varies from tropical to savanna

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National parks & reserves

• Fazao-Malfakassa National Park
• Fosse aux Lions National Park
• Kéran National Park

Before European settlement - No one is quite sure what was happening in Togo before the Portuguese arrived in the late 15th century. Various tribes moved into the country from all sides - the Ewé from Nigeria and Benin and the Mina and Guin from Ghana. All of them settled on the coast. And all the surrounding countries.

European Colony - When the slave trade began in earnest in the 16th century, several of the tribes - especially the Mina - became agents for the European traders, travelling inland to buy slaves from the Kabyé and other northern tribes. Denmark staked a claim on Togo in the 18th century, but in 1884, Germany signed a deal with a local king, Mlapa III, and Togoland became a German colony. The Germans brought scientific cultivation to the country's main export crops (cacao, coffee and cotton) and developed its infrastructure to the highest level in Africa. Still in 1914, Togo was occupied by French and British forces. Togo was split between the British and the French by League of Nations mandates after World War I ended in 1918.

Independence - During the colonial period, the Mina grew in political and economic influence by virtue of their coastal position and long association with Europeans. The Ewé, by contrast, were divided with the dissection of Togoland, and political groups on both sides began to agitate for reunification. Hopes for unity were dashed when British Togoland voted to be incorporated into Ghana, then on the brink of independence. After the expiration of the French-administered UN trusteeship on April 27, 1960, the French side declared its independence, with French Togoland becoming Togo.

Military Coup d'Etat - In 1963, Togo became the first country on the continent to experience a military coup following independence (Africa has averaged at least two a year since then, plus many more unsuccessful attempts). President Sylvanus Olympio, who took office as soon as Togo gained independence in 1960, was overthrown by 626 Togolese veterans of the French army. When Olympio refused to allow the veterans, many of whom had fought in Indochina and Algeria, to join Togo's army, they deposed him in a military coup on January 13, 1963. He was killed the next day, shot by Sgt. Étienne Eyadéma. Olympio's brother-in-law, Nicolas Grunitzky, returned from exile and was put in charge, but he too was deposed in January 1967 by then Lt Colonel (later General) Étienne Eyadéma who became president. Since then, despite the façade of multiparty rule instituted in the early 1990s, the government continues to be dominated by the military, which has maintained its power continuously since 1967 and is loyal to Eyadéma and his family.

Eyadéma set out to unify the country, insisting on one trade union confederation and one political party. After nearly losing his life in a plane crash that he (at least publicly) chalked up to an assassination attempt, Eyadéma nationalised the country's phosphate mines and ordered all Togolese to take an African name. He renamed himself Gnassingbé Eyadéma.

Economic expansion - It was, however, only a perfunctory strike against colonialism: Togo remained heavily dependent on the West. From the late 1960s to 1980, Togo experienced a booming economy, built largely on its phosphate reserves, and Eyadéma tried to mould the country into a traveller's and investor's paradise. His plans proved overly ambitious, and when the recession of the early 1980s hit and phosphate prices plummeted, Togo's economy fell into ruin. The government was plagued by numerous coup attempts. Eyadéma himself fired many of the shots that killed 13 attackers in a 1986 coup.

Fight for democracy - In the early 1990s, the international community began putting pressure on Eyadéma to democratize, a notion he resisted with a few waves of his trademark iron fist. Pro-democracy activists - mainly southern Mina and Ewé - were met with armed troops, killing scores of protesters in several clashes. The people of France and Togo were furious, and under their backlash Eyadéma gave in. He was summarily stripped of all powers and made president in name only. An interim prime minister was elected to take over command, but not four months later his residence was shelled with heavy artillery by Eyadéma's army. Their hardball tactics continued into 1993.

Terror strikes against the independent press and political assassination attempts became commonplace, while the promised 'transition' to democracy came to a standstill. The opposition continued to call general strikes, leading to further violence by the army and the exodus of hundreds of thousands of southerners to Ghana and Benin. Using intimidation tactics and clever political machinations that disqualified one opposition party and caused another to refuse to participate, Eyadéma won the 1993 presidential elections with more than 96% of the vote. In the years following, opposition parties have lost most of their steam and Eyadéma's control has become almost as firm as before the crisis began.

In August 1996, Prime Minister Edem Kodjo resigned, and the planning minister, Kwassi Klutse, was appointed prime minister. Eyadéma won another five-year term in June 1998 with 52% of the vote, nearly being defeated by Gilchrist Olympio, son of Sylvanus Olympio. Later investigations revealed widespread human rights abuses.

In 2002, in what critics called a 'constitutional coup', the national assembly voted unanimously to change the constitution and allow Eyadéma to 'sacrifice himself again' and run for a third term during the 2003 presidential elections. The constitutional change eliminated presidential term limits. Meanwhile, Gilchrist Olympio's attempts to beat the man who overthrew his father were scuppered yet again when he was banned from running on a tax-law technicality.

Despite allegations of electoral fraud, Eyadéma won 57% of the votes in the 2003 elections, which international observers from the African Union described as generally free and transparent. For many Togolese, there was little optimism for the future and a prevailing sense of déjà vu as Eyadéma extended his record as Africa's longest-serving ruler.

Current political situation - On February 5, 2005, Eyadéma died of a heart attack. Shortly afterwards, his son Faure Gnassingbé was named by Togo's military as the country's leader, raising numerous eyebrows. The constitution of Togo declared that in the case of the president's death, the speaker of Parliament takes his place, and has 60 days to call new elections. However, on February 6th, Parliament retroactively changed the Constitution, declaring that Faure would hold office for the rest of his father's term, with elections deferred until 2008.

The African Union described the takeover as a military coup d'état. International pressure came also from the United Nations. Within Togo, opposition to the takeover culminated in riots in which four people died. In response, Gnassingbé agreed to hold elections in April 2005. On February 25, Gnassingbé resigned as president, soon after accepting nomination to run for the office in April. Parliament designated Deputy Speaker Bonfoh Abbass as interim president until the inauguration of the election winner. On May 3, 2005, Gnassingbé was sworn in as the new president garnering 60% of the vote according to official results. Disquiet has continued however with the opposition declaring the voting rigged, claiming the military stole ballot boxes from various polling stations in the South, as well as other election irregularities, such as telecommunication shutdown. The European Union has suspended aid in support of the opposition claims, while the African Union and the United States have declared the vote "reasonably fair" and accepted the outcome. The Nigerian president and Chair of the AU, Olusegun Obasanjo, has sought to negotiate between the incumbent government and the opposition to establish a coalition government, but surpisingly rejected an AU Commission appointment of former Zambian president, Kenneth Kaunda, as special AU envoy to Togo. From Wikipedia.

A new constitution established an executive president, elected for 7 years by universal suffrage and a weak National Assembly. The president was empowered to appoint ministers and dissolve the assembly, holding a monopoly of executive power.

In elections that year, from which Grunitzky's party was disqualified, Olympio's party won 90% of the vote and all 51 National Assembly seats, and he became Togo's first elected president.

During this period, four principal political parties existed in Togo: the leftist Juvento (Togolese youth movement); the Union Democratique des Populations Togolaises (IDPT); the Parti Togolais Du Progres (PTP), founded by Grunitzky but having limited support; and the Unite Togolaise (UT), the party of President Olympio.

On January 13, President Olympio was assassinated in an uprising of army non-commissioned officers dissatisfied with conditions following their discharge from the French army. Grunitzky returned from exile 2 days later to head a provisional government with the title of prime minister.

On May 5, the Togolese adopted a new constitution which reinstated a multi-party system, chose deputies from all political parties for the National Assembly, and elected Grunitzky as president and Antoine Meatchi as vice president. Nine days later, President Grunitzky formed a government in which all parties were represented.

In April, the government began negotiations with newly formed opposition groups and agreed to a general amnesty that permitted exiled political opponents to return to Togo. After a general strike and further demonstrations, the government and opposition signed an agreement to hold a "national forum" on June 12.

The national forum, dominated by opponents of President Eyadema, opened in July and immediately declared itself to be a sovereign "National Conference." Although subjected to severe harassment from the government, the conference drafted an interim constitution calling for a 1-year transitional regime tasked with organizing free elections for a new government. The conference selected Joseph Kokou Koffigoh, a lawyer and human rights group head, as transitional prime minister but kept President Eyadema as chief of state for the transition, although with limited powers.

A test of wills between the president and his opponents followed over the next 3 years during which President Eyadema gradually gained the upper hand. Frequent political paralysis and intermittent violence marked this period.

Following a vote by the transitional legislature (High Council of the Republic) to dissolve the President's political party--the RPT--in November, the army attacked the prime minister's office on December 3 and captured the prime minister.

Koffigoh then formed a second transition government in January with substantial participation by ministers from the President's party. Opposition leader Gilchrist Olympio, son of the slain president Sylvanus Olympio, was ambushed and seriously wounded apparently by soldiers on May 5.

In July and August, a commission composed of presidential and opposition representatives negotiated a new political agreement. On September 27, the public overwhelmingly approved the text of a new, democratic constitution, formally initiating Togo's fourth republic.

The democratic process was set back in October, when elements of the army held the interim legislature hostage for 24 hours. This effectively put an end to the interim legislature. In retaliation, on November 16, opposition political parties and labor unions declared a general strike intended to force President Eyadema to agree to satisfactory conditions for elections. The general strike largely shut down Lome for months and resulted in severe damage to the economy.

On March 25, armed Togolese dissident commandos based in Ghana attacked Lome's main military camp and tried unsuccessfully to kill President Eyadema. They inflicted significant casualties, however, which set off lethal reprisals by the military against soldiers thought to be associated with the attackers.

Under substantial domestic and foreign pressure and the burden of the general strike, the presidential faction entered negotiations with the opposition in early 1993. Four rounds of talks led to the July 11 Ouagadougou agreement setting forth conditions for upcoming presidential and legislative elections and ending the general strike as of August 3. The presidential elections were set for August 25, but hasty and inadequate technical preparations, concerns about fraud, and the lack of effective campaign organization by the opposition led the chief opposition candidates--former minister and Organization of African Unity Secretary General Edem Kodjo and lawyer Yawovi Agboyibo--to drop out of the race before election day and to call for a boycott. President Eyadema won the elections by a 96.42% vote against token opposition. About 36% of the voters went to the polls; the others boycotted.

Ghana-based armed dissidents launched a new commando attack on military sites in Lome in January. President Eyadema was unhurt, and the attack and subsequent reaction by the Togolese armed forces resulted in hundreds of deaths, mostly civilian.

The government went ahead with legislative elections on February 6 and February 20. In generally free and fair polls as witnessed by international observers, the allied opposition parties UTD and CAR together won a narrow majority in the National Assembly. On April 22, President Eyadema named Edem Kodjo, the head of the smaller opposition party, the UTD, as prime minister instead of Yawovi Agboyibo, whose CAR party had far more seats. Kodjo's acceptance of the post of prime minister provoked the CAR to break the opposition alliance and refuse to join the Kodjo government.

Kodjo was then forced to form a governing coalition with the RPT. Kodjo's government emphasized economic recovery, building democratic institutions and the rule of law and the return of Togolese refugees abroad.

In the June presidential election, the government prevented citizens from effectively exercising the right to vote. The Interior Ministry declared Eyadema the winner with 52% of the vote in the 1998 election; however, serious irregularities in the government's conduct of the election strongly favored the incumbent and appear to have affected the outcome materially.

Although the government did not obstruct the functioning of political opponents openly, the President used the strength of the military and his government allies to intimidate and harass citizens and opposition groups. The government and the state remained highly centralized: President Eyadema's national government appointed the officials and controlled the budgets of all subnational government entities, including prefectures and municipalities, and influenced the selection of traditional chiefs.

The second multi-party legislative elections of Eyadema's 33-year rule were held on March 21. However, the opposition boycotted the election, in which the ruling party won 79 of the 81 seats in the National Assembly. Those two seats went to candidates from little-known independent parties. Procedural problems and significant fraud, particularly misrepresentation of voter turnout marred the legislative elections.

After the legislative election, the government announced that it would continue to pursue dialog with the opposition. In June, the RPT and opposition parties met in Paris, in the presence of facilitators representing France, Germany, the European Union, and La Francophonie (an international organization of French-speaking countries), to agree on security measures for formal negotiations in Lome.

In July, the government and the opposition began discussions, and on July 29, all sides signed an accord called the "Lome Framework Agreement," which included a pledge by President Eyadema that he would respect the constitution and not seek another term as president after his current one expired in 2003. The accord also called for the negotiation of a legal status for opposition leaders, as well as for former heads of state (such as their immunity from prosecution for acts in office). In addition, the accord addressed the rights and duties of political parties and the media, the safe return of refugees, and the security of all citizens. The accord also contained a provision for compensating victims of political violence.

The President also agreed to dissolve the National Assembly in March and hold new legislative elections, which would be supervised by an independent national election commission (CENI) and which would use the single-ballot method to protect against some of the abuses of past elections.

Because of funding problems and disagreements between the government and opposition, the elections were again delayed, this time until March.

In May, the government scrapped CENI, blaming the opposition for its inability to function. In its stead, the government appointed seven magistrates to oversee preparations for legislative elections. Not surprisingly, the opposition announced it would boycott them.

Held in October, as a result of the opposition's boycott the government party won more than two-thirds of the seats in the National Assembly. In December , Eyadema's government used this rubber-stamp parliament to amend Togo's constitution, allowing President Eyadema to run for an "unlimited" number of terms. A further amendment stated that candidates must reside in the country for at least 12 months before an election, a provision that barred the participation in the upcoming presidential election of popular Union des Forces du Progres (UFC) candidate, Gilchrist Olympio, who had been in exile since 1992.

On April 14, the Government of Togo signed an agreement with the European Union that included 22 commitments the Government of Togo must honor as a precondition for resumption of EU aid. Among the most important of these commitments are a constructive national dialogue between the Government of Togo and the traditional opposition parties, and free and democratic legislative elections.

By November, Togo had made modest progress on some commitments, releasing 500 prisoners, removing prison sentences from most provisions of the Press Code, and initiating a dialogue with the core opposition parties. Consultations were ongoing with the European Union with regard to when and how to resume development cooperation.

On Friday, February 4, President Gnassingbe Eyadema died. In an unconstitutional move, the military leadership swore in as President Faure Gnassingbe, the late President Eyadema's son. Immediate condemnation by African leaders followed by sanctions of the Economic Community of West African States and the African Union combined with pressure from the international community led finally to a decision on February 25 for Faure Gnassingbe to step down.

Protest efforts by the public included a large demonstration in Lomé that was permitted to proceed peacefully. Prior to stepping down, Gnassingbe was selected as leader of the ruling party and named as a candidate in the announced presidential elections to choose a successor to Eyadema. Abass Bonfoh, National Assembly Vice President, was selected to serve as Speaker of the National Assembly and therefore simultaneously became interim President. Real power apparently was retained by Gnassingbe as he continued to use the offices of the President while the interim President operated from the National Assembly.

Deeply flawed elections were held in April, marred by violence and widespread accusations of vote tampering, and causing tens of thousands of Togolese to flee to neighboring Benin and Ghana.

Faure Gnassingbe was pronounced the winner, and was pressed by the international community--including regional heads of state--to form a government of national unity, including key opposition figures. After Gnassingbe failed to reach agreement with the opposition, he named as Prime Minister Edem Kodjo, a founder of the ruling RPT and former OAU Secretary-General and Togolese Prime Minister. Kodjo subsequently named a Cabinet that kept security-related ministries in the hands of the RPT and did not include any representatives from the genuine opposition.

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

• adult prevalence rate: 4.1% (2003 est.) (Compare to other countries)
• people living with HIV/AIDS: 110,000 (2003 est.) (Compare to other countries)

• total: 66.61 deaths/1,000 live births
  male: 74.24 deaths/1,000 live births
  female: 58.76 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
• (Compare to other countries)

• 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)

• total population: 52.64 years
  male: 50.64 years
  female: 54.7 years (2005 est.)
• (Compare to other countries)

• total population: 60.9%
  male: 75.4%
  female: 46.9% (2003 est.)

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• noun: Togolese (singular and plural)
  adjective: Togolese

• 5,681,519
  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 2005 est.)
• (Compare to other countries)

• 2.17% (2005 est.)

• indigenous beliefs 51%, Christian 29%, Muslim 20%

School enrollment
(% relevant age group) From UNESCO.

• Net primary enrollment: 91.2% (2000)
• Net secondary enrollment: NA

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• 4.61 children born/woman (2005 est.)
• (Compare to other countries)

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• 5 regions: De La Kara, Des Plateaux, Des Savanes, Du Centre, Maritime

• Lome

• 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; popular elections in April 2005 validated the succession
  head of government: Prime Minister Edem KODJO (since 8 June 2005)
  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 24 April 2005 (next to be held NA); prime minister appointed by the president

• republic under transition to multiparty democratic rule

• Jan 1 - New Year's Day
• Jan 13 - Liberation Day
• Tabaski (Feast of the Sacrifice) (changes)
• Easter Monday (changes)
• Mouloud (Anniversary of Buddha's birthday) (changes)
• Apr 27- Independence Day
• May 1 - Labour Day
• Ascension - changes
• Whit Monday (changes)
• Jun 21 - Day of the Martyrs
• Aug 15 - Assumption
• Sep 24 - Anniversary of the Failed Attack on Lomé
• Nov 1 - All Saints' Day
• Eid al-Fitr (End of Ramadan) (changes)
• Dec 25 Christmas Day

• 27 April 1960 (from French-administered UN trusteeship)

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

• Lomé;Sokodé;Kara;Kpalimé;Atakpamé

• Salut à toi, pays de nos aïeux (Click here for full anthem)

• 9 (2004 est.)(2 paved, 7 unpaved) (Compare to other countries)

• total: 7,520 km
  paved: 2,376 km
  unpaved: 5,144 km (1999 est.)
• (Compare to other countries)

• Kpeme, Lome

Fixed lines
& mobile telephones
(per 1,000 people)
(From ITU)

• 20 m (2000)
• 56.1m (2003)

• +228

• .tg

• 210,000 (2003)
• (Compare to other countries)

Press

• Carrefour
• Le Combat du Peuple
• Le Crocodile
• Le Regard
• Motion d'Information
• Nouveau Combat
• Togo-Presse

TV

• Media Plus
• Television Togolaise (TVT)

Radio

• Metropolys Lome
• Radio Kara
• Radio Lome
• Radio Nana FM
• Radio Nostalgie
• Radio Zephyr

• 21.6 (2000)
• 32 (2003)

• .10 (2000)
• NA (2003)

• 60,600 (2003)
• (Compare to other countries)

• 220,000 (2003)
• (Compare to other countries)

• UTC/GMT 0 (no offset)
• Find the local time: Time and Date

• coffee, cocoa, cotton, yams, cassava (tapioca), corn, beans, rice, millet, sorghum; livestock; fish

• Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States
• Currency converter

• Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003), 696.99 (2002), 733.04 (2001), 711.98 (2000)

• reexports, cotton, phosphates, coffee, cocoa

• Burkina Faso 16%, Ghana 14.7%, Benin 9.2%, China 8.1%, Mali 7.5%, Netherlands 6.6%, Taiwan 4.2% (2004)

• calendar year

• purchasing power parity parity - $8.684 billion (2004 est.)
• (Compare to other countries)

• 3% (2004 est.)
• (Compare to other countries)

• machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products

• China 24.7%, France 16.1%, Malaysia 5.3%, Italy 4.6%, Germany 4.6%, UK 4.3%, Netherlands 4.2%, Thailand 4.2%, Belgium 4.2% (2004)

• phosphate mining, agricultural processing, cement; handicrafts, textiles, beverages

• 1% (2004 est.)
• (Compare to other countries)

• 32% (1989 est.)

• NA (2003 est.)
• (Compare to other countries)

• Akloa Falls
• Lomé - the capital
• Marché des Féticheurs
• Tamberma Valley
• Togoville - on northern banks of Lake Togo

• 61,000 (2003)

• Visitors except nationals of the member countries of ECOWAS must have a visa.

• Koutammakou, the Land of the Batammariba (2004)

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• Carrefour
• Le Combat du Peuple
• Le Crocodile
• Le Regard
• Motion d'Information
• Nouveau Combat
• Togo-Presse