Togo (2002) | British Virgin Islands (2006) | |
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Administrative divisions | 5 regions (regions, singular - region); De La Kara, Des Plateaux, Des Savanes, Centrale, Maritime | none (overseas territory of the UK) |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 45.1% (male 1,195,052; female 1,187,014)
15-64 years: 52.4% (male 1,351,345; female 1,420,617) 65 years and over: 2.5% (male 56,270; female 75,203) (2002 est.) |
0-14 years: 20.5% (male 2,403/female 2,331)
15-64 years: 74.3% (male 8,811/female 8,340) 65 years and over: 5.3% (male 636/female 577) (2006 est.) |
Agriculture - products | coffee, cocoa, cotton, yams, cassava (tapioca), corn, beans, rice, millet, sorghum; livestock; fish | fruits, vegetables; livestock, poultry; fish |
Airports | 9 (2001) | 3 (2006) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 (2002) |
total: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2006) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 7
914 to 1,523 m: 5 under 914 m: 2 (2002) |
total: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2006) |
Area | total: 56,785 sq km
land: 54,385 sq km water: 2,400 sq km |
total: 153 sq km
land: 153 sq km water: 0 sq km note: comprised of 16 inhabited and more than 20 uninhabited islands; includes the islands of Tortola, Anegada, Virgin Gorda, Jost van Dyke |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than West Virginia | about 0.9 times the size of Washington, DC |
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 instituted in the early 1990s, the government continues to be dominated by President EYADEMA, whose Rally of the Togolese People (RPT) party has maintained power almost continually since 1967. 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. | First inhabited by Arawak and later by Carib Indians, the Virgin Islands were settled by the Dutch in 1648 and then annexed by the English in 1672. The islands were part of the British colony of the Leeward Islands from 1872-1960; they were granted autonomy in 1967. The economy is closely tied to the larger and more populous US Virgin Islands to the west; the US dollar is the legal currency. |
Birth rate | 36.11 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 14.89 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $232 million
expenditures: $252 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997 est.) |
revenues: $204.7 million
expenditures: $180.4 million; including capital expenditures of $33.8 million (1997) |
Capital | Lome | name: Road Town
geographic coordinates: 18 27 N, 64 37 W time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | tropical; hot, humid in south; semiarid in north | subtropical; humid; temperatures moderated by trade winds |
Coastline | 56 km | 80 km |
Constitution | multiparty draft constitution approved by High Council of the Republic 1 July 1992; adopted by public referendum 27 September 1992 | 1 June 1977, amended in 2000 |
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: none
conventional short form: British Virgin Islands abbreviation: BVI |
Currency | Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States | - |
Death rate | 11.3 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 4.42 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Debt - external | $1.5 billion (1999) (1999) | $36.1 million (1997) |
Dependency status | - | overseas territory of the UK; internal self-governing |
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] 221 29 91 through 221 29 94 FAX: [228] 221 79 52 |
none (overseas territory of the UK) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Akoussoulelou BODJONA
chancery: 2208 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 234-4212 FAX: [1] (202) 232-3190 |
none (overseas territory of the UK) |
Disputes - international | Benin accuses Togo of moving boundary markers and stationing troops in its territory | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $201.1 million (1995) (1995) | $NA |
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. Cocoa, coffee, and cotton generate about 40% of export earnings, with cotton being the most significant cash crop despite falling prices on the world market. Political unrest, including private and public sector strikes throughout 1992 and 1993, jeopardized the reform program, shrunk the tax base, and disrupted vital economic activity. The 12 January 1994 devaluation of the XOF currency by 50% provided an important impetus to renewed structural adjustment. 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 large-scale foreign aid, deterioration of the financial sector, energy shortages, and depressed commodity prices continue to constrain economic growth. The takeover of the national power company by a Franco-Canadian consortium in 2000 should ease the energy crisis. | The economy, one of the most stable and prosperous in the Caribbean, is highly dependent on tourism, generating an estimated 45% of the national income. An estimated 350,000 tourists, mainly from the US, visited the islands in 1998. Tourism suffered in 2002 because of the lackluster US economy. In the mid-1980s, the government began offering offshore registration to companies wishing to incorporate in the islands, and incorporation fees now generate substantial revenues. Roughly 400,000 companies were on the offshore registry by yearend 2000. The adoption of a comprehensive insurance law in late 1994, which provides a blanket of confidentiality with regulated statutory gateways for investigation of criminal offenses, made the British Virgin Islands even more attractive to international business. Livestock raising is the most important agricultural activity; poor soils limit the islands' ability to meet domestic food requirements. Because of traditionally close links with the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands has used the US dollar as its currency since 1959. |
Electricity - consumption | 525.21 million kWh (2000) | 32.13 million kWh (2003) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (2003) |
Electricity - imports | 435 million kWh
note: electricity supplied by Ghana (2000) |
0 kWh (2003) |
Electricity - production | 97 million kWh (2000) | 34.55 million kWh (2003) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 98%
hydro: 2% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mont Agou 986 m |
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mount Sage 521 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 | limited natural fresh water resources (except for a few seasonal streams and springs on Tortola, most of the islands' water supply comes from wells and rainwater catchments) |
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 |
- |
Ethnic groups | native African (37 tribes; largest and most important are Ewe, Mina, and Kabre) 99%, European and Syrian-Lebanese less than 1% | black 83%, white, Indian, Asian and mixed |
Exchange rates | Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 741.79 (January 2002), 733.04 (2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997); note - from 1 January 1999, the XOF is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF per euro | the US dollar is used |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Gen. Gnassingbe EYADEMA (since 14 April 1967)
head of government: Prime Minister Koffi SAMA (since 29 June 2002) 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 June 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), represented by Governor David PEAREY (since 18 April 2006)
head of government: Chief Minister Dr. Orlando D. SMITH (since 17 June 2003) cabinet: Executive Council appointed by the governor from members of the Legislative Council elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed chief minister by the governor |
Exports | $306 million f.o.b. (2001) | NA bbl/day |
Exports - commodities | cotton, phosphates, coffee, cocoa | rum, fresh fish, fruits, animals; gravel, sand |
Exports - partners | Benin 12%, Nigeria 9%, Belgium 5%, Ghana 4% (2000) | Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US (2004) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | 1 April - 31 March |
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, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Virgin Islander coat of arms centered in the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms depicts a woman flanked on either side by a vertical column of six oil lamps above a scroll bearing the Latin word VIGILATE (Be Watchful) |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $7.6 billion (2001 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 42%
industry: 21% services: 37% (2001 est.) |
agriculture: 1.8%
industry: 6.2% services: 92% (1996 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,500 (2001 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 2.2% (2001 est.) | 1% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 8 00 N, 1 10 E | 18 30 N, 64 30 W |
Geography - note | the country's length allows it to stretch through six distinct geographic regions; climate varies from tropical to savanna | strong ties to nearby US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico |
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%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Illicit drugs | transit hub for Nigerian heroin and cocaine traffickers; money laundering not a significant problem | transshipment point for South American narcotics destined for the US and Europe; large offshore financial center makes it vulnerable to money laundering |
Imports | $420 million f.o.b. (2001) | NA bbl/day |
Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products | building materials, automobiles, foodstuffs, machinery |
Imports - partners | Ghana 26%, France 11%, China 7%, Cote d'Ivoire 7% (2000) | Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US (2004) |
Independence | 27 April 1960 (from French-administered UN trusteeship) | none (overseas territory of the UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | NA% |
Industries | phosphate mining, agricultural processing, cement; handicrafts, textiles, beverages | tourism, light industry, construction, rum, concrete block, offshore financial center |
Infant mortality rate | 69.32 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | total: 16.72 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 19.5 deaths/1,000 live births female: 13.79 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2.3% (2001 est.) | 2% (2005) |
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, Interpol, IOC, ITU, MIPONUH, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | Caricom (associate), CDB, Interpol (subbureau), IOC, OECS (associate), UNESCO (associate), UPU |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 3 (2001) | - |
Irrigated land | 70 sq km (1998 est.) | NA |
Judicial branch | Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel; Supreme Court or Cour Supreme | Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, consisting of the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal (one judge of the Supreme Court is a resident of the islands and presides over the High Court); Magistrate's Court; Juvenile Court; Court of Summary Jurisdiction |
Labor force | 1.74 million (1996) (1996) | 12,770 (2004) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 65%, industry 5%, services 30% (1998 est.) | agriculture: 0.6%
industry: 40% services: 59.4% |
Land boundaries | total: 1,647 km
border countries: Benin 644 km, Burkina Faso 126 km, Ghana 877 km |
0 km |
Land use | arable land: 41.37%
permanent crops: 1.84% other: 56.79% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 20%
permanent crops: 6.67% other: 73.33% (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 (official) |
Legal system | French-based court system | English law |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Assembly (81 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 27 October 2002 (next NA 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - RPT 72, RSD 3, UDPS 2, Juvento 2, MOCEP 1, independents 1 note: two opposition parties boycotted the election, the Union of the Forces for Change, and the Action Committee for Renewal |
unicameral Legislative Council (13 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote, 1 member from each of nine electoral districts, 4 at-large members; members serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 16 May 2003 (next to be held in 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NDP 8, VIP 5 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 54.02 years
male: 52.03 years female: 56.07 years (2002 est.) |
total population: 76.68 years
male: 75.56 years female: 77.84 years (2006 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 can read and write
total population: 97.8% (1991 est.) male: NA% female: NA% |
Location | Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Benin, between Benin and Ghana | Caribbean, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Puerto Rico |
Map references | Africa | Central America and the Caribbean |
Maritime claims | exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 30 NM |
territorial sea: 3 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,603 GRT/2,800 DWT
ships by type: specialized tanker 1 note: includes a foreign-owned ship registered here as a flag of convenience: Greece 1 (2002 est.) |
registered in other countries: 1 (North Korea 1) (2006) |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of the UK |
Military branches | Army, Navy, Air Force, Gendarmerie | - |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $21.9 million (FY01) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.8% (FY01) | - |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 1,220,758 (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 640,280 (2002 est.) | - |
National holiday | Independence Day, 27 April (1960) | Territory Day, 1 July |
Nationality | noun: Togolese (singular and plural)
adjective: Togolese |
noun: British Virgin Islander(s)
adjective: British Virgin Islander |
Natural hazards | hot, dry harmattan wind can reduce visibility in north during winter; periodic droughts | hurricanes and tropical storms (July to October) |
Natural resources | phosphates, limestone, marble, arable land | NEGL |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 9.22 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
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), Jean Pierre FABRE, general secretary in Togo]; Union of Independent Liberals or ULI [Jacques AMOUZOU]
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 |
Concerned Citizens Movement or CCM [Ethlyn SMITH]; National Democratic Party or NDP [Orlando SMITH]; United Party or UP [Gregory MADURO]; Virgin Islands Party or VIP [Ralph T. O'NEAL] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
Population | 5,285,501
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 2002 est.) |
23,098 (July 2006 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 32% (1989 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 2.48% (2002 est.) | 1.97% (2006 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Kpeme, Lome | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 9, shortwave 4 (1998) | AM 1, FM 5, shortwave 0 (2004) |
Radios | 940,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | total: 525 km
narrow gauge: 525 km 1.000-m gauge (2001) |
- |
Religions | indigenous beliefs 51%, Christian 29%, Muslim 20% | Protestant 86% (Methodist 33%, Anglican 17%, Church of God 9%, Seventh-Day Adventist 6%, Baptist 4%, Jehovah's Witnesses 2%, other 15%), Roman Catholic 10%, none 2%, other 2% (1991) |
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: 0.75 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.1 male(s)/female total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2006 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: worldwide telephone service
domestic: NA international: country code - 1-284; submarine cable to Bermuda |
Telephones - main lines in use | 25,000 (1997) | 11,700 (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 2,995 (1997) | 8,000 (2002) |
Television broadcast stations | 3 (plus two repeaters) (1997) | 1 (plus one cable company) (1997) |
Terrain | gently rolling savanna in north; central hills; southern plateau; low coastal plain with extensive lagoons and marshes | coral islands relatively flat; volcanic islands steep, hilly |
Total fertility rate | 5.14 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 1.72 children born/woman (2006 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | 3.6% (1997) |
Waterways | 50 km (Mono river) | - |