You are here:
  1. Homepage
  2. » Togo
Togo Flag Icon

Togo Country Guide

Explore Togo in Africa

Togo with the capital city Lomé is located in Africa (Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Benin). It covers some 56,785 square kilometres (slightly smaller than West Virginia) with 5,858,000 citizens.

Interactive map of Togo

The topography includes gently rolling savanna in north with central hills, southern plateau and low coastal plain with extensive lagoons and marshes. The average density of population is approximately 103 per km². The notable climate conditions in Togo can be described as tropical with hot, humid in south and semiarid in north. Possible natural disasters include hot, dry harmattan wind can reduce visibility in north during winter or periodic droughts.

To reach someone in Togo dial +228 prior to a number. There are 178,700 installed telephones. And there are 2,187,000 registered mobile phones. The cellular networks commonly support frequencies of 900 MHz. Websites registered in this country end with the top level domain ".tg". If you want to bring electric equipment on your trip (e.g. laptop power supply), note the local power outlet of 220V - 50Hz.

About the flag and history of Togo

Togo Flag Icon

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 note: uses the popular Pan-African colors of Ethiopia.


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 multi-party 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. In January 2012, Togo assumed a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2012-13 term.

National administrative regions of Togo



Geography Quick-Facts

SummaryContinent: Africa
Neighbours: Benin, Ghana, Burkina Faso
Capital: Lomé
Size56,785 square kilometers (km² or sqkm) or 21,924 square miles (mi² or sqmi)
slightly smaller than West Virginia
Population5,858,000
CurrencyName Franc, Currency Code:XOF
Country Top Level Domain (cTLD).tg
Telephone Country Prefix+228
Mobile Phone Connections2,187,000
Landline Phone Connections178,700

Country Position in World Rankings

Information about single country attributes and how these compare against the rest of the world. The information below is compiled with data from 2013. As such, it may differ a bit to the Information above in the text (which is from 2010).

Geography

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Area56,785 (sq km)126

People and Society

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Population7,154,237 100
Population growth rate2.73 (%)20
Birth rate34.90 (births/1,000 population)26
Death rate7.60 (deaths/1,000 population)111
Maternal mortality rate300.00 (deaths/100,000 live births)39
Infant mortality rate48.28 (deaths/1,000 live births)43
Life expectancy at birth63.62 (years)178
Total fertility rate4.58 (children born/woman)28
Health expenditures7.70 (% of GDP)68
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate3.20 (%)22
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS120,000 38
HIV/AIDS - deaths7,700 28
Obesity - adult prevalence rate4.30 (%)169
Children under the age of 5 years underweight20.50 (%)32
Education expenditures4.60 (% of GDP)91

Economy

Value nameValueWorld Rank
GDP (purchasing power parity)7,024,000,000 161
GDP - real growth rate5.00 (%)65
GDP - per capita (PPP)1,100 213
Labor force2,595,000 111
Investment (gross fixed)25.40 (% of GDP)46
Taxes and other revenues19.80 (% of GDP)165
Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)-3.90 (% of GDP)135
Inflation rate (consumer prices)2.80 (%)65
Central bank discount rate4.25 (%)86
Stock of narrow money954,500,000 150
Stock of broad money1,534,000,000 158
Stock of domestic credit1,119,000,000 154
Industrial production growth rate2.50 (%)106
Current account balance-418,400,000 91
Exports893,800,000 160
Imports1,492,000,000 170
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold678,000,000 146

Energy

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Electricity - production123,000,000 (kWh)191
Electricity - consumption651,000,000 (kWh)162
Electricity - imports683,000,000 (kWh)70
Electricity - installed generating capacity85,000 (kW)172
Electricity - from fossil fuels21.20 (% of total installed capacity)189
Electricity - from hydroelectric plants78.80 (% of total installed capacity)16
Refined petroleum products - consumption28,670 (bbl/day)119
Refined petroleum products - imports6,829 (bbl/day)143
Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy3,166,000 (Mt)139

Communications

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Telephones - main lines in use240,000 125
Telephones - mobile cellular3,105,000 126
Internet hosts1,168 170
Internet users356,300 123

Transportation

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Airports8 162
Railways568 (km)110
Roadways7,520 (km)146
Waterways50 (km)103
Merchant marine61 65

Military

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Military expenditures1.90 (% of GDP)74

Data based on CIA facts book 2010 & 2013, wikipedia, national statistical offices and their census releases

List of current world heritage sites

NameSince
Koutammakou, the Land of the Batammariba
The Koutammakou landscape in north-eastern Togo, which extends into neighbouring Benin, is home to the Batammariba whose remarkable mud tower-houses (Takienta) have come to be seen as a symbol of Togo. In this landscape, nature is strongly associated ...
2004