Togo profile - Timeline

A chronology of key events:

15-17th centuries - Ewe clans from Nigeria and the Ane from Ghana and Ivory Coast settle in region already occupied by Kwa and Voltaic peoples.

1700s - Coastal area occupied by Danes.

1884 - German protectorate of Togoland established, forced labour used to develop plantations.

1914 - British, French forces seize Togoland.

1922 - League of Nations issues mandates to Britain to administer the western part and to France to rule the eastern area of Togoland.

1956 - British-ruled western territory included into the Gold Coast, later renamed Ghana.

1960 - Independence.

1961 - Sylvanus Olympio elected as first president.

1963 - Olympio assassinated, replaced by Nicolas Grunitzky.

1967 - Gnassingbe Eyadema seizes power in bloodless coup, political parties dissolved.

1974 - Phosphate industry nationalised.

1979 - Eyadema, standing as sole candidate, elected as president in first parliamentary polls since 1967, under constitution entrenching civilian, one-party rule.

1985 - Series of bombings in Lome.

1985 - Coup attempt, French troops come to government's assistance. Togo accuses Ghana and Burkina Faso of involvement. Togo's frontier with Ghana shut until 1987.

1986 - Exiled opposition leader Gilchrist Olympio sentenced to death in absentia for complicity in 1985 coup attempt.

1986 - Eyadema re-elected.

1991 - Strikes, demonstrations. Eyadema agrees to split power with transitional adminstration pending elections.

1992 - New constitution approved.

1993 - Eyadema dissolves government, sparking protests and fatal clashes with police. Thousands flee to neighbouring states.

1993 - France, Germany, US suspend aid to press for democratic reforms.

1998 - Eyadema re-elected.

2000 March - UN report alleges that presidents Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso and Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo helped the Angolan rebel group Unita get arms and fuel in exchange for diamonds. Both countries deny the accusations.

2001 February - UN-OAUl inquiry into allegations of summary executions and torture in Togo concludes there were systematic violations of human rights after 1998 presidential election.

2001 August - Opposition leader Yawovi Agboyibo is jailed for six months for libelling the prime minister. Demonstrators take to the streets.

2002 June - Eyadema sacks his prime minister and ally Agbeyome Kodjo and says the action is in preparation for parliamentary elections. Kodjo lambasts the president and accuses his aides of corruption and human rights abuses.

2002 October - Ruling party wins parliamentary elections. Main opposition parties stage boycott in protest at way poll was organised.

2002 December - Parliament alters the constitution, removing a clause which would have barred President Eyadema from seeking a third term in 2003.

2003 June - Eyadema re-elected. Prime Minister Koffi Sama and his government resign.

2003 July - President Eyadema reinstates Koffi Sama as prime minister. A unity government is announced but the main opposition parties are not included.

2003 September - Togo sends 150 soldiers to Liberia to bolster a West African peacekeeping force.

2004 November - European Union restores partial diplomatic relations. Ties were broken in 1993 over violence and democratic shortcomings.

2005 February - President Gnassingbe Eyadema dies, aged 69. The military appoints his son Faure as president in a move condemned as a coup. Under international pressure Faure stands down and agrees to hold presidential elections.

2005 April - Faure Gnassingbe wins presidential elections which the opposition condemns as rigged. The vote is followed by deadly street violence between rival supporters. The UN later estimates that 400-500 people were killed.

2005 June - President Gnassingbe names opposition's Edem Kodjo as prime minister.

2006 April - Reconciliation talks between government and opposition resume. Dialogue was abandoned after Gnassingbe Eyadema's death in 2005.

2006 August - Government and opposition sign an accord providing for the participation of opposition parties in a transitional government.

2006 September - Yawovi Agboyibo, veteran leader of the opposition Committee of Action for Renewal, is named prime minister and tasked with forming a unity government and organising polls.

2007 February - Exiled opposition leader Gilchrist Olympio returns home briefly.

2007 October - Ruling Rally of the Togolese People party wins parliamentary election. International observers declare the poll free and fair.

2007 November - The European Union restores full economic cooperation after a 14-year suspension, citing Togo's successful multi-party elections.

2007 December - Rally of the Togolese People's Komlan Mally appointed prime minister

2008 September - Former UN official Gilbert Houngbo appointed prime minister with support of governing Rally of the Togolese People.

2009 April - President Gnassingbe's half-brother and former Defence Minister Kpatcha Gnassingbe and several army officers are arrested in connection with an alleged coup plot against the president.

2009 June - Togo abolishes death penalty.

2010 January - Togo quits African Cup of Nations football tournament in Angola after an attack on its team bus kills two officials.

2010 March - President Gnassingbe declared winner of presidential elections. The main opposition Union of Forces for Change alleges widespread fraud and refuses to recognise the result.

2010 May - Veteran opposition leader Gilchrist Olympio agrees power-sharing deal with ruling party, splitting his Union of Forces for Change (UFC).

2011 March - Police break up protests against planned legislation which would restrict street demonstrations.

2011 September - President's half-brother Kpatcha Gnassingbe sentenced to jail for plotting to overthrow him.

International Maritime Bureau voices concern over increasing violence being practiced by pirates off the West African coast.

2012 June - Clashes as demonstrators gather in Lome to protest against reforms to the electoral code that favour the ruling party.

2013 July - Long-delayed elections. Ruling party wins two-thirds of parliamentary seats. Opposition party Let's Save Togo alleges irregularities.

2015 May - Opposition candidate Jean-Pierre Fabre refuses to recognise President Gnassingbe's victory in elections.

2019 May - Constitutional changes allow President Gnassingbe to seek re-election and potentially stay in office until 2030 - an issue that sparked huge protests in 2017-18.

2020 February - President Gnassingbe re-elected, opposition leader Agbeyome Kodjo accuses authorities of widespread fraud.