Why Togo is a thin strip
Togo is a 51 km stretch of coast with a long tail behind it. Germany claimed the coast in 1884, squeezed between British and French colonies, and pushed inland between them. After the First World War the colony was split, and the French two-thirds became today’s Togo.
Written from cited sourcesLast checked 2 October 2026Suggest a correction
See it on the globe:
Togo →
Ghana →
Benin →
A foothold on the coast
By the 1880s Britain held the Gold Coast to the west and France had protectorates along the coast of Dahomey to the east.[2][4] On 5 July 1884 Germany signed a treaty with the chief of Togo that put a short stretch of coast, from Porto-Seguro (Agbodrafo) to Lomé, under German protection.[2] It was part of the European scramble for overseas territory: Chancellor Otto von Bismarck claimed the land, and the other powers recognised the claim.[3]
Germany extended its territory inland by more treaties, and agreed the edges with its neighbours one at a time. In 1885 France gave up its claims to Porto-Seguro and Anecho (Aného), and in 1887 the line with Dahomey was set as a meridian running north from the coast to the 9th parallel; a convention of 1897 moved its southern part onto the Mono River.[4] To the west, an Anglo-German agreement of 1886 fixed a line on the coast and British–German recommendations of 1887 extended it north along the Volta, leaving a neutral zone beyond; agreements in 1890, 1899 and 1904 carried it north to the French territories.[2]
Split in two
German Togoland, 90,479 km² between the Gold Coast and Dahomey, was occupied by British and French forces during the First World War and divided between them in 1922. Two-thirds of the land and people, including Lomé, went to France; the western third, next to the Gold Coast, went to Britain.[3] The line between them was demarcated on 21 October 1929.[2]
British Togoland was run as part of the Gold Coast, and after a plebiscite in 1956 the UN agreed it should join the Gold Coast at independence; it became part of Ghana on 6 March 1957. French Togo became independent on 27 April 1960.[2] So Togo is the eastern part of an already narrow German colony, still 515 km long but only 51 km wide at the sea.[1][3]
Timeline
18845 July 1884
German protectorate
Germany signs a treaty with the chief of Togo.[2]
188524 December 1885
France steps back
France gives up claims to Porto-Seguro and Anecho.[4]
188614 July 1886
Western line on the coast
Britain and Germany agree where the Gold Coast ends.[2]
189723 July 1897
Eastern line
France and Germany confirm the boundary with Dahomey.[4]
1914
Occupation
British and French forces occupy Togoland.[1]
1922
Partition
The League of Nations divides Togoland between France and Britain.[1][3]
1956
Plebiscite
After a plebiscite, the UN agrees British Togoland will join the Gold Coast.[2]
196027 April 1960
Independence
French Togo becomes independent Togo.[2]
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Sources
- [1]Togo · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- [2]International Boundary Study No. 126: Ghana – Togo Boundary · US Department of State, Office of the Geographer · 6 September 1972
- [3]Togoland · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- [4]International Boundary Study No. 124: Dahomey – Togo Boundary · US Department of State, Office of the Geographer · 1972
Map geometry from Natural Earth via world-atlas. See credits.