Togo is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. In the south, the country owns a small part of the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital of the country, Lome, is located.
Etymology
The toponym "Togo", according to one version, comes from
the word in the Ewe language, which means "area on the other side of the
lagoon." According to another version, the name comes from the hydronym
Togo. In 1905, the German colonial authorities named their colony
Togoland, and in 1960 the country declared independence and received the
name "Togolese Republic".
Story
Little is known about the
ancient history of Togo. Archaeological finds indicate that the ancient
tribes knew how to make pottery and process iron. In the middle of the
15th century, the Portuguese arrived here, and the slave trade was
established. At the end of the 18th century, the city of Lome was
founded on the site of the settlement of the Ewe people.
In 1884,
Gustav Nachtigal signed an agreement with several local leaders to
establish a protectorate of the German Empire over Togo, along with part
of the territory of modern Ghana. Its borders were determined after the
capture by German troops of the interior of the country and the
conclusion of agreements with France and Great Britain. On January 1,
1905, the territory of modern Togo was declared the German colony of
Togoland.
During the First World War, Togoland was occupied by
Great Britain and France, and the Anglo-French Condominium was
proclaimed. On December 7, 1916, the condominium broke up, there was a
division into the English and French zones. On July 20, 1922, Great
Britain received a mandate from the League of Nations to govern the
western part of Togo, and France - the eastern part. In 1945, the
country received the right to send three representatives to the French
Parliament. After the Second World War, the UN trusteeship regime was
introduced. Management was retained by Great Britain and France.
On October 28, 1956, after a referendum, Togo received the official
status of an autonomous republic within France. In February 1958, France
granted Togo the status of a republic, retaining the right to control
matters of defense, foreign relations and finances. In April 1958, the
Togo Unity Committee party won the elections to the Chamber of Deputies.
The new government was headed by Silvanus Olympio.
On April 27,
1960, Togo declared independence. Silvanus Olympio became the President
of the Republic in 1961 with 99% of the votes. The opposition boycotted
the elections. On April 9, 1961, the Constitution of the Togolese
Republic was adopted, according to which the National Assembly became
the supreme legislative body of Togo.
In December 1961, the
leaders of the opposition parties were arrested, accused of preparing an
anti-government conspiracy, and a decree was issued dissolving the
opposition parties. On January 13, 1963, a military coup took place,
during which Silvanus Olympio was killed. A state of emergency was
declared in the country. The military transferred power to the interim
government headed by Nicholas Grunitsky. In May 1963, Grunitsky was
elected President of the Republic, the new leadership pursued a policy
of developing relations with France.
On January 13, 1967,
Gnassingbe Eyadema came to power as a result of a military coup. A ban
was imposed on the activities of political parties, in November 1969 the
party "Unification of the Togolese people" was created and a one-party
system was introduced. After the military regime, Eyadema was elected
President of the Republic, in 1986 Eyadema was re-elected as President
of Togo.
In 1983, a privatization program was launched, and in
1991, the activities of political parties were allowed. In total,
Eyadema ruled the country for 38 years, being re-elected several times.
In April 2004, negotiations were held in Brussels between the European
Union and Togo on the resumption of cooperation. In 1993, the European
Commission froze the partnership, treating Eyadema's re-election in
1993, 1998 and 2003 as a power grab.
Eyadema passed away on
February 5, 2005. According to the constitution, all the borders of the
country were closed, and the chairman of the National Assembly, Fambare
Ouattare Natchabé, was to become the acting chairman. But since he was
in Benin, the military handed over power to Eyadema's son, For Essozimnu
Gnassingbe. The constitution was amended to allow Gnassingbe to remain
in office as President of the Republic until 2008.
International
organizations called the actions of the military a coup d'état and
called for elections to be held in Togo. In February 2005, a protest was
held in Lome against the unconstitutional change of power. The
government of Togo responded by banning demonstrations.
Gnassingbe was "re-elected" as president in 2010, 2015 and 2020.
Geography
The country covers an area of 56,785 km². It
stretches for 579 km from south to north, and at its widest point it
has a width of 160 km. The northern part of the country is occupied
by plains, the central part - by a plateau with an average height of
200-400 meters above sea level, in the south - by coastal plains
with lagoons and low blocky mountains that cross the country from
southwest to northeast.
The highest point in Togo is Mount
Agu - 987 meters, which is part of the Atacora mountain system.
The longest river is Mono, its length is 467 kilometers. The
river flows south. Along the mouth of the river runs the border with
Benin. Lake Togo is the largest in the country, with an area of
about 50 km² and a depth of 2.5 meters.
On the territory of
Togo there are minerals, for example: aluminum, bauxite, graphite,
dolomites, iron, gold, limestone, kaolin, marble, phosphates, salt,
uranium and chromium.
The climate is equatorial, hot. Humid
in the south, semi-dry in the north. The average annual temperature
is +24-27 °C.
Most of the country is covered with savannahs,
10% of the territory of Togo is forests. Currently, there is a
reduction in forest tracts, this is already leading to the
impoverishment of the fauna.