Happy Independece Day Togo

“If you hurt the reputation of another, you damage your own” - Togolese Proverb

(Togo flag (1960-Present))

Togo is located in western Africa.

(Map of Togo)

Its capital is Lome. Lome is also its largest city. The official language is French. The country is 21,925 square miles. Togo is 99% African and 1% European. 29% of Togo practices Christianity, 20% practice Islam and 51% practice indigenous religions. The total population is 7,552,318. The climate is tropical. Togo is a presidential republic.

(Lome, Togo’s capital)

Togo cuisine consists of maize, rice, millet, cassava, yam, plantain and beans.

(Togo cuisine)

The arts in Togo consists of statues and sculptures which illustrate the worship of the ibeji.

(Togo sculptures)

The most popular sport in Togo is soccer. The national team is Les Eperviers.

(Togo’s soccer team)

Togo was 1st inhabited in the 11th century. In the Ewe tribe inhabited the east of Togo and the Mina and Guin tribe inhabited the west of Togo.

(People of the Ewe tribe)

In the 16th century European nations used Togo’s coast for the slave trade. In 1884 King Mlapa III signed a treaty which gave Germany a protectorate over a stretch of territory along the coast and gradually extended its control inland.

(King Mlapa III)

In 1905 Germany officially colonized the land and named it “Togoland”.

(Togoland flag (1884-1916))

During World War I the British invaded Togoland. After World War I Togoland was separated into two League of Nations mandates, administered by Britain and France. After World War II the mandates became UN Trust Territories. The residents of British Togoland voted to join the Gold Coast as part of the new independent nation of Ghana in 1957.

(Togo flag (1957-1958))

In 1959 French Togoland became an autonomous republic within the French Union. On April 27th 1960 Togo became independent from France.

(Togo flag (1960-Present))

Sylvanus Olympio was the 1st leader of Togo.

(Sylvanus Olympio)

He was assassinated in a military coup in 1963. Nicolas Grunitzky then became president of Togo.

(Nicolas Grunitzky)

In 1967 Eyadéma Gnassingbé overthrew Grunitzky in a bloodless coup and assumed the presidency.

(Eyadéma Gnassingbé)

In 2005 his son, Faure Gnassingbé, became president.

(Faure Gnassingbé)

In 2010 Faure Gnassingbé was re elected. Today marks the 56th anniversary of Togo’s independence and we would like to say happy independence day Togo.

Videos of Togo’s Independence

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAMC7KtXjMs  “27 Avril 1960 : Le Togo obtient son indépendance, avec Sylvanus OLYMPIO à sa tête”
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tjhu2r58Kl4  “Togo Independence Day Celebration 2016 by : Diaspora Togo USA”

(P.S. sorry for the late post)