Togo, formally the Togolese Republic (French: République togolaise) is a small country in western Africa. The country is about a third larger than the Netherlands and has 8 million inhabitants. The capital is Lome.

Geography

According to ABBREVIATIONFINDER, Togo is a small country in West Africa, located on the Atlantic Ocean, sandwiched between Ghana to the west and Benin to the east. Togo borders Burkina Faso to the north. The country stretches 550 kilometers inland from the coast, but only 70 to 120 kilometers wide. The coastal region is low-lying and densely populated, the entire coastal region is built-up, including the capital Lomé. Directly behind the beach are lagoons and swamps. Further north this gradually changes into meadows and savanna. Togo is not very forested. The west is more mountainous. The 986 meter high Mount Agou is the highest point in Togo.

The country has a tropical climate, which becomes drier towards the north. The average maximum temperature in Lomé is between 28 and 32 °C all year round. Precipitation peaks in summer, especially in June. In Lomé there is 877 mm of precipitation per year, comparable to the Netherlands, but clearly differently distributed over the year.

Demographics

Togo grew from 1.4 million inhabitants in 1950 to 5 million in 2000 and 8 million today. See Togo population density. The capital Lomé is the only major city with 1.5 million inhabitants. More than 2.5 million inhabitants live in the coastal region. After that, the country has another six cities with 50,000 to 100,000 inhabitants.

About 40 ethnic groups live in Togo. The country is therefore also multilingual, but the only official language is French. The indigenous languages ​​Ewé and Kabiyé are the most widely spoken.

Economy

Togo is one of the least developed countries in the world, with a low income. The country has relatively diverse exports consisting of agricultural products, commodities and mining products. However, a large part of the export has a low value. About half of the population lives in agriculture, largely for their own food supply. Mining accounts for a third of GDP, especially phosphate is widely available.

History

From the 16th century the coastal region was visited by European traders, this was an important location in the slave trade. The region was also known as the Slave Coast. In 1884, Germany declared the area a protectorate and renamed it Togoland. After the First World War, the area came under French rule. During the German colonial period, Togo’s infrastructure was developed with railways and agriculture. Togo became independent from France in 1960. Between 1967 and 2005, the country was a dictatorship, governed by one of the longest-serving presidents in history. The transition to democracy is not yet complete.

Road Network

The road network of Togo is not very extensive due to its geography, there is one north-south axis, the N1, which is completely paved and runs from Lomé to the border with Burkina Faso. The N2 forms the coastal route from Accra towards Cotonou. Several roads branch off from the N1, but not all of them are paved. Few routes have a passing importance, only the N5 forms a route between Accra and central Togo. In the north of Togo there is also an east-west axis from northern Ghana to northern Benin. There are no motorways in Togo and the road network of the capital Lomé is not particularly developed, especially compared to larger cities in the region such as Abidjan and Lagos. However, since 2010, several important city roads have been widened to 2×2 lanes.

A 2×2 bypass was built around Lomé in the period 2014-2018. This has two grade separated connections, the first from Togo. A new toll road has also been constructed from the north of Lomé to a new border crossing with Ghana. This resulted in a 35 kilometer long 2×2 route from the port of Lomé to the border with Ghana. This is an alternate route of the Trans-Africa Highway 7.

Road numbering

The National roads have the prefix N and the numbering is not in any particular system, but higher numbers are often less important and are in the north.

Routes

• N1 Lomé – Atakpamé – Kara – Sinkassé (gr. Burkina Faso): 690 km
• N2 Lomé (gr. Ghana) – Aného (gr. Benin): 50 km
• N3 ?
• N4 ?
• N5 Lomé – Kpalimé – Atakpamé: 180 km
• N6 Notsé – Tohoun (gr. Benin): 40 km
• N7 ?
• N8 ?
• N9 Notsé – Kpalimé: 40 km

Signage

Signage seems to be virtually non-existent, and what it says is very old. Blue signs with white letters are used.