Background
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[ Geography ] [ People ] [ Government ] [ Economy ] [ Communications ] [ Transportation ] [ Military ]

Geography

Background: French Togoland became Togo in 1960. General 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. Most bilateral and multilateral aid to Togo remains frozen.

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

Geographic coordinates: 8 00 N, 1 10 E

Area:
total : 56,790 sq km
land: 54,390 sq km
water: 2,400 sq km

Land boundaries:
total: 1,647 km
border countries: 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
highest point: Pic Baumann 986 m

Natural resources: phosphates, limestone, marble, arable land

Land use:
arable land: 44.2%
permanent crops: 2.11%
other: 53.69% (2005)

Irrigated land: 70 sq km (2003)

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

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

Environment - 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

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People

Population: 4,735,610 (July 1997 est.), 5,018,502 (July 2000 est.), 5,285,501 (2002), 5,858,673 (July 2008 est.)
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, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected

Age structure:
0-14 years: 41.7% (male 1,226,320/female 1,218,182)
15-64 years: 55.6% (male 1,588,354/female 1,666,274)
65 years and over: 2.7% (male 63,508/female 96,035) (2008 est.)

Population growth rate: 3.54% (1997 est.), 2.7% (2000 est.), 2.48% (2002 est.); 2.717% (2008 est.)

Birth rate: 45.71 births/1,000 population (1997 est.), 38.02 births/1,000 population (2000 est.), 36.11 births/1,000 population (2002 est.); 36.66 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate: 10.32 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.), 11.18 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.), 11.3 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.); 9.48 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.66 male(s)/female
total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 82.1 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.), 71.55 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.), 69.32 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.); 57.66 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 58.28 years
male: 56.2 years
female: 60.43 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate: 6.68 children born/woman (1997 est.), 5.5 children born/woman (2000 est.), 5.14 children born/woman (2002 est.); 4.85 children born/woman (2008 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%

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

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)

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 60.9%
male: 75.4%
female: 46.9% (2003 est.)

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Government

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

National 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: universal adult

Executive branch:
chief of state: President Gen. Gnassingbe EYADEMA (since 14 April 1967)
head of government: Prime Minister Agbeyome KODJO (since 29 August 2000)
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%, Gilchrist OLYMPIO 34.12%, other 13.75%

Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (81 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 21 March 1999 (next was tentatively scheduled for March 2002, however, it was postponed with no new date given)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - RPT 79, independents 2
note: note: Togo's main opposition parties boycotted the election because of EYADEMA's alleged manipulation of 1998 presidential polling; in March of 1999, opposition parties entered into negotiations with the president over the establishment of an independent electoral commission and a new round of legislative elections

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

Political parties and leaders: Action Committee for Renewal or CAR [Yawovi AGBOYIBO]; Coordination des Forces Nouvelles or CFN [Joseph KOFFIGOH]; Democratic Convention of African Peoples or CDPA [Leopold GNININVI]; Party for Democracy and Renewal or PDR [Zarifou AYEVA]; Patriotic Pan-African Convergence or CPP [Edem KODJO]; Rally of the Togolese People or RPT [President Gen. Gnassingbe EYADEMA]; Union of Forces for Change or UFC [Gilchrist OLYMPIO (in exile), Jean Pierre FABRE, general secretary in Togo]; Union of Independent Liberals or ULI [Jacques AMOUZOU]
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: ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, Entente, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ITU, MIPONUH, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

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

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Economy

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. 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 working with donors to write a Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) that could eventually lead to a debt reduction plan. Economic growth remains marginal due to declining cotton production, underinvestment in phosphate mining, and strained relations with donors.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $4.45 billion (1996 est.), $8.6 billion (1999 est.), $7.6 billion (2001 est.); $5.132 billion (2007 est.)

GDP - 6% (1996 est.), 4% (1999 est.), 2.2% (2001 est.); 2.5% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $970 (1996 est.), $1,700 (1999 est.), $1,500 (2001 est.); $900 (2007 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 40%
industry: 25%
services: 35% (2003 est.)

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

Inflation rate - consumer prices: 7.2% (1995 est.), 3% (1999 est.), 2.3% (2001 est.); 3% (2007 est.)

Labor force: 1.302 million (1998)

Budget:
revenues: $478.1 million
expenditures: $554.1 million (2007 est.)

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

Industrial production growth rate: 3% (2007 est.)

Electricity - production: 97 million kWh (2000); 176 million kWh (2005)

Electricity - consumption: 434 million kWh (1998), 525.21 million kWh (2000); 576 million kWh (2005)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1998)

Electricity - imports: 350 million kWh (1998), 486 million kWh; note - electricity supplied by Ghana (2005)

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

Exports:
total value: $265 (f.o.b., 1996 est.), $400 million (f.o.b., 1999), $306 million (f.o.b., 2001); $675 million f.o.b. (2007 est.)
commodities: phosphates, cotton, coffee, cocoa
partners: Ghana 16.7%, Burkina Faso 14.4%, Benin 9.1%, Belgium 6.1%, Mali 5.8%, Germany 5.4%, India 4.6%, Netherlands 4.6% (2006)

Imports:
total value: $350 million (c.i.f., 1996 est.), $450 million (f.o.b., 1999); $420 million (f.o.b., 2001); $1.181 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
commodities: machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products
partners: China 29.8%, UK 10.9%, France 8.9%, Netherlands 6%, Belgium 5.8%, US 4.6%, Estonia 4.2% (2006)

Debt - external: $1.5 billion (1994); $1.3 billion (1997); $1.5 billion (1999); $2 billion (2005)

Economic aid:
recipient: $201.1 million (1995); ODA, $86.71 million (2005 est.)

Currency: 1 Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes; note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States

Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 482.71 (2007), 522.59 (2006), 527.47 (2005), 528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003)
note: since 1 January 1999, the XOF franc has been pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF francs per euro

Fiscal year: calendar year

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Communications

Telephones: 12,000 (1987 est.), 22,000 (1995); 25,000 (1997); 82,100 (2006)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 708,000 (2006)

Telephone system: 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; combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity roughly 15 telephones per 100 persons
international: country code - 228; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean), 1 Symphonie

Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 9, shortwave 4 (1998)

Radios: 795,000 (1992 est.), 940,000 (1997); 940,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 3 (plus two repeaters) (1997)

Televisions: 24,000 (1992 est.), 73,000 (1997)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1 (1999); 3 (2001)

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Transportation

Railways:
total: 568 km
narrow gauge: 568 km 1.000-m gauge (2006)

Highways:
total: 7,520 km
paved: 2,376 km
unpaved: 5,144 km (1999)

Waterways: 50 km (seasonally on Mono River depending on rainfall) (2005)

Ports and harbors: Kpeme, Lome

Airports: 9 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways:
total: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 7
914 to 1,523 m: 4
under 914 m: 3 (2007)

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Military

Military branches: Togolese Armed Forces: Ground Forces, Togolese Navy (Marine du Togo), Togolese Air Force (Force Aerienne Togolaise, FAT), National Gendarmerie (2008)

Military manpower - availability:
males age 16-49: 1,365,505
females age 16-49: 1,374,993 (2008 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service:
males age 16-49: 897,195
females age 16-49: 913,327 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 2.9% (1993); 2% (FY96); 1.8% (FY01); 1.6% (2005 est.)

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