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| Country | Togo | | | Flag |  | | | Capital | name: Lome geographic coordinates: 6 08 N, 1 13 E time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) | | | Population | 6,019,877 note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2009 est.) | | | GMT | GMT | | | Location | Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Benin, between Benin and Ghana
see map | | | Area | total: 56,785 sq km land: 54,385 sq km water: 2,400 sq km | | | Ethnic groups | African (37 tribes; largest and most important are Ewe, Mina, and Kabre) 99%, European and Syrian-Lebanese less than 1% | | | Religions | Christian 29%, Muslim 20%, indigenous beliefs 51% | | | Languages | French (official and the language of commerce), Ewe and Mina (the two major African languages in the south), Kabye (sometimes spelled Kabiye) and Dagomba (the two major African languages in the north) | | | Government type | republic under transition to multiparty democratic rule | | | National holiday | Independence Day, 27 April (1960) | | | Constitution | multiparty draft constitution approved by High Council of the Republic 1 July 1992, adopted by public referendum 27 September 1992 | | | Legal system | French-based court system; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations | | | Background | French Togoland became Togo in 1960. Gen. Gnassingbe EYADEMA, installed as military ruler in 1967, ruled Togo with a heavy hand for almost four decades. Despite the facade of multiparty elections instituted in the early 1990s, the government was largely dominated by President EYADEMA, whose Rally of the Togolese People (RPT) party has maintained power almost continually since 1967 and maintains a majority of seats in today's legislature. Upon EYADEMA's death in February 2005, the military installed the president's son, Faure GNASSINGBE, and then engineered his formal election two months later. Democratic gains since then allowed Togo to hold its first relatively free and fair legislative elections in October 2007. After years of political unrest and fire from international organizations for human rights abuses, Togo is finally being re-welcomed into the international community. | | Internet country code | .tg | |
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