1995 Edition

Area

total area: 56,790 sq km land area: 54,390 sq km comparative area: slightly smaller than West Virginia

Climate

tropical; hot, humid in south; semiarid in north

Coastline

56 km

Environment

current issues: deforestation attributable to slash-and-burn agriculture and the use of wood for fuel; recent droughts affecting agriculture natural hazards: hot, dry harmattan wind can reduce visibility in north during winter; periodic droughts international agreements: party to - Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Tropical Timber 94

International disputes

none

Irrigated land

70 sq km (1989 est.)

Land boundaries

total 1,647 km, Benin 644 km, Burkina 126 km, Ghana 877 km

Land use

arable land: 25% permanent crops: 1% meadows and pastures: 4% forest and woodland: 28% other: 42%

Location

Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Benin and Ghana

Map references

Africa

Maritime claims

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 30 nm

Natural resources

phosphates, limestone, marble

Terrain

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

Age structure

0-14 years: 49% (female 1,069,171; male 1,079,999) 15-64 years: 49% (female 1,121,685; male 1,043,000) 65 years and over: 2% (female 51,392; male 45,123) (July 1995 est.)

Birth rate

46.78 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate

11.01 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Ethnic divisions

37 tribes; largest and most important are Ewe, Mina, and Kabye, European and Syrian-Lebanese under 1%

Infant mortality rate

86.5 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Labor force

NA by occupation: agriculture 80% note: about 88,600 wage earners, evenly divided between public and private sectors

Languages

French (official and the language of commerce), Ewe and Mina (the two major African languages in the south), Dagomba and Kabye (the two major African languages in the north)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 57.42 years male: 55.29 years female: 59.6 years (1995 est.)

Literacy

age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.) total population: 43% male: 56% female: 31%

Nationality

noun: Togolese (singular and plural) adjective: Togolese

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Population

4,410,370 (July 1995 est.)

Population growth rate

3.58% (1995 est.)

Religions

indigenous beliefs 70%, Christian 20%, Muslim 10%

Total fertility rate

6.83 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Administrative divisions

23 circumscriptions (circonscriptions, singular - circonscription); Amlame (Amou), Aneho (Lacs), Atakpame (Ogou), Badou (Wawa), Bafilo (Assoli), Bassar (Bassari), Dapango (Tone), Kande (Keran), Klouto (Kloto), Pagouda (Binah), Lama-Kara (Kozah), Lome (Golfe), Mango (Oti), Niamtougou (Doufelgou), Notse (Haho), Pagouda, Sotouboua, Tabligbo (Yoto), Tchamba, Nyala, Tchaoudjo, Tsevie (Zio), Vogan (Vo) note: the 23 units may now be called prefectures (singular - prefecture) and reported name changes for individual units are included in parentheses

Capital

Lome

Constitution

multiparty draft constitution approved by High Council of the Republic 1 July 1992; adopted by public referendum 27 September 1992

Digraph

TO

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Charge d'Affaires Edem Frederic HEGBE chancery: 2208 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 234-4212

Executive branch

chief of state: President Gen. Gnassingbe EYADEMA (since 14 April 1967); election last held 25 August 1993 (next election to be held NA 1998); all major opposition parties boycotted the election; Gen. EYADEMA won 96.5% of the vote head of government: Prime Minister Edem KODJO (since April 1994) cabinet: Council of Ministers; appointed by the president and the prime minister

FAX

[1] (202) 232-3190

[228] 21 79 52

Flag

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

Independence

27 April 1960 (from French-administered UN trusteeship)

Judicial branch

Court of Appeal (Cour d'Appel), Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)

Legal system

French-based court system

Legislative branch

unicameral

Member of

ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, CEAO (observer), ECA, ECOWAS, Entente, FAO, FZ, G-77, GATT, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, MINURSO, NAM, OAU, UN, UNAMIR, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WADB, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Names

conventional long form: Republic of Togo conventional short form: Togo local long form: Republique Togolaise local short form: none former: French Togo

National Assembly

elections last held 6 and 20 February 1994 (next to be held NA); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (81 total) CAR 36, RPT 35, UTD 7, UJD 2, CFN 1 note: the Supreme Court ordered new elections for 3 seats of the Action Committee for Renewal (CAR) and the Togolese Union for Democracy (UTD), lowering their total to 34 and 6 seats, respectively; the remaining 3 seats have not been filled

National holiday

Independence Day, 27 April (1960)

Political parties and leaders

Rally of the Togolese People (RPT), President Gen. Gnassingbe EYADEMA; Coordination des Forces Nouvelles (CFN), Joseph KOFFIGOH; The Togolese Union for Democracy (UTD), Edem KODJO; The Action Committee for Renewal (CAR), Yao AGBOYIBOR; The Union for Democracy and Solidarity (UDS), Antoine FOLLY; The Pan-African Sociodemocrats Group (GSP), an alliance of three radical parties: The Democratic Convention of African Peoples (CDPA), Leopold GNININVI; The Party for Democracy and Renewal (PDR), Zarifou AYEVA; The Pan-African Social Party (PSP), Francis AGBAGLI; The Union of Forces for Change (UFC), Gilchrist OLYMPIO (in exile); Union of Justice and Democracy (UJD), Lal TAXPANDJAN note: Rally of the Togolese People (RPT) led by President EYADEMA was the only party until the formation of multiple parties was legalized 12 April 1991

Suffrage

NA years of age; universal adult

Type

republic under transition to multiparty democratic rule

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: Ambassador Johnny YOUNG (since September 1994) 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

Agriculture

accounts for 49% of GDP; cash crops - coffee, cocoa, cotton; food crops - yams, cassava, corn, beans, rice, millet, sorghum; livestock production not significant; annual fish catch of 10,000-14,000 tons

Budget

revenues: $284 million expenditures: $407 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1991 est.)

Currency

1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes

Economic aid

recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-90), $142 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-90), $2 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $35 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $51 million

Electricity

capacity: 30,000 kW production: 60 million kWh consumption per capita: 83 kWh (1993)

Exchange rates

Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1 - 529.43 (January 1995), 555.20 (1994), 283.16 (1993), 264.69 (1992), 282.11 (1991), 272.26 (1990) note: the official rate is pegged to the French franc, and beginning 12 January 1994, the CFA franc was devalued to CFAF 100 per French franc from CFAF 50 at which it had been fixed since 1948

Exports

$221 million (f.o.b., 1993) commodities: phosphates, cotton, cocoa, coffee partners: EC 40%, Africa 16%, US 1% (1990)

External debt

$1.3 billion (1991)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Illicit drugs

increasingly used as transit hub by heroin traffickers

Imports

$292 million (c.i.f., 1993) commodities: machinery and equipment, consumer goods, food, chemical products partners: EC 57%, Africa 17%, US 5%, Japan 4% (1990)

Industrial production

growth rate 9% (1991 est.); accounts for 20% of GDP

Industries

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

0.5% (1991 est.)

National product

GDP - purchasing power parity - $3.3 billion (1993 est.)

National product per capita

$800 (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate

NA%

Overview

The economy is heavily dependent on subsistence agriculture, which accounts for about half of GDP and provides employment for 80% of the labor force. Primary agricultural exports are cocoa, coffee, and cotton, which together generate about 30% of total export earnings. Togo is self-sufficient in basic foodstuffs when harvests are normal. In the industrial sector phosphate mining is by far the most important activity, although it has suffered from the collapse of world phosphate prices and increased foreign competition. Togo serves as a regional commercial and trade center. The government's decade-long IMF and World Bank supported effort to implement economic reform measures to encourage foreign investment and bring revenues in line with expenditures has stalled. Political unrest, including private and public sector strikes throughout 1992 and 1993, has jeopardized the reform program, shrunk the tax base, and disrupted vital economic activity. Although strikes had ended in 1994, political unrest and lack of funds prevented the government from taking advantage of the 50% currency devaluation of January 1994. Resumption of World Bank and IMF flows will depend on implementation of several controversial moves toward privatization and on downsizing the military, on which the regime depends to stay in power.

Unemployment rate

NA%

Radio

broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 0, shortwave 0 radios: NA

Telephone system

NA telephones; fair system based on network of radio relay routes supplemented by open wire lines local: NA intercity: microwave radio relay and open wire lines international: 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 1 SYMPHONIE earth station

Television

broadcast stations: 3 (relays 2) televisions: NA

Airports

total: 9 with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 with paved runways under 914 m: 2 with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 5

Highways

total: 6,462 km paved: 1,762 km unpaved: unimproved earth 4,700 km

Inland waterways

50 km Mono River

Merchant marine

none

Ports

Kpeme, Lome

Railroads

total: 532 km narrow gauge: 532 km 1.000-m gauge

Branches

Army, Navy, Air Force, Gendarmerie

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $48 million, 2.9% of GDP (1993) ________________________________________________________________________ TOKELAU (territory of New Zealand)

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 936,270; males fit for military service 491,578 (1995 est.)