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

Geographic coordinates: 8 00 N, 1 10 E

Map references: Africa

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

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than West Virginia

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

Land use:
arable land : 38%
permanent crops: 7%
permanent pastures: 4%
forests and woodland: 17%
other : 34% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 70 sq km (1998 est.)

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; recent droughts affecting agriculture

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
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Population: 5,285,501 (July 2002 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years : 45.1% (male 1,195,052; female 1,187,014)
15-64 years:52.4% (male 1,351,345; female 1,420,617)
65 years and over: 2.5% (male 56,270; female 75,203) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.48% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 36.11 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 11.3 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 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:0.75 male(s)/female
total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 69.32 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 54.02 years
male:52.03 years
female : 56.07 years (2002 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.14 children born/woman (2002 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: iindigenous 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: 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

Data code: TO

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, Centrale, 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 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: uunicameral 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: ppercent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - RPT 79, independents 2
note: aTogo'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, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ITU, MINURSO, NAM, OAU, OIC (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIH, UPU, WADB, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Akoussoulelou BODJONA
chancery: 2208 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 234-4212
FAX : [1] (202) 232-3190

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Karl HOFMANN
embassy: Rue Pelletier Caventou and Rue Vauban, Lome
mailing address: B. P. 852, Lome
telephone: [228] 21 77 17, 21 29 91 through 21 29 94
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. Some basic foodstuffs must still be imported. Cocoa, coffee, and cotton generate about 40% of export earnings, with cotton being the most significant cash crop despite falling prices on the world market. 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 XOF currency by 50% provided an important impetus to renewed structural adjustment. In the industrial sector, phosphate mining is by far the most important activity. Togo is the world's fourth largest producer, and geological advantages keep production costs low. The recently privatized mining operation, Office Togolais des Phosphates (OTP), is slowly recovering from a steep fall in prices in the early 1990's, but continues to face the challenge of tough foreign competition, exacerbated by weakening demand. Togo serves as a regional commercial and trade center. It continues to expand its duty-free export-processing zone (EPZ), launched in 1989, which has attracted enterprises from France, Italy, Scandinavia, the US, India, and China and created jobs for Togolese nationals. 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. Progress depends on following through on privatization, increased openness in government financial operations, progress towards legislative elections, and possible downsizing of the military, on which the regime has depended to stay in place. Lack of large-scale foreign aid, deterioration of the financial sector, energy shortages, and depressed commodity prices continue to constrain economic growth. The takeover of the national power company by a Franco-Canadian consortium in 2000 should ease the energy crisis.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $7.6 billion (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 2.2% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,500 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture:42%
industry: 21%
services: 37% (2001 est.)

Inflation rate - consumer price index:2.3% (2001 est.)

Labor force:
total: 1.74 million (1996)
by occupation: agriculture 65%, industry 5%, services 30% (1998 est.)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget:
revenues: $232 million
expenditures: $252 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997 est.)

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

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity - capacity: NA kW

Electricity - production: 97 million kWh (2000)
note: imports electricity from Ghana

Electricity - consumption per capita: 525.21 million kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products: coffee, cocoa, cotton, yams, cassava (tapioca), corn, beans, rice, millet, sorghum; meat; annual fish catch of 10,000-14,000 tons

Exports:
total value:$306 million (f.o.b., 2001)
commodities: phosphates, cotton, coffee, cocoa
partners : Benin 12%, Nigeria 9%, Belgium 5%, Ghana 4% (2000)

Imports:
total value: $420 million (f.o.b., 2001)
commodities : machinery and equipment, consumer goods, food, chemical products
partners: Ghana 26%, France 11%, China 7%, Cote d'Ivoire 7% (2000)

Debt - external: $1.5 billion (1999)

Economic aid:
recipient: $201.1 million (1995)

Currency: 1 Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); = 100 centimes

Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 741.79 (January 2002), 733.04 (2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997); note - from 1 January 1999, the XOF is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF per euro

Fiscal year: calendar year

Telephones: 25,000 (1997)

Telephone system: fair system based on network of microwave radio relay routes supplemented by open-wire lines
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

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

Radios: 940,000 (1997)

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

Televisions: 73,000 (1997)

Railways:
total: 525 km
narrow gauge : 525 km 1.000-m gauge(2001)

Highways:
total:7,520 km
paved: 2,376 km
unpaved: 5,144 km (1996)

Waterways: 50 km Mono river

Ports and harbors: Kpeme, Lome

Merchant marine: none

Airports: 9 (2001)

Airports - with paved runways:
total : 2
2,438 to 3,047 m:2 (2001)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 4
914 to 1,523 m : 5
under 914 m:2 (2001)

Military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Gendarmerie

Military manpower - availability:
males age 15-49:1,220,758 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service:
males : 640,280 (2002 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $21.9 million (FY01)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.8% (FY01)

Disputes - international: Benin accuses Togo of moving boundary markers and stationing troops in its territory

Illicit drugs: transit hub for Nigerian heroin and cocaine traffickers