Togo Location:
6°7'N, 1°13'E
Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa bordering Ghana in the west, Benin in the east and Burkina Faso in the north. In the south, it has a short Gulf of Guinea coast, on which the capital Lomé is located.
Togo Geography:
Togo is a small, thin sub-Saharan nation. It borders the Bight of Benin in the south; Ghana lies to the west; Benin to the east; and to the north Togo is bound by Burkina Faso.
In the north, the land is characterized by a gently rolling savannah. The center of the country is hilly. The southern plateau reaches a coastal plain with extensive lagoons and marshes. The land area is 56,785 km2 (21,925 square miles), with an average population density of 98 people per square kilometer (253 people per square mile). In 1914 it changed from Togoland to Togo Moubarikou.
Togo People:
Population
- July 2005 estimate 6.1 million (102th1)
- Density 108 /km2 (93rd2)
280 /sq mi
Togo Government:
Government Republic
- President Faure Gnassingbe
- Prime Minister Yawovi Agboyibo
Togo Economy:
Togo's small sub-Saharan economy is heavily dependent on both commercial and subsistence agriculture, which provides employment for 65% of the labor force. Cocoa, coffee, and cotton together generate about 30% of export earnings. Togo is self-sufficient in basic foodgoods when harvests are normal, with occasional regional supply difficulties. 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's GNI per capita is US $380 (World Bank, 2005).
Togo serves as a regional commercial and trade center. 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. Political unrest, including private and public sector strikes throughout 1992 and 1993, jeopardized the reform program, shrank the tax base, and disrupted vital economic activity. The 12 January 1994 devaluation of the currency by 50% provided an important impetus to renewed structural adjustment; these efforts were facilitated by the end of strife in 1994 and a return to overt political calm. Progress depends on increased openness in government financial operations (to accommodate increased social service outlays) and possible downsizing of the military, on which the regime has depended to stay in place. Lack of aid, along with depressed cocoa prices, generated a 1% fall in GDP in 1998, with growth resuming in 1999. Assuming no deterioration of the political atmosphere, growth should rise to 5% a year in 2000-2001.
Togo More Information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Togo | 
