The Republic of Togo (La République Togolaise), abbreviated as Togo, is one of the West African countries, bordered by Benin to the east, Burkina Faso to the north, Ghana to the west, and a short coastline to the south facing the Gulf of Guinea. With a land area of 56,785 square kilometers and a capital in Lomé, the country has 30 provinces and 4 prefectures, with a population of 8.5 million (2021) and 41 tribes in the country.
Many independent tribes and small kingdoms were scattered throughout ancient times, and the Portuguese invaded in the 15th century. It became a German colony in 1884. After World War II, the west and east were under British and French trusteeship, respectively. Eastern Togo became an autonomous republic within the French Community in 1956 and Western Togo was incorporated into Ghana in 1957. The Togolese Republic became independent on 27 April 1960.
Togo is one of the world's least developed countries, with a weak economic foundation and a single industrial structure, Togo is a founding member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and a member of ECOWAS, with a GDP of US$8.38 billion in 2021, a per capita GDP of about US$986, and a GDP growth rate of 4.8%.
Ancient Togo was home to many separate tribes and small kingdoms.
Togo
In the 15th century, Portuguese colonists invaded the coastal strip of Togo and traded slaves. German invasion in 1856.
It became a German colony in 1884.
In September 1920, the western and eastern parts of Togo were occupied by Britain and France. After World War II, it was "trusteeship" by Britain and France.
When Ghana became independent in 1957, the British Trusteeship of Western Togo was incorporated into Ghana.
Eastern Togo became an "autonomous republic" within the French Community in August 1956 and became independent on 27 April 1960 as the Togolese Republic. Srfanas Olympio (1901-1963) became president of Togo in 1960 when it became independent. [2]
In January 1963, a military coup d'état took place, in which Olympio was assassinated; In May, non-military President Nicolas Grunyzć (1913-1969) came to power as president.
On 13 January 1967, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Eyadema overthrew the Grunitsky government in a military coup d'état, and Grunizic fled Togo and was killed in a car accident in Côte d'Ivoire. In April, one of the veterans of the 1963 coup, Gnassingbé Eyadema (1937-2005), became president. After Eyadema came to power, he dissolved parliament, abolished the constitution and banned political parties.
On 30 November 1968, the Rassemblement du populaire Togo, the sole political party in the country, was established.
On 30 December 1979, the Constitution was adopted by referendum throughout the country.
The National Assembly was established in 1980. Eyadema served as president until his death in 2005. He was nearly defeated in the 1998 election by Gilchrist Olympio, son of Srfanas Olympio.
On 28 October 2015, he was elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council for the term 2016-2018.
On December 19, 2018, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank announced in Beijing that its Board of Governors had approved a new batch of six prospective members, including Togo.
Togo is located in West Africa, between 6-11° north latitude and 0-2° east longitude, covering an area of 56,785 square kilometers. It borders Benin to the east, Ghana to the west, Burkina Faso to the north and the Gulf of Guinea to the south. The land is more than 600 kilometers long from north to south and 50-150 kilometers wide from east to west, in the shape of a corridor. The coastline is 56 km long.