Facts about Togo
Togolese meals usually consist largely of a starch product, such as cassava, maize, rice, yams, or plantains.
The coastal region was a major raiding center for Europeans in search of slaves, earning Togo and the surrounding region the name "The Slave Coast."
The Atakora massif stretches diagonally across Togo from the town of Kpalime northeast; at different points it is known as the Danyi and Akposso plateau, Fetish massif, Fazao mountain, Tchaoudjo massif, and Kabye mountains.
President Gnassingbй Eyadйma, who ruled Togo under a one-party system for nearly 25 of his 37 years in power, died of a heart attack on February 5, 2005.
The vast majority of Togolese, however, live in rural settings in a variety of traditional village designs: centralized, dispersed, on stilts, or in two-story conical mud huts like those of the Tamberma.
The Togolese army closed the nation's borders, forcing the plane to land in nearby Benin.
Kinship is largely patrilineal throughout Togo and remains powerful even among Westernized, urban populations.
Togo is named after the town of Togoville, where Gustav Nachtigal signed a treaty with Mlapa III in 1884, establishing a German protectorate.
During the same period a growing Arab-controlled trans-Saharan trade in slaves, kola, and gold passed through Togo.
The coastal Ewe receive more education and in general dominate Togolese culture.
The coastal region is low-lying, sandy beach backed by the Tokoin plateau, a marsh, and the Lake Togo lagoon.
Ibis, herons, pelicans, parrots and other bird species are found around Lake Togo.
Parts of north Togo were for a long time under the influence of Islamic kingdoms, such as that of Umar Tal of the nineteenth century.
Consequently the Togolese population was overrepresented among those sold into the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Togo's culture reflects the influences of its 37 ethnic groups, the largest and most influential of which are the Ewe, Mina, and Kabre.
Togo's small sub-Saharan economy is heavily dependent on both commercial and subsistence agriculture, which provides employment for 75 percent of the labor force.
Togo imports most of its products from Ghana, which accounted for 26 percent of Togo's total purchases in 2000.
Togo was once part of the area known as the "Slave Coast" in the seventeenth century.
Within Togo, opposition to the takeover culminated in riots in which several hundred died.
The constitution of Togo declared that in the case of the president's death, the speaker of Parliament takes his place and has 60 days to call new elections.
The residents of British Togoland voted to join the Gold Coast as part of the new independent nation of Ghana, and French Togoland became an autonomous republic within the French Union.
The many indigenous languages spoken by Togolese include Ewe and Mina (the two major African languages in the south): Kabiyй (or Kabye) and Dagomba (the two major African languages in the north); and others.
Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a thin sliver of land in Western Africa.
Marriage practices vary throughout Togo according to the ethnic group, though organized religions and the state have altered the ceremonies of even the most secluded villages.
Togo is self-sufficient in basic food goods when harvests are normal, with occasional regional supply difficulties.
A majority of the Togolese population (51 percent) adhere to indigenous animist beliefs.
Togo's head of state, President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbй, visited Angola in June 2007 at the invitation of President Josй Eduardo dos Santos.
On April 24, 2005, Gnassingbй was elected president of Togo, receiving over 60 percent of the vote, according to official results.
In an 1884 treaty signed at Togoville, Germany declared a protectorate over a stretch of territory along the coast and gradually extended its control inland.
The population of the central mountains is perhaps the oldest in Togo, with recent archaeological research dating the presence of the Tchamba, Bogou, and Bassar people as far back as the ninth century.
Traditional systems of social organization are significant in the daily lives of Togolese.
Lake Togo, part of a lagoon separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a narrow coastal strip, is shallow and popular for water sports.
After their outing as World Cup underdogs, Togo gained support throughout the world.
Togo's population is challenged by numerous health problems, including parasitic, intestinal, nutritional, venereal, and respiratory diseases.