French Togoland became Togo in 1960. Gen. Gnassingbe EYADEMA, installed as military ruler in 1967, ruled Togo with a heavy hand for almost four decades. Despite the facade of multiparty elections instituted in the early 1990s, the government was largely dominated by President EYADEMA, whose Rally of the Togolese People (RPT) party has maintained power almost continually since 1967 and maintains a majority of seats in today's legislature. Upon EYADEMA's death in February 2005, the military installed the president's son, Faure GNASSINGBE, and then engineered his formal election two months later. Democratic gains since then allowed Togo to hold its first relatively free and fair legislative elections in October 2007. After years of political unrest and condemnation from international organizations for human rights abuses, Togo is finally being re-welcomed into the international community.

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

8 00 N, 1 10 E

Africa

slightly smaller than West Virginia

56 km

tropical; hot, humid in south; semiarid in north

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

phosphates, limestone, marble, arable land

70 sq km (2008)

14.7 cu km (2001)

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

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

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

6,771,993 (July 2011 est.)

2.762% (2011 est.)

35.58 births/1,000 population (2011 est.)

7.96 deaths/1,000 population (July 2011 est.)

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2011 est.)

LOME (capital) 1.593 million (2009)

4.69 children born/woman (2011 est.)

3.2% (2009 est.)

120,000 (2009 est.)

7,700 (2009 est.)

urban: 87% of population

rural: 41% of population

total: 60% of population

urban: 13% of population

rural: 59% of population

total: 40% of population (2008)

urban: 24% of population

rural: 3% of population

total: 12% of population

urban: 76% of population

rural: 97% of population

total: 88% of population (2008)

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

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

French (official, 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)

4.6% of GDP (2009)

republic under transition to multiparty democratic rule

5 regions (regions, singular - region); Centrale, Kara, Maritime, Plateaux, Savanes

27 April 1960 (from French-administered UN trusteeship)

Independence Day, 27 April (1960)

adopted by public referendum 27 September 1992

customary law system

accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; non-party state to the ICCt

18 years of age; universal

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

Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel; Supreme Court or Cour Supreme

Action Committee for Renewal or CAR [Yawovi AGBOYIBO]; Democratic Convention of African Peoples or CDPA; Democratic Party for Renewal or PDR; Juvento [Monsilia DJATO]; Movement of the Believers of Peace and Equality or MOCEP; National Alliance for Change or ANC [Jean-Pierre FABRE]; Pan-African Patriotic Convergence or CPP; Rally for the Support for Development and Democracy or RSDD [Harry OLYMPIO]; Rally of the Togolese People or RPT [Faure GNASSINGBE]; Socialist Pact for Renewal or PSR; Union for Democracy and Social Progress or UDPS [Gagou KOKOU]; Union of Forces for Change or UFC [Gilchrist OLYMPIO]

NA

ACP, AfDB, AU, ECOWAS, Entente, FAO, FZ, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OIF, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

five equal horizontal bands of green (top and bottom) alternating with yellow; a white five-pointed star on a red square is in the upper hoist-side corner; the five horizontal stripes stand for the five different regions of the country; the red square is meant to express the loyalty and patriotism of the people; green symbolizes hope, fertility, and agriculture; yellow represents mineral wealth and faith that hard work and strength will bring prosperity; the star symbolizes life, purity, peace, dignity, and Togo's independence

This small, sub-Saharan economy suffers from anemic economic growth and depends heavily 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. 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 follow through on privatization, increased openness in government financial operations, progress toward legislative elections, and continued support from foreign donors. Togo is on track with its IMF Extended Credit Facility and reached a HIPC debt relief completion point in 2010 at which 95% of the country's debt was forgiven. Economic growth prospects remain marginal due to declining cotton production and underinvestment in phosphate mining.

$5.974 billion (2010 est.)

$5.778 billion (2009 est.)

$5.596 billion (2008 est.)

$3.194 billion (2010 est.)

3.4% (2010 est.)

3.2% (2009 est.)

2.4% (2008 est.)

$900 (2010 est.)

$900 (2009 est.)

$900 (2008 est.)

2.595 million (2007)

NA%

32% (1989 est.)

18.2% of GDP (2010 est.)

2.6% (2010 est.)

2% (2009 est.)

4.25% (31 December 2009)

4.75% (31 December 2008)

NA%

$754.5 million (31 December 2010 est.)

$789.7 million (31 December 2009 est.)

$1.238 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$1.306 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$817.7 million (31 December 2010 est.)

$862.4 million (31 December 2009 est.)

$NA

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

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

2.5% (2010 est.)

230 million kWh (2007 est.)

640 million kWh (2007 est.)

0 kWh (2008 est.)

514 million kWh; note - electricity supplied by Ghana (2007 est.)

0 bbl/day (2009 est.)

21,000 bbl/day (2009 est.)

1,547 bbl/day (2005)

15,270 bbl/day (2007 est.)

0 bbl (1 January 2010 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (1 January 2010 est.)

$-339 million (2010 est.)

$-236 million (2009 est.)

$859 million (2010 est.)

$818 million (2009 est.)

reexports, cotton, phosphates, coffee, cocoa

Germany 17.57%, Ghana 12.74%, Burkina Faso 11.02%, India 10.22%, Belgium 7.1%, Benin 6.92%, Netherlands 5.94%, Mali 4.41% (2009)

$1.337 billion (2010 est.)

$1.261 billion (2009 est.)

machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products

China 36.58%, France 8.64%, Netherlands 6.76%, India 5.06%, US 4.4% (2009)

$686 million (31 December 2010 est.)

$703.2 million (31 December 2009 est.)

$NA (31 December 2010)

$1.573 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar -

495.28 (2010)

472.19 (2009)

447.81 (2008)

482.71 (2007)

522.59 (2006)

178,700 (2009)

2.187 million (2009)

2 state-owned TV stations with multiple transmission sites; 5 private TV stations broadcast locally; cable TV service is available; state-owned radio network with multiple stations; several dozen private radio stations and a few community radio stations; transmissions of multiple international broadcasters are obtainable (2007)

.tg

860 (2010)

356,300 (2009)

8 (2010)

50 km (seasonally navigable by small craft on the Mono River depending on rainfall) (2009)

Kpeme, Lome

Togolese Armed Forces (Forces Armees Togolaise, FAT): Ground Forces, Togolese Navy (Marine du Togo), Togolese Air Force (Force Aerienne Togolaise, TAF), National Gendarmerie (2011)

18 years of age for selective compulsory and voluntary military service; 2-year service obligation (2006)

1.6% of GDP (2005 est.)

in 2001, Benin claimed Togo moved boundary monuments - joint commission continues to resurvey the boundary; in 2006, 14,000 Togolese refugees remain in Benin and Ghana out of the 40,000 who fled there in 2005; talks continue between Benin and Togo on funding the Adjrala hydroelectric dam on the Mona River

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