Togo is a small Sub-Saharan state, comprising a long strip of land in West Africa. Togo's geographic coordinates are a latitude of 8° north and a longitude of 1°10′ east. It is bordered by three countries: Benin to the east, with 644km (400mi) of border; Burkina Faso to the north, with 126km (78mi) of border; and Ghana, with 877km (545mi) of border. To the south Togo has 56km (35mi) of coastline along the Bight of Benin of the Gulf of Guinea in the North Atlantic Ocean. Togo stretches 579km (360mi) north from the Gulf and is only 160km (99mi) wide at the broadest point. In total, Togo has an area of 56,785km2 (21,925sqmi), of which 54,385km2 (20,998sqmi) is land and 2,400km2 (927sqmi) is water.
Togo is commonly divided into six geographic regions. In the south are low-lying sandy beaches. The coastal region is narrow and followed by tidal flats and shallow lagoons. There are also over 200 lakes, the largest of which is Lake Togo.
Area statistics
Area
Total: 56,785 km²
country rank in the world: 123rd
Land: 54,390 km²
Water: 2,400 km²
Area comparative
Australia comparative: approximately 5/6 the size of Tasmania
Canada comparative: approximately equal in size to Nova Scotia
United Kingdom comparative: approximately four times the size of Northern Ireland
United States comparative: approximately 1/10 smaller than West Virginia
EU comparative: approximately equal in size to Croatia
Natural hazards: hot, dry Harmattan wind can reduce visibility in north during winter; periodic droughts.
Physical geography
The country consists primarily of two savanna plains regions separated by a southwest–northeast range of hills (the Chaîne du Togo). In the north lies the Ouatchi Plateau. This plateau is about 30 kilometres (19mi) wide and located at an altitude of 60 to 90 metres (197 to 295ft) above sea level. Terre de Barre is another name for this region, in use because of the reddish leached soil which is rich in iron. This southern area of Togo has been categorised by the World Wildlife Fund as part of the Guinean forest-savanna mosaicecoregion.
Northeast of the Ouatchi Plateau lies a tableland. At its highest this region is about 500 metres (1,640ft) above sea level. The area is drained by the Mono River and its tributaries, including the Ogou River.
To the west and the southwest of the tableland lie the Togo Mountains. These mountains run across the central region of Togo, ranging from the southwest to the northeast. The mountain range reaches into Benin where it is known as the Atakora Mountains and Ghana where it is known as the Akwapim Hills. The highest mountain in Togo is Mount Agou with a height of 986 metres (3,235ft).
North of the Togo Mountains lies a sandstone plateau through which the Oti River flows. The vegetation is characterized by savanna. The River Oti which drains the plateau is one of the main tributaries of the River Volta.
In the far northwest of Togo lies a higher region which is characterized by its rocks: granite and gneiss. The cliffs of Dapaong (Dapango) are located in this part of Togo.
70km 43miles
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Burkina Faso
M a r i t i m e
P l a t e a u x
C e n t r a l e
K a r a
S a v a n e s
Fazao Malfakassa National Park
Oti-Kéran National Park
Fosse aux Lions National Park
Mango
Sokodé
Mt Agou
Map of Togo. The five Regions of Togo span its climatic zones from the coastal equatorial climate of the south to the tropical savanna at the north. Data for Lomé, Sokodé and Mango are shown in the climate tables
140km 87miles
4
Plateaux Region (1,635,946)
3
Maritime (2,599,955)
1
Centrale Region (795,529)
2
Kara Region (985,512)
5
Savanes Region (1,143,520)
Population Map of Togo's five regions.Total Togo population (wikidata:Q945) = 7,797,694 (2017)
Almost all of Togo has a tropical savanna climate (KöppenAw). Average temperatures ranging from 27.5°C (81.5°F) on the coast to about 30°C (86°F) in the northernmost regions. There is a dry season between November and March dominated by the desert winds of the Harmattan, which bring less humid and less unpleasant weather. To the south there are two seasons of rain, the first between April and July and the second weaker rainy season between September and November. In this region rainfall is much lower than in the rest of southern West Africa due to divergent coast-parallel winds between mid-July and mid-September creating a short, foggy secondary dry season.
Climate data for Lomé (Lomé Airport) 1961-1990, extremes 1892-present
Global Forest Watch publishes annual estimates of tree cover loss and 2000 tree cover extent derived from time-series analysis of Landsat satellite imagery in the Global Forest Change dataset. In this framework, tree cover refers to vegetation taller than 5 m (including natural forests and tree plantations), and tree cover loss is defined as the complete removal of tree cover canopy for a given year, regardless of cause.
For Togo, country statistics report cumulative tree cover loss of 82,074ha (820.74km2) from 2001 to 2024 (about 14.9% of its 2000 tree cover area). For tree cover density greater than 30%, country statistics report a 2000 tree cover extent of 551,477ha (5,514.77km2). The charts and table below display this data. In simple terms, the annual loss number is the area where tree cover disappeared in that year, and the extent number shows what remains of the 2000 tree cover baseline after subtracting cumulative loss. Forest regrowth is not included in the dataset.
Annual tree cover loss in Togo, 2001–2024. View chart definition.
Tree cover extent in 2000 minus cumulative tree cover loss in Togo, 2001–2024 (loss-only residual; does not account for gain). View chart definition.
Annual tree cover extent and loss
Year
Tree cover extent (km2)
Annual tree cover loss (km2)
2001
5,487.13
27.64
2002
5,466.95
20.18
2003
5,446.47
20.48
2004
5,418.94
27.53
2005
5,398.44
20.50
2006
5,381.58
16.86
2007
5,349.79
31.79
2008
5,338.07
11.72
2009
5,282.31
55.76
2010
5,277.20
5.11
2011
5,264.77
12.43
2012
5,247.38
17.39
2013
5,218.24
29.14
2014
5,193.11
25.13
2015
5,183.75
9.36
2016
5,149.29
34.46
2017
5,078.22
71.07
2018
5,010.60
67.62
2019
4,958.73
51.87
2020
4,904.27
54.46
2021
4,845.85
58.42
2022
4,795.82
50.03
2023
4,751.34
44.48
2024
4,694.03
57.31
REDD+ reference level and monitoring
Under the UNFCCCREDD+ framework, Togo has submitted a national forest reference level (FRL). On the UNFCCC REDD+ Web Platform, the country's 2020 submission is listed as having an assessed reference level, while a national strategy, safeguards information and a national forest monitoring system are all listed as "not reported".
The first assessed FRL, submitted in 2020 and technically assessed in 2022, covered two REDD+ activities at national scale: reducing emissions from deforestation and enhancement of forest carbon stocks through reforestation and afforestation. Using a 2003-2018 reference period, the original submission proposed 730,590 t CO2 per year, revised during the technical assessment to an assessed FRL of 729,520 t CO2 per year. The technical assessment states that the benchmark represented the annual average of net CO2 emissions and removals, and included above-ground biomass, below-ground biomass and deadwood.
Extreme points
This is a list of the extreme points of Togo, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location.
↑Trewartha, Glenn Thomas (1961). The Earth's problem climates. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press. p.108. ISBN9780299022709.{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
↑"Klimatafel von Lomé (Flugh.) / Togo"(PDF). Baseline climate means (1961–1990) from stations all over the world (in German). Deutscher Wetterdienst. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
↑"Station Lome" (in French). Météo Climat. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
↑"Klimatafel von Sokodé/Tchauodjo / Togo"(PDF). Baseline climate means (1961–1990) from stations all over the world (in German). Deutscher Wetterdienst. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
