Togo

Togo is a country in West Africa on the Gulf of Guinea, bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north, a narrow strip of territory less than 115 kilometers wide between its eastern and western neighbors and covering approximately 57,000 square kilometers. Lome, on the coast, is its capital, and the population was estimated at about 9.6 million in 2024, the 101st-most populous in the world. Germany colonized the territory as Togoland in 1884, and France assumed control after the First World War; Togo declared independence on 27 April 1960, and a 1967 military coup brought Gnassingbe Eyadema to power for 38 years, succeeded by his son Faure Gnassingbe in 2005. Constitutional reforms adopted on 6 May 2024 converted Togo from a presidential to a parliamentary system of government, under which Jean-Lucien Savi de Tove serves as president and Faure Gnassingbe as President of the Council of Ministers, the prime-minister equivalent; Togo is a unitary parliamentary republic operating under continued authoritarian rule. The economy depends largely on agriculture, French is the official language alongside national languages Kabiye and Ewe, and Togo ranks among the world's least developed countries.