Western Africa · AfricaTogo
Discover Togo - a slender West African nation home to the world's largest fetish market, vibrant voodoo traditions, and landscapes spanning from palm-lined coast to savanna.
Where Is Togo?
Togo is a country in Western Africa. Its capital is Lomé.
- Capital Lomé
- Population 8.59M
- Area 56,785 km²
Togo is one of Africa's smallest countries but it packs an extraordinary amount into its narrow strip of land. Just 57 kilometers wide at the coast and stretching 550 kilometers north to the Sahel, this slender nation manages to fit in palm-fringed beaches, misty mountain plateaus, dense forests, and dry savanna grasslands all within a country smaller than West Virginia.
What makes Togo truly unique is its spiritual culture. This is the heartland of West African voodoo, and the Akodessewa Fetish Market in Lomé is the largest of its kind anywhere in the world - a place where traditional healers sell everything from dried chameleons to powdered herbs for spiritual remedies. Togo's cultural mosaic of over 40 ethnic groups means traditions are alive and varied. The Batammariba people in the north build extraordinary two-story earthen tower houses called tata somba that earned UNESCO World Heritage status, and the Ewe people along the coast maintain drumming and weaving traditions that stretch back centuries.
At a glance
Largest cities in Togo
Lomé
Sokodé
Kara
Kpalimé
Famous people from Togo
Emmanuel Adebayor
SportPremier League striker who played for Arsenal, Manchester City, and Tottenham, Togo's most famous athlete worldwide
Gnassingbé Eyadéma
PoliticsPresident from 1967 to 2005, one of Africa's longest-serving leaders whose legacy remains controversial and deeply debated
Bella Bellow
MusicIconic Togolese singer of the 1960s-70s whose melodies blended Ewe tradition with modern pop, tragically killed in a car crash at 28
Kossi Efoui
LiteratureAward-winning playwright and novelist whose works explore exile, identity, and postcolonial Africa in vivid experimental prose
Traditional cuisine of Togo
- Fufu with Peanut Soup
- Pounded yam or cassava dough served with a rich, thick groundnut soup loaded with meat or fish - Togo's essential comfort food
- Koklo Meme
- Spicy grilled chicken marinated in chili and ginger, sold at roadside grills across Lomé and eaten with hot pepper sauce
- Akume
- Stiff cornmeal porridge similar to fufu, the daily staple in southern Togo served with various soups and sauces
- Djenkoumé
- Cornmeal cooked with tomato paste and served with grilled fish, a simple but satisfying one-pot meal popular across the south
- Tchakpalo
- Traditional fermented millet beer brewed locally, served in calabash gourds at celebrations and social gatherings
Nature and landmarks in Togo
- KoutammakouLandmark
- UNESCO World Heritage landscape of the Batammariba people, where extraordinary two-story earthen tower houses dot the hillsides
- Fazao-Malfakassa National ParkNational Park
- Togo's largest national park covering mountainous terrain with waterfalls, forest, and savanna inhabited by elephants and antelope
- Mont AgouMountain
- Togo's highest point at 986 meters, a forested peak near Kpalimé popular with hikers for its views over the cocoa-growing region
- Lake TogoRiver
- Shallow coastal lagoon separated from the sea by a narrow sandbar, sacred to local communities and used for traditional fishing
Sports in Togo
- Football
- The Sparrowhawks qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, one of the smallest nations ever to reach the tournament
- Athletics
- Benjamin Boukpeti won Togo's only Olympic medal, a bronze in kayak slalom at the 2008 Beijing Games
- Taekwondo
- Growing taekwondo program with competitors at African Championship and Olympic qualification levels
Did you know?
Togo is just 57 kilometers wide at the coast but stretches 550 kilometers inland, making it one of the most elongated countries in Africa
The Akodessewa Fetish Market in Lomé is the world's largest voodoo market, selling traditional spiritual remedies and animal parts
Togo qualified for its first and only FIFA World Cup in 2006, a remarkable achievement for a country of just 8 million people
The Batammariba tower houses in Koutammakou are so architecturally unique that UNESCO declared the entire landscape a World Heritage Site
Benjamin Boukpeti won a bronze medal in kayak slalom at the 2008 Olympics - in a sport most Togolese had never even heard of
Togo was a German colony called Togoland before World War I, then split between Britain and France - the French part became modern Togo
Can you find Togo on a map?
Drop a pin where you think it is and see how close you got. A few rounds and you will place Togo and its neighbours without a second thought.
