Gnassingbe Eyadéma
President

(pronounced "nyah-SING-bay ey-YAH-deh-mah")

"The tenets of my new five-year term will be maturity, peace, security, reconciliation, and forgiveness."

The Togolese Republic is a West African country whose political culture reflects its colonial history and the economic roller coaster of post-independence Africa. Situated along a narrow north-south axis, Togo stretches across several ecological zones. It includes 50 km (31 mi) of Atlantic coastline on the Gulf of Benin, a zone of tropical rain forest, and a northern region comprised of semi-arid savannah. Ghana borders Togo to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Benin to the east. Its total area is 56,786 sq km (21,925 sq mi)—roughly the size of West Virginia.

The population was estimated in 2002 at 5.2 million— though census figures are complicated by the large number of Togolese living in neighboring countries. The...