Togo is a narrow strip of land in the heart of West Africa, rich in traditions, ancestral rituals, also home to an incredible number of ethnic groups, that retain their traditional lifestyle as handed down by their ancestors.

In the course of history Togo became an important center of the slave trade, who were exchanged by the African traders Kingdoms, with products coming from Europe.

In 1884 Togo became a German protectorate and in the following years Togoland became the model colony of the Reich, later it became a French colony, from which it gained independence in 1960.

Togo, officially Togolese Republic, is positioned between Ghana on the West and Benin on the East, the North border is with Burkina Faso, while on the South the country has an opening on the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean with only 56 km of coastline.

The country has a small surface of ​​only 57,000 square kilometers, it is narrow and long, it extends from North to South for about 600 km but its width does not exceed 100 km.

The terrain rises as you move away from the ocean, without exceeding 1,000 meters of altitude.

Not far from the coast there are some lakes, the largest is the Togo Lake; the coastal regions characterized by a coastal lowland, rich in large swampy areas and lagoons, here are various types of mangroves and the Togolese palm groves, that are mainly made up of coconut palms.

From the flat coastal strip, proceeding towards the North, the territory assumes hilly characteristics or of a not very high plateau, touching the thousand meters of height with Mount Agou, the highest peak of the country, far however only a hundred kilometers from the sandy coast .

The reliefs are covered by equatorial vegetation and in the Central-Southern part you can still find large areas of rainforest and of coffee and cocoa production.
In the North, most of the region is composed by savannah covered with ocher grasses, typical of the dry season, reminiscent of the Sahel, only a few hours away driving North; during the rainy season the landscape quickly covers in green shoots, that give the region a lush appearance.

Togo is a member of the United Nations as well as of the African Union, it has a population of around 6.8 million inhabitants, of which about 700,000 are concentrated in the capital Lomè; in the country there are 40 different ethnic groups.

The official language is French, but many African languages ​​are spoken and in some areas German.

Togo is a sub-Saharan tropical nation, with a climate that provides good harvest seasons.

The climate is tropical, with a dry season in the months between November and March and a humid one in the months between April and October, the wet season on the coastal strip is interrupted by a further dry period between July and August; on the coast the average temperatures are around 27 ° C, while in the Northern regions, where there is a drier climate, around 30 ° C.

The economy of Togo depends heavily on agriculture, both commercial and subsistence, the primary sector employs 65% of the local workforce and cotton, coffee and cocoa represent about 40% of the total export.

Thanks to agriculture, breeding and fishing, Togo is theoretically self-sufficient and able to meet the basic needs of the country, even if sometimes the distribution of food does not effectively reach all regions.

Phosphate mining is the largest source of export revenue.

51% of the Togolese are animists and the second largest religious group are Christians.

The cult of the ancestors is widespread in the country, as are the voodoo traditions and ceremonies.

Like all African deities, even the voodoo are gods and spirits to fear, they demand constant attention from the living people and in return for the duties that are made, the voodoos respond with help, or at least leave their followers in peace.

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