What language do they speak in Togo?
French
Togo/Official languages
The official language is French, although it is not widely spoken outside of business and government. Widely spoken indigenous languages belong to the Niger-Congo language family and include Ewe in the south and Kabiye in the north.
How many languages are spoken in Togo?
Togo is a multilingual country, which according to one count has 44 languages spoken. The official language is French. Two indigenous languages were designated politically as national languages in 1975: Ewé (Ewe: Èʋegbe) and Kabiyé.
Why is Togo the saddest country?
This small West African nation is the saddest country in the world. Togo used to be the heart of slave trade in Africa. Rifts between the country’s leaders over power has left the people to fend for themselves, resulting in immense poverty.
Is Togo a French colony?
French Colonization (1916-1960) French Togoland was a French colonial League of Nations mandate from 1916 to 1960 in French West Africa. In 1960 it became the independent Togolese Republic, and the present day nation of Togo.
Is Yoruba spoken in Togo?
The Ifè (Togo) dialect of Yoruba is spoken by approximately 90,000 people in Atakpame and the speakers stretch from the Benin boundary up to Atakpame in Togo. “The majority of these Ife settlers migrated from Ija-Oku in former Dahomey into the Togolese territory and subsequently founded the city of Atapkame.
Is German spoken in Togo?
German became the official language. The indigenous population however, continued to speak English, and was doing so as the British and French invaded in 1914. Presently French is the official European language of Togo.
Do they speak English in Togo?
Language in Togo French is the official language, while Ewe, Watchi and Kabiyé are the most widely spoken African languages. Very little English is spoken.
Why is Togo so poor?
Although Togo is one of the world’s top five producers of phosphates, an otherwise prosperous resource used in fertilizers, its inhabitants remain poor and almost entirely dependent on humanitarian foreign aid. Thus, the rates of poverty in Togo are very high.
Is Togo part of Ghana?
In 1946 the two Togolands became United Nations trust territories. The British part was administered with the Gold Coast and became part of independent Ghana in 1957, but French Togoland remained administratively distinct from Dahomey (now Benin) and became independent as the Republic of Togo in 1960.
What was Togo called before?
During the period known as the “Scramble for Africa,” in 1884, the territory of what is now Togo, including most of today’s Volta region of Ghana, became a protectorate of the German Empire named Togoland, until August 1914 when French and British troops invaded said Togoland.
What does TOGO stand for?
The name Togo is translated from the Ewe language as “behind the river”. Not much is known of the period before the arrival of the Portuguese in 1490.
What is the official language of Togo?
Two spoken indigenous languages were designated politically as national languages in 1975: Ewé (Ewe: Èʋegbe) and Kabiyé. Among the other languages in Togo, Mina (the dialect of Ewé spoken in Lomé) serves as the working language in the south of the country, Mobaa, Tem (also called Kotokoli) and Fula (Fula: Fulfulde;).
What was Togo known for before the Portuguese?
Archaeological finds indicate that ancient tribes were able to produce pottery and process iron. The name Togo is translated from the Ewe language as “land where lagoons lie”. Not much is known of the period before arrival of the Portuguese in 1490.
What are the characteristics of Ghana Togo Mountain languages?
All Ghana–Togo Mountain languages are tonal and most have a nine or ten vowel system employing ATR vowel harmony. Both Ewe and Twi, the dominant regional languages, have exerted considerable influence on many GTM languages. sg.