Togo (2001) | United Kingdom (2008) | |
Administrative divisions | 5 regions (regions, singular - region); De La Kara, Des Plateaux, Des Savanes, Du Centre, Maritime | England: 34 two-tier counties, 32 London boroughs and 1 City of London or Greater London, 36 metropolitan counties, 46 unitary authorities
two-tier counties: Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Devon, Dorset, Durham, East Sussex, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, North Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, Northumberland, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Somerset, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Sussex, Wiltshire, Worcestershire London boroughs and City of London or Greater London: Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Camden, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames, Lambeth, Lewisham, City of London, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, Westminster metropolitan counties: Barnsley, Birmingham, Bolton, Bradford, Bury, Calderdale, Coventry, Doncaster, Dudley, Gateshead, Kirklees, Knowlsey, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, Oldham, Rochdale, Rotherham, Salford, Sandwell, Sefton, Sheffield, Solihull, South Tyneside, St. Helens, Stockport, Sunderland, Tameside, Trafford, Wakefield, Walsall, Wigan, Wirral, Wolverhampton unitary authorities: Bath and North East Somerset, Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Bournemouth, Bracknell Forest, Brighton and Hove, City of Bristol, Darlington, Derby, East Riding of Yorkshire, Halton, Hartlepool, County of Herefordshire, Ile of Wight, City of Kingston upon Hull, Leicester, Luton, Medway, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, North East Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire, North Somerset, Nottingham, Peterborough, Plymouth, Poole, Portsmouth, Reading, Redcar and Cleveland, Rutland, Slough, South Gloucestershire, Southampton, Southend-on-Sea, Stockton-on-Tees, Stoke-on-Trent, Swindon, Telford and Wrekin, Thurrock, Torbay, Warrington, West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead, Wokingham, York Northern Ireland: 26 district council areas district council areas: Antrim, Ards, Armagh, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Banbridge, Belfast, Carrickfergus, Castlereagh, Coleraine, Cookstown, Craigavon, Derry, Down, Dungannon, Fermanagh, Larne, Limavady, Lisburn, Magherafelt, Moyle, Newry and Mourne, Newtownabbey, North Down, Omagh, Strabane Scotland: 32 unitary authorities unitary authorities: Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Dundee City, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, City of Edinburgh, Eilean Siar (Western Isles), Falkirk, Fife, Glasgow City, Highland, Inverclyde, Midlothian, Moray, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Orkney Islands, Perth and Kinross, Renfrewshire, Shetland Islands, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, Stirling, The Scottish Borders, West Dunbartonshire, West Lothian Wales: 22 unitary authorities unitary authorities: Blaenau Gwent; Bridgend; Caerphilly; Cardiff; Carmarthenshire; Ceredigion; Conwy; Denbighshire; Flintshire; Gwynedd; Isle of Anglesey; Merthyr Tydfil; Monmouthshire; Neath Port Talbot; Newport; Pembrokeshire; Powys; Rhondda, Cynon, Taff; Swansea; The Vale of Glamorgan; Torfaen; Wrexham |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
45.63% (male 1,179,650; female 1,171,748) 15-64 years: 51.92% (male 1,302,197; female 1,373,247) 65 years and over: 2.45% (male 54,651; female 71,595) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 17.2% (male 5,349,053/female 5,095,837)
15-64 years: 67% (male 20,605,031/female 20,104,313) 65 years and over: 15.8% (male 4,123,464/female 5,498,540) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | coffee, cocoa, cotton, yams, cassava (tapioca), corn, beans, rice, millet, sorghum; livestock; fish | cereals, oilseed, potatoes, vegetables; cattle, sheep, poultry; fish |
Airports | 9 (2000 est.) | 449 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 (2000 est.) |
total: 310
over 3,047 m: 8 2,438 to 3,047 m: 33 1,524 to 2,437 m: 131 914 to 1,523 m: 79 under 914 m: 59 (2007) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
7 914 to 1,523 m: 5 under 914 m: 2 (2000 est.) |
total: 139
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 23 under 914 m: 113 (2007) |
Area | total:
56,785 sq km land: 54,385 sq km water: 2,400 sq km |
total: 244,820 sq km
land: 241,590 sq km water: 3,230 sq km note: includes Rockall and Shetland Islands |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than West Virginia | slightly smaller than Oregon |
Background | French Togoland became Togo in 1960. General Gnassingbe EYADEMA, installed as military ruler in 1967, is Africa's longest-serving head of state. Despite the facade of multiparty elections that resulted in EYADEMA's victory in 1993, the government continues to be dominated by the military. In addition, Togo has come under fire from international organizations for human rights abuses and is plagued by political unrest. Most bilateral and multilateral aid to Togo remains frozen. | As the dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland played a leading role in developing parliamentary democracy and in advancing literature and science. At its zenith, the British Empire stretched over one-fourth of the earth's surface. The first half of the 20th century saw the UK's strength seriously depleted in two World Wars and the Irish republic withdraw from the union. The second half witnessed the dismantling of the Empire and the UK rebuilding itself into a modern and prosperous European nation. As one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council, a founding member of NATO, and of the Commonwealth, the UK pursues a global approach to foreign policy; it currently is weighing the degree of its integration with continental Europe. A member of the EU, it chose to remain outside the Economic and Monetary Union for the time being. Constitutional reform is also a significant issue in the UK. The Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, and the Northern Ireland Assembly were established in 1999, but the latter was suspended until May 2007 due to wrangling over the peace process. |
Birth rate | 37.04 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 10.67 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$232 million expenditures: $252 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997 est.) |
revenues: $1.155 trillion
expenditures: $1.237 trillion (2007 est.) |
Capital | Lome | name: London
geographic coordinates: 51 30 N, 0 10 W time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
Climate | tropical; hot, humid in south; semiarid in north | temperate; moderated by prevailing southwest winds over the North Atlantic Current; more than one-half of the days are overcast |
Coastline | 56 km | 12,429 km |
Constitution | multiparty draft constitution approved by High Council of the Republic 1 July 1992; adopted by public referendum 27 September 1992 | unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice |
Country name | conventional long form:
Togolese Republic conventional short form: Togo local long form: Republique Togolaise local short form: none former: French Togoland |
conventional long form: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; note - Great Britain includes England, Scotland, and Wales
conventional short form: United Kingdom abbreviation: UK |
Currency | Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States | - |
Death rate | 11.24 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 10.09 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $1.5 billion (1999) | $10.45 trillion (30 June 2007) |
Dependent areas | - | Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Karl HOFMANN embassy: Angle Rue Kouenou and Rue 15 Beniglato, Lome mailing address: B. P. 852, Lome telephone: [228] 21 29 91 through 21 29 94 FAX: [228] 21 79 52 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Robert Holmes TUTTLE
embassy: 24 Grosvenor Square, London, W1A 1AE mailing address: PSC 801, Box 40, FPO AE 09498-4040 telephone: [44] (0) 20 7499-9000 FAX: [44] (0) 20 7629-9124 consulate(s) general: Belfast, Edinburgh |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Akoussoulelov BODJONA chancery: 2208 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 234-4212 FAX: [1] (202) 232-3190 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Sir Nigel E. SHEINWALD
chancery: 3100 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 588-6500 FAX: [1] (202) 588-7870 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco consulate(s): Denver, Orlando |
Disputes - international | none | in 2002, Gibraltar residents voted overwhelmingly by referendum to reject any "shared sovereignty" arrangement between the UK and Spain; the Government of Gibraltar insists on equal participation in talks between the two countries; Spain disapproves of UK plans to grant Gibraltar greater autonomy; Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory), and its former inhabitants since their eviction in 1965; most Chagossians reside in Mauritius, and in 2001 were granted UK citizenship, where some have since resettled; in May 2006, the High Court of London reversed the UK Government's 2004 orders of council that banned habitation on the islands; UK rejects sovereignty talks requested by Argentina, which still claims the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; territorial claim in Antarctica (British Antarctic Territory) overlaps Argentine claim and partially overlaps Chilean claim; Iceland, the UK, and Ireland dispute Denmark's claim that the Faroe Islands' continental shelf extends beyond 200 nm |
Economic aid - donor | - | ODA, $10.7 billion (2005) |
Economic aid - recipient | $201.1 million (1995) | - |
Economy - overview | This small sub-Saharan economy is heavily dependent on both commercial and subsistence agriculture, which provides employment for 65% of the labor force. Some basic foodstuffs must still be imported. Together, cocoa, coffee, and cotton generate some 40% of export earnings, with cotton being the most significant cash crop despite falling prices on the world market. In the industrial sector, phosphate mining is by far the most important activity. Togo is the world's fourth largest producer, and geological advantages keep production costs low. The recently privatized mining operation, Office Togolais des Phosphates (OTP), is slowly recovering from a steep fall in prices in the early 1990's, but continues to face the challenge of tough foreign competition, exacerbated by weakening demand. Togo serves as a regional commercial and trade center. It continues to expand its duty-free export-processing zone (EPZ), launched in 1989, which has attracted enterprises from France, Italy, Scandinavia, the US, India, and China and created jobs for Togolese nationals. The government's decade-long effort, supported by the World Bank and the IMF, to implement economic reform measures, encourage foreign investment, and bring revenues in line with expenditures has stalled. Progress depends on following through on privatization, increased openness in government financial operations, progress towards legislative elections, and possible downsizing of the military, on which the regime has depended to stay in place. Lack of foreign aid, deterioration of the financial sector, energy shortages, and depressed commodity prices continue to constrain economic growth; however, Togo did realize a 3% gain in GDP in 1999. The takeover of the national power company by a Franco-Canadian consortium in 2000 should ease the energy crisis and if successful legislative elections pave the way for increased aid, growth should rise to 5% a year in 2001-02. | The UK, a leading trading power and financial center, is one of the quintet of trillion dollar economies of Western Europe. Over the past two decades, the government has greatly reduced public ownership and contained the growth of social welfare programs. Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanized, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with less than 2% of the labor force. The UK has large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves; primary energy production accounts for 10% of GDP, one of the highest shares of any industrial nation. Services, particularly banking, insurance, and business services, account by far for the largest proportion of GDP while industry continues to decline in importance. Since emerging from recession in 1992, Britain's economy has enjoyed the longest period of expansion on record; growth has remained in the 2-3% range since 2004, outpacing most of Europe. The economy's strength has complicated the Labor government's efforts to make a case for Britain to join the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Critics point out that the economy is doing well outside of EMU, and public opinion polls show a majority of Britons are opposed to the euro. The BROWN government has been speeding up the improvement of education, health services, and affordable housing at a cost in higher taxes and a widening public deficit. |
Electricity - consumption | 511.6 million kWh (1999) | 348.7 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 2.839 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports | 426 million kWh
note: electricity supplied by Ghana (1999) |
11.16 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production | 92 million kWh (1999) | 372.6 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
97.83% hydro: 2.17% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Mont Agou 986 m |
lowest point: The Fens -4 m
highest point: Ben Nevis 1,343 m |
Environment - current issues | deforestation attributable to slash-and-burn agriculture and the use of wood for fuel; water pollution presents health hazards and hinders the fishing industry; air pollution increasing in urban areas | continues to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (has met Kyoto Protocol target of a 12.5% reduction from 1990 levels and intends to meet the legally binding target and move toward a domestic goal of a 20% cut in emissions by 2010); by 2005 the government reduced the amount of industrial and commercial waste disposed of in landfill sites to 85% of 1998 levels and recycled or composted at least 25% of household waste, increasing to 33% by 2015 |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | native African (37 tribes; largest and most important are Ewe, Mina, and Kabre) 99%, European and Syrian-Lebanese less than 1% | white (of which English 83.6%, Scottish 8.6%, Welsh 4.9%, Northern Irish 2.9%) 92.1%, black 2%, Indian 1.8%, Pakistani 1.3%, mixed 1.2%, other 1.6% (2001 census) |
Exchange rates | Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 699.21 (January 2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997), 511.55 (1996); note - from 1 January 1999, the XOF is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF per euro | British pounds per US dollar - 0.4993 (2007), 0.5418 (2006), 0.5493 (2005), 0.5462 (2004), 0.6125 (2003) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President Gen. Gnassingbe EYADEMA (since 14 April 1967) head of government: Prime Minister Agbeyome KODJO (since 29 August 2000) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president and the prime minister elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 21 June 1998 (next to be held NA 2003); prime minister appointed by the president election results: Gnassingbe EYADEMA reelected president; percent of vote - Gnassingbe EYADEMA 52.13%, Gilchrist OLYMPIO 34.12%, other 13.75% |
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); Heir Apparent Prince CHARLES (son of the queen, born 14 November 1948)
head of government: Prime Minister Gordon BROWN (since 27 June 2007) cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the prime minister elections: none; the monarchy is hereditary; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually the prime minister |
Exports | $336 million (f.o.b., 2000) | 1.956 million bbl/day (2004) |
Exports - commodities | cotton, phosphates, coffee, cocoa | manufactured goods, fuels, chemicals; food, beverages, tobacco |
Exports - partners | Nigeria, Brazil, Canada, Philippines (1999) | US 13.9%, Germany 10.9%, France 10.4%, Ireland 7.1%, Netherlands 6.3%, Belgium 5.2%, Spain 4.5% (2006) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | 6 April - 5 April |
Flag description | five equal horizontal bands of green (top and bottom) alternating with yellow; there is a white five-pointed star on a red square in the upper hoist-side corner; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia | blue field with the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England) edged in white superimposed on the diagonal red cross of Saint Patrick (patron saint of Ireland), which is superimposed on the diagonal white cross of Saint Andrew (patron saint of Scotland); properly known as the Union Flag, but commonly called the Union Jack; the design and colors (especially the Blue Ensign) have been the basis for a number of other flags including other Commonwealth countries and their constituent states or provinces, and British overseas territories |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $7.3 billion (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
42% industry: 21% services: 37% (1997) |
agriculture: 0.9%
industry: 23.6% services: 75.5% (2007 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,500 (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 3.4% (2000 est.) | 2.9% (2007 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 8 00 N, 1 10 E | 54 00 N, 2 00 W |
Geography - note | - | lies near vital North Atlantic sea lanes; only 35 km from France and linked by tunnel under the English Channel; because of heavily indented coastline, no location is more than 125 km from tidal waters |
Heliports | - | 11 (2007) |
Highways | total:
7,520 km paved: 2,376 km unpaved: 5,144 km (1996) |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 2.1%
highest 10%: 28.5% (1999) |
Illicit drugs | transit hub for Nigerian heroin and cocaine traffickers | producer of limited amounts of synthetic drugs and synthetic precursor chemicals; major consumer of Southwest Asian heroin, Latin American cocaine, and synthetic drugs; money-laundering center |
Imports | $452 million (f.o.b., 2000) | 1.654 million bbl/day (2004) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products | manufactured goods, machinery, fuels; foodstuffs |
Imports - partners | Ghana, China, France, Cote d'Ivoire (1999) | Germany 12.8%, US 8.9%, France 6.9%, Netherlands 6.6%, China 5.3%, Norway 4.9%, Belgium 4.5% (2006) |
Independence | 27 April 1960 (from French-administered UN trusteeship) | England has existed as a unified entity since the 10th century; the union between England and Wales, begun in 1284 with the Statute of Rhuddlan, was not formalized until 1536 with an Act of Union; in another Act of Union in 1707, England and Scotland agreed to permanently join as Great Britain; the legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland was implemented in 1801, with the adoption of the name the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; the Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921 formalized a partition of Ireland; six northern Irish counties remained part of the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland and the current name of the country, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was adopted in 1927 |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 0.7% (2007 est.) |
Industries | phosphate mining, agricultural processing, cement; handicrafts, textiles, beverages | machine tools, electric power equipment, automation equipment, railroad equipment, shipbuilding, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, electronics and communications equipment, metals, chemicals, coal, petroleum, paper and paper products, food processing, textiles, clothing, other consumer goods |
Infant mortality rate | 70.43 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 5.01 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 5.58 deaths/1,000 live births female: 4.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2.5% (2000 est.) | 2.4% (2007 est.) |
International organization participation | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, Entente, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ITU, MIPONUH, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WADB, WAEMU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | ADB (nonregional members), AfDB, Arctic Council (observer), Australia Group, BIS, C, CBSS (observer), CDB, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, ESA, EU, FAO, G-5, G-7, G-8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, MIGA, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, PIF (partner), SECI (observer), UN, UN Security Council, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 3 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 70 sq km (1993 est.) | 1,700 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel; Supreme Court or Cour Supreme | House of Lords (highest court of appeal; several Lords of Appeal in Ordinary are appointed by the monarch for life); Supreme Courts of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland (comprising the Courts of Appeal, the High Courts of Justice, and the Crown Courts); Scotland's Court of Session and Court of the Justiciary |
Labor force | 1.74 million (1996) | 30.71 million (2007 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 65%, industry 5%, services 30% (1998 est.) | agriculture: 1.4%
industry: 18.2% services: 80.4% (2006 est.) |
Land boundaries | total:
1,647 km border countries: Benin 644 km, Burkina Faso 126 km, Ghana 877 km |
total: 360 km
border countries: Ireland 360 km |
Land use | arable land:
38% permanent crops: 7% permanent pastures: 4% forests and woodland: 17% other: 34% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 23.23%
permanent crops: 0.2% other: 76.57% (2005) |
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) | English, Welsh (about 26% of the population of Wales), Scottish form of Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland) |
Legal system | French-based court system | based on common law tradition with early Roman and modern continental influences; has nonbinding judicial review of Acts of Parliament under the Human Rights Act of 1998; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Assembly (81 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 21 March 1999 (next due to be held NA October 2001) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - RPT 79, independents 2 note: Togo's main opposition parties boycotted the election because of EYADEMA's alleged manipulation of 1998 presidential polling; in March of 1999, opposition parties entered into negotiations with the president over the establishment of an independent electoral commission and a new round of legislative elections, now scheduled for October 2001 |
bicameral Parliament consists of House of Lords (618 seats; consisting of approximately 500 life peers, 92 hereditary peers, and 26 clergy) and House of Commons (646 seats since 2005 elections; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms unless the House is dissolved earlier)
elections: House of Lords - no elections (note - in 1999, as provided by the House of Lords Act, elections were held in the House of Lords to determine the 92 hereditary peers who would remain there; elections are held only as vacancies in the hereditary peerage arise); House of Commons - last held 5 May 2005 (next to be held by May 2010) election results: House of Commons - percent of vote by party - Labor 35.2%, Conservative 32.3%, Liberal Democrats 22%, other 10.5%; seats by party - Labor 355, Conservative 198, Liberal Democrat 62, other 31; seats by party in the House of Commons as of 23 November 2007 - Labor 353, Conservative 194, Liberal Democrat 63, Scottish National Party/Plaid Cymru 9, Democratic Unionist 9, Sinn Fein 5, other 14 note: in 1998 elections were held for a Northern Ireland Assembly (because of unresolved disputes among existing parties, the transfer of power from London to Northern Ireland came only at the end of 1999 and has been suspended four times, the latest occurring in October 2002 and lasting until 8 May 2007); in 1999, the UK held the first elections for a Scottish Parliament and a Welsh Assembly, the most recent of which were held in May 2007 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
54.35 years male: 52.38 years female: 56.38 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 78.7 years
male: 76.23 years female: 81.3 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 51.7% male: 67% female: 37% (1995 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over has completed five or more years of schooling
total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% (2003 est.) |
Location | Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Benin, between Benin and Ghana | Western Europe, islands including the northern one-sixth of the island of Ireland between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, northwest of France |
Map references | Africa | Europe |
Maritime claims | exclusive economic zone:
200 NM territorial sea: 30 NM |
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm continental shelf: as defined in continental shelf orders or in accordance with agreed upon boundaries |
Merchant marine | total:
1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,603 GRT/2,800 DWT ships by type: specialized tanker 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 474 ships (1000 GRT or over) 11,723,618 GRT/12,315,588 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 26, cargo 60, carrier 4, chemical tanker 56, container 156, liquefied gas 18, passenger 10, passenger/cargo 62, petroleum tanker 27, refrigerated cargo 17, roll on/roll off 24, vehicle carrier 14 foreign-owned: 242 (Australia 1, Cyprus 1, Denmark 61, Finland 1, France 9, Germany 71, Greece 6, Hong Kong 2, Ireland 1, Italy 4, Japan 1, Netherlands 2, NZ 1, Norway 33, South Africa 4, Sweden 19, Switzerland 1, Taiwan 11, Turkey 2, US 11) registered in other countries: 412 (Algeria 12, Antigua and Barbuda 4, Argentina 4, Australia 2, Bahamas 68, Barbados 3, Bermuda 20, Brunei 8, Cape Verde 1, Cayman Islands 9, Cyprus 21, Faroe Islands 1, Gibraltar 3, Greece 15, Hong Kong 32, India 1, Indonesia 3, Italy 7, South Korea 1, Liberia 74, Luxembourg 7, Malta 12, Marshall Islands 17, Netherlands 7, Norway 9, Panama 35, Papua New Guinea 6, Singapore 13, Slovakia 1, St Vincent and The Grenadines 9, Sweden 2, Thailand 3, Tonga 1, US 1, unknown 1) (2007) |
Military branches | Army, Navy, Air Force, Gendarmerie | Army, Royal Navy (includes Royal Marines), Royal Air Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $27 million (FY96) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2% (FY96) | 2.4% (2005 est.) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
1,175,528 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
616,622 (2001 est.) |
- |
National holiday | Independence Day, 27 April (1960) | the UK does not celebrate one particular national holiday |
Nationality | noun:
Togolese (singular and plural) adjective: Togolese |
noun: Briton(s), British (collective plural)
adjective: British |
Natural hazards | hot, dry harmattan wind can reduce visibility in north during winter; periodic droughts | winter windstorms; floods |
Natural resources | phosphates, limestone, marble, arable land | coal, petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, lead, zinc, gold, tin, limestone, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, potash, silica sand, slate, arable land |
Net migration rate | 0.15 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 2.17 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Pipelines | - | condensate 567 km; condensate/gas 22 km; gas 18,980 km; liquid petroleum gas 59 km; oil 4,930 km; oil/gas/water 165 km; refined products 4,444 km (2007) |
Political parties and leaders | Action Committee for Renewal or CAR [Yawovi AGBOYIBO]; Coordination des Forces Nouvelles or CFN [Joseph KOFFIGOH]; Democratic Convention of African Peoples or CDPA [Leopold GNININVI]; Party for Democracy and Renewal or PDR [Zarifou AYEVA]; Patriotic Pan-African Convergence or CPP [Edem KODJO]; Rally of the Togolese People or RPT [President Gen. Gnassingbe EYADEMA]; Union of Forces for Change or UFC [Gilchrist OLYMPIO (in exile), Jeane-Pierre FABRE, general secretary in Togo]; Union of Independent Liberals or ULI [Jacques AMOUZO]
note: Rally of the Togolese People or RPT, led by President EYADEMA, was the only party until the formation of multiple parties was legalized 12 April 1991 |
Conservative [David CAMERON]; Democratic Unionist Party (Northern Ireland) [Rev. Ian PAISLEY]; Labor Party [Gordon BROWN]; Liberal Democrats [Nick CLEGG]; Party of Wales (Plaid Cymru) [Ieuan Wyn JONES]; Scottish National Party or SNP [Alex SALMOND]; Sinn Fein (Northern Ireland) [Gerry ADAMS]; Social Democratic and Labor Party or SDLP (Northern Ireland) [Mark DURKAN]; Ulster Unionist Party (Northern Ireland) [Sir Reg EMPEY] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament; Confederation of British Industry; National Farmers' Union; Trades Union Congress |
Population | 5,153,088
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 and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2001 est.) |
60,776,238 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 32% (1989 est.) | 14% (2006 est.) |
Population growth rate | 2.6% (2001 est.) | 0.275% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Kpeme, Lome | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 9, shortwave 4 (1998) | AM 219, FM 431, shortwave 3 (1998) |
Radios | 940,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | total:
525 km (1995) narrow gauge: 525 km 1.000-m gauge |
total: 16,567 km
broad gauge: 303 km 1.600-m gauge (in Northern Ireland) standard gauge: 16,264 km 1.435-m gauge (5,361 km electrified) (2006) |
Religions | indigenous beliefs 59%, Christian 29%, Muslim 12% | Christian (Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist) 71.6%, Muslim 2.7%, Hindu 1%, other 1.6%, unspecified or none 23.1% (2001 census) |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.025 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
Suffrage | NA years of age; universal adult | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
fair system based on a network of microwave radio relay routes supplemented by open-wire lines and a mobile cellular system domestic: microwave radio relay and open-wire lines for conventional system; cellular system has capacity of 10,000 telephones international: satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) and 1 Symphonie |
general assessment: technologically advanced domestic and international system
domestic: equal mix of buried cables, microwave radio relay, and fiber-optic systems international: country code - 44; numerous submarine cables provide links throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, the Middle East, and US; satellite earth stations - 10 Intelsat (7 Atlantic Ocean and 3 Indian Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region), and 1 Eutelsat; at least 8 large international switching centers |
Telephones - main lines in use | 25,000 (1997) | 33.602 million (2006) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 2,995 (1997) | 69.657 million (2006) |
Television broadcast stations | 3 (plus two repeaters) (1997) | 228 (plus 3,523 repeaters) (1995) |
Terrain | gently rolling savanna in north; central hills; southern plateau; low coastal plain with extensive lagoons and marshes | mostly rugged hills and low mountains; level to rolling plains in east and southeast |
Total fertility rate | 5.32 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 1.66 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | 5.4% (2007 est.) |
Waterways | 50 km (Mono river) | 3,200 km (620 km used for commerce) (2003) |