Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. The country extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its capital and largest city Lomé is located. Togo covers 57,000 square kilometres, making it one of the smallest countries in Africa, with a population of approximately 8 million, as well as one of the narrowest countries in the world with a width of less than 115 km (71 mi) between Ghana and its slightly larger eastern neighbor, Benin.
The history of Togo can be traced to archaeological finds which indicate that ancient local tribes were able to produce pottery and process tin. During the period from the 11th century to the 16th century, the Ewé, the Mina, the Gun, and various other tribes entered the region. Most of them settled in coastal areas.. The Portuguese arrived in the late 15th century, followed by other European powers. Until the 19th century, the coastal region was a major slave trade centre, earning Togo and the surrounding region the name "The Slave Coast".
Lomé is the capital and largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437 while there were 1,477,660 permanent residents in its metropolitan area as of the 2010 census. Located on the Gulf of Guinea at the southwest corner of the country, with its entire western border along the easternmost point of Ghana's Volta Region, Lomé is the country's administrative and industrial center, which includes an oil refinery. It is also the country's chief port, from where it exports coffee, cocoa, copra, and oil palm kernels.
Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé Eyadéma is a Togolese politician who has been the president of Togo since 2005. Before assuming the presidency, he was appointed by his father, President Gnassingbé Eyadéma, as Minister of Equipment, Mines, Posts, and Telecommunications, serving from 2003 to 2005.
Gilchrist Olympio is a Togolese politician who was a long-time opponent of the regime of Gnassingbé Eyadéma and was President of the Union of Forces for Change (UFC), Togo's main opposition party from the 1990s til 2013. Olympio is the son of Sylvanus Olympio, Togo's first President, who was assassinated in a 1963 coup. He is now an ally of the current regime of Faure Gnassingbe, the son of the late President.
The Africa Liberal Network is an organization composed of 47 political parties from 29 countries in Africa. It is an associated organisation of Liberal International, the political family to which liberal democratic parties belong. The ALN serves to promote liberal objectives and principles throughout the continent.
The Alliance of Democrats for Integral Development is a political party in Togo.
The Democratic Convention of African Peoples is a political party in Togo. It is a consultative member of Socialist International.
The Democratic Alliance for the Fatherland, also known as simply L'Alliance, is a political party in Togo.
The Citizens' Movement for Democracy and Development is a political party in Togo.
Maurice Dahuku Péré was a Togolese politician who was President of the National Assembly of Togo from 1994 to 1999. He was the national president of the Democratic Alliance for the Fatherland, an opposition party.
Jean-Pierre Fabre is a Togolese politician and the President of Togo's main opposition party, the National Alliance for Change. He served for years as Secretary-General of the Union of the Forces of Change (UFC), and he was President of the UFC Parliamentary Group in the National Assembly from 2007 to 10 August 2010. He stood as the main opposition presidential candidate in 2010 and again in 2015.
Isabelle Djibgodi Améganvi Manavi is a Togolese lawyer and politician. She was elected to Togo's parliament in 2007. She is well-known for orchestrating a sex strike in August 2012, protesting electoral reforms that favored the party in power. In 2013, she was elected to the National Assembly a second time.
Parliamentary elections were held in Togo on 25 July 2013. The ruling Union for the Republic (UNIR) won 62 of the 91 seats in the National Assembly.
Presidential elections were held in Togo on 25 April 2015. Initially scheduled for 15 April 2015, the election was postponed by ten days at the recommendation of John Dramani Mahama, President of Ghana and acting chair of the ECOWAS organization. Incumbent President Faure Gnassingbé was seeking a third term and was opposed by four other candidates, including the main opposition leader Jean-Pierre Fabre of the National Alliance for Change. Provisional results by the National Independent Election Commission declared Gnassingbé the winner with about 59% of the vote, whilst Fabre received 35%. Fabre called the results a "crime against national sovereignty", saying he considered himself the new president.
The Let's Save Togo Collective is a political alliance in Togo.
The Organisation to Build a United Togo is a political party in Togo.
The New Togolese Commitment is a political party in Togo.
Presidential elections were held in Togo on 22 February 2020. Incumbent president Faure Gnassingbé of the Union for the Republic (UPR) was re-elected for his fourth term with 71% of the vote in the first round. His closest challenger was Agbéyomé Kodjo, a former prime minister and leader of the newly established Patriotic Movement for Democracy and Development, who received 19% of the vote.
