Togo Population, Main Cities and Geography

By | January 27, 2023

Togo: population and cities

Population

Population

According to Countryaah website, Togo has about 8 million residents, who are called Togoers. The terms Togolese and Togolesin are somewhat more common and also not wrong.

With an average of 58 years, Togolese people have one of the highest life expectancies in all of West Africa. The population growth in the country is 2.78%. The birth rate is 36.66 per 1,000 residents, with a Togolese woman having an average of 4.85 children in the course of her life. If you look at the population structure of Togo, it follows the classic population pyramid, because around half of the population is under 16 years old and only 2.7% compared to people who are older than 65 years. The population of Togo shows a remarkable rural-urban exodus as well as a strong emigration, especially of young men, abroad, which promises them better life prospects.

Ethnic groups

Togo’s society is not homogeneous. Rather, we are dealing with a multiethnic state whose numerous ethnic groups are represented by only a few hundred, but also by several million. The feeling of belonging to one’s own ethnic group has been very pronounced since independence and has also been the background to many tensions between people. With around 40%, the Ewe Togos are numerically the most important ethnic group. This is followed by the Tem (23.1%), the Akebou (13.2%), the Gurma (9.7%) and the Yoruba (6.8%). In addition, around 1% Europeans and people of other ethnicities live in the country.

Religious

affiliation The majority of Togoers – around 50% – are followers of natural religions such as the Ga and the Yoruba. About 30% of the people are (mainly Roman Catholic) Christians and about 20% Sunni Muslims. Some smaller Jewish communities can be found in the coastal regions of the country.

National languages

The official language of Togo is French. Furthermore, African colloquial languages such as Ewe, Kabiyé, Mina, Dagomba and different Kwa and Gur languages are spoken, as well as the languages of the “non-Togolese” ethnic groups such as the Akebou.

In total there are about 40 living languages in use.

Capital and other cities

Lomé,

Lomé is the capital of Togo with 1.2 million residents and at the same time the economic, cultural, political and commercial center of the country. Lomé, which also functions as the capital of the Maritime region, spreads out on the Gulf of Guinea and houses the seat of the President and the government, i.e. the Primature. The port of Lomés is the most important in the country because it is used to handle import and export business with neighboring countries. The city is full of higher educational institutions and has impressive buildings and institutions, including the National Museum, the National Library, the Maison du RPT (= House of the Unity Party), the Governor’s Palace and the Sacré-Coeur Cathedral. According to Abbreviation Finder, TGO stands for Togo in English. Click to see other meanings of this 3-letter acronym.

Atakpamé

Up to 95,000 people live in Atakpamé. Atakpamé, which was once the administrative center of the German colony of Togoland, spreads out on the western edge of the Atakora mountain range and, with the Notre-Dame de la Trinité cathedral, is the bishopric of the eponymous diocese. Otherwise Atakpamé is an important traffic junction, a center of textile processing and an important trading point for the cotton grown in the surrounding area.

Dapaong

Dapaong is the northernmost city in Togo. The capital of the Togolese region of Savanes, inhabited by around 50,000 people, is in the immediate vicinity of neighboring Ghana. The Savanes region is characterized by a dry steppe climate.

Kara (also Lama-Kara)

Kara acts as the capital of the region of the same name and is inhabited by around 100,500 people. The important administrative and economic center of northern Togo has housed the Université de Kara since 2004, has a very busy market square, numerous luxury hotels and the Niamtougou International Airport, thanks to which many tourists and business people come to the city. Every year the city hosts a traditional wrestling festival, which has become an important rite of initiation in the growing up of young Kabyès.

Sokodé

Sokodé has around 95,000 residents. It spreads between the two rivers Mono and Mo and is considered to be the most important trading point for the agrarian surrounding area.

As the undisputed landmark of the multi-ethnic and multi-religious city, the Great Old Mosque rises from its sea of houses, which indicates that Sokodé is the city of Togo with the largest Muslim population.

Togo: geography, map

Togo covers an area of 56,785 km². Check topmbadirectory for politics, flags, famous people, animals and plants of Togo. Thereof:

 

  • ForestAround 16% of the country is forested area (tropical rainforests and savanna forests).
  • Meadow and pasture landAround 33% of the land is used as meadow or pasture land.
  • SavannahAround 23% of the country consists of savannah.
  • Fields and fieldsAround 25% of the land is used as arable land or fields, especially for growing coffee, tea and cocoa, cotton, coconuts and peanuts as well as cassava, rice, millet and corn.

Togo shares a border with the following three countries:

  • Beninwith a length of 644 km
  • Burkina Fasowith a length of 126 km
  • Ghanawith a length of 877 km.

Longitude and latitude

Togo extends over the following geographical latitude (abbreviation Δφ) and geographical longitude (abbreviation Δλ):

Δφ = from 06 ° 6´ to 11 ° 9´ north latitude. Δλ = from 000 ° 9´ west to 001 ° 49´ east longitude

You can find detailed information on this subject under Longitude and Latitude.

Legal time in Togo

For Togo, the following value applies to Central European Time (CET), i.e. the time (without summer time). A minus sign means that it is earlier there, a plus sign that it is later than CET:

Δ t (CET) = – 1 h

Further and detailed explanations of the time can be found under Time zones, time.

The highest point of the sun in Lomé

Lomé, the capital of the country, lies at a north latitude of around φ = 06 °.

If the declination δ of the sun has the value 06 ° N, and the sun’s image point is thus exactly above the city, the sun is perpendicular there. This happens exactly twice a year, roughly 23 days after March 21st and 23 days before September 21st.

Attention

If the image point of the sun and thus the declination δ is north of the latitude of Lomé, the sun is not in the south at noon, as in our latitudes, but in the north. In this case, the sun moves from east to north to west, where, like us, it sets.

Mountains

Mont Agou

The highest point in the country is Mont Agou, the former Mont Baumann, in the south-west of the country with a height of 986 m. Further surveys are:

  • the Mont Korongawith a height of 789 m
  • the Mont Kalankpawith an altitude of 779.

Rivers

Mono

The longest river in the country is the Mono with a length of around 400 km. Other rivers in the country are:

  • the Ogou
  • the Oti

Lakes

Retenue de Nangbéto

The country includes several smaller lakes. The largest lake is the Retenue de Nangbéto.

Gulf of Guinea, Atlantic

Togo borders the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean, in the south of the country for almost 60 km. You can find a detailed description of these seas at Goruma under the following links:

– Atlantic Ocean

– Gulf of Guinea

Togo Population