29 Facts About Togo

Togo officially the Togolese Republic (French: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa.

Togo is a West African country known for its palm-lined beaches and hilltop villages on the Gulf of Guinea.

Koutammakou, home to the Batammariba people, is a traditional 17th-century settlement of fortress-like clay huts.

The multistory Grand Marché bazaar and the Fetish Market in Lomé's capital offer traditional talismans and remedies related to the vodun (voodoo) religion.

Togo is a narrow country located on Africa's west coast. It shares borders with Ghana, Benin, and Burkina Faso, and has a coastline of 51 kilometres (32 miles) on the Gulf of Guinea.

Togo was settled by Ewe clans from Nigeria and Ane people from Ghana and Ivory Coast between the 15th and 17th centuries.

Togo gets its name from the native Ewe language. It is derived from the Ewe words "to" (river) and "godo" (on the other side), implying "on the other side of the river".

This was originally applied to the town of Togodo (now Togoville) on Lake Togo's northern shore. The name, however, was eventually applied to the entire country.

Togo's coastal region, along with the surrounding region, was known as "The Slave Coast" from the 16th to the 18th centuries because it was a major Atlantic slave-trading hub.

Togo was occupied by Denmark in the 1700s before becoming the German protectorate of Togoland in 1884. Germany used forced labour to establish plantations in the area.

During World War I, Britain and France took control of Togoland from Germany and divided it between them.

British Togoland voted in a referendum in 1956 to join the Gold Coast (now Ghana). Before voting for and gaining full independence in 1960, French Togoland was an autonomous republic within the French Union.

Sylvanus Olympio, Togo's first president, was assassinated during a military coup in 1963.

Togo's next president, Gnassingbe Eyadema, was widely assumed to have murdered Olympio. Following Olympio's death, Eyadema seized power and ruled Togo for 38 years until his death in 2005.

Gnassingbe Eyadema was Africa's longest-serving ruler at the time of his death.

Togo's flag consists of three horizontal green stripes, two yellow stripes, and a red square with a white star in the centre. The (five) stripes represent the country's five administrative regions, as well as the land (green) and labour (red) sectors (yellow). The red square symbolises love, fidelity, and charity, while the white star symbolises purity. 

Lomé, Togo's capital city, is regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in West Africa, and has been dubbed the "Paris of West Africa" and the "Pearl of West Africa" due to its wide boulevards and cosmopolitan atmosphere.

The name of the city is derived from the Ewe word "alotime," which means "among the alo plants," referring to the trees that grew around the city's original location.

Togo ranks very low in terms of gender equality. According to the most recent report, it is one of the world's 15 worst countries in terms of gender disparities in health, education, the economy, and politics.

Togo has only one UNESCO World Heritage Site: Koutammakou, the Batammariba Land. The site is made up of mud tower houses known as Takienta, which have become a symbol of Togo.

Togo has a life expectancy of only 60.8 years, placing it 180th out of 195 countries and territories. The average global life expectancy is 72.6 years.

Togo has established itself as a major ivory trading centre. Illegal elephant poaching syndicates collect ivory from all over the region and transport it to Asian destinations. However, recent arrests by anti-trafficking squads have resulted in a better situation.

In 2015, the largest ivory seizure in African history occurred in Lomé, when over four tonnes of elephant tusks were apprehended, representing approximately 800 poached elephants.

The Fazao-Malfakassa National Park in Togo is one of the most topographically diverse parks in West Africa. There are 203 species of mammals, including birds, monkeys, antelopes, and elephants, as well as a variety of landscapes such as forest, savannah, rocky cliffs, and waterfalls.

Togo is a major producer of phosphates, which are used in fertilisers. In 1974, the industry was nationalised, which increased state revenues. However, following the phosphate sector's economic decline in the 1990s, refined petroleum is now the country's largest export.

The Evala festival, an important initiation ritual in the maturation of young men, is one of Togo's most popular cultural events. Every year, hundreds of young men from Togo gather in the town of Kara to wrestle. The festival also includes the consumption of dog meat.

In Togo, the voodoo religion is widely practised. Voodooism does not have the negative connotations that it does in the West throughout the region. Voodooism is considered more than a belief system in Togo, as it encompasses culture, philosophy, language, art, dance, music, and medicine.

Togoville, a small town on the shores of Lake Togo, is the historical centre of voodoo in Togo. The natural beauty spot is a popular swimming spot for Lomé residents.

Football (soccer) is the most popular sport in Togo, with the Sparrowhawks national team. They qualified for their first World Cup in 2006 but did not advance, losing all three of their matches.