Travel Alert Status
Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions
Time Difference
UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Travel Climate
The country is divided climatically into southern and northern zones. The southern tropical average temperatures fluctuate between 70°F and 80°F , with February and March the hottest months, and June, July, and August the coolest. Humidity is high (80%-90%) most of the year. The major dry season extends from the end of November to the end of March; August and early September are also sometimes quite dry.
Equatorial conditions in the mountains of Togo support the country’s only rain forest.
Northern temperatures fluctuate between 65°F and over 100°F, and humidity is less than in the south. The northern zone has one rainy and one dry season. In December-January, a cool, dry, dust-laden *quot;harmattan" wind from the Sahara sweeps across the land.
Languages
French (official and the language of commerce), Ewe and Mina (the two major African languages in the south), Kabye (sometimes spelled Kabiye) and Dagomba (the two major African languages in the north)
Ethnic Groups
native African (37 tribes; largest and most important are Ewe, Mina, and Kabre) 99%, European and Syrian-Lebanese less than 1%
National Holiday
Independence Day, 27 April (1960)
Geographic Coordinates
8 00 N, 1 10 E
Location
Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Benin, between Benin and Ghana
Airports
2