Togo Facts, Togo Flag -- National Geographic

Fast Facts

Population:: 6,145,000
Capital:: Lomé; 799,000
Area:: 56,785 square kilometers (21,925 square miles)
Language:: French, Ewe, Mina, Kabye, Dagomba
Religion:: Indigenous beliefs, Christian, Muslim
Currency:: CFA franc
Life Expectancy:: 54
GDP per Capita:: U.S. $1,400
Literacy Percent:: 61

Togo is a long, narrow country in West Africa, with an interior plateau rising to mountains in the north. From the late 17th to the mid-19th century, slave traders prowled Togo's forests and savannas. In 1922 the eastern part of the German protectorate of Togoland passed into French hands, becoming independent in 1960. Military rule finally yielded to some democratic reforms amid civil unrest in the 1990s. However, massive electoral fraud has marred recent elections. Togo is a poor agricultural country with a dismal human-rights record.

ECONOMY

Industry: Phosphate mining, agricultural processing, cement, handicrafts
Agriculture: Coffee, cacao, cotton, yams; livestock; fish
Exports: Reexports, cotton, phosphates, coffee, cacao

—Text From National Geographic Atlas of the World, Eighth Edition

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