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Updates: 

I have updated the populations of regions using the 2010 census results. I've also concluded that Centrale, rather than Centre, is the standard short form of that region's name.

Since about 1970, Togo has been divided into regions, which are further subdivided into prefectures (formerly called circumscriptions). International standard ISO 3166-2 was published on December 15, 1998. It superseded ISO/DIS 3166-2 (draft international standard). The draft standard listed the 21 circumscriptions. The final standard listed the five regions instead. FIPS PUB 10-4 continued to list the prefectures until 2006-03-23, when FIPS Publication Change Notice No. 10 was issued. It assigned new FIPS codes to the current Togolese regions, superseding the prefecture codes formerly in effect.

Country overview: 

Short name	TOGO
ISO code	TG
FIPS code	TO
Language	French (fr)
Time zone	+0
Capital	Lomé

 

Togoland was a German protectorate in 1900. After World War I, the Allies split up Germany's African possessions. The League of Nations mandated Togoland to Great Britain and France. They split it longitudinally. On 1922-07-20, France received the broader eastern strip. The French mandate of Togo was administered under Dahomey (see Benin), and thus formed part of French West Africa. After World War II, the mandate was extended as a U.N. trusteeship. Togo became independent on 1960-04-27. (The British part of Togoland is now part of Ghana.)

Other names of country: 

1. Danish: Togo
2. Dutch: Togo, Togolese Republiek (formal)
3. English: Republic of Togo (formal), Togoland (obsolete)
4. Finnish: Togo
5. French: Togo m, République f Togolaise (formal)
6. German: Togo n
7. Icelandic: Tógó
8. Italian: Togo m
9. Norwegian: Togo, Republikken Togo (formal)
10. Portuguese: Togo m, República f Togolesa (formal)
11. Russian: Того, Тоголезская Республика (formal)
12. Spanish: Togo m, República f Togolesa (formal), República de Togo (formal)
13. Swedish: Togo
14. Turkish: Togo Cumhuriyeti (formal)

Origin of name: 

from Togoville, on Lake Togo, where the German protectorate was established

Primary subdivisions: 

Togo is divided into five régions (regions).

Region	HASC	ISO	FIPS	Pop-2010	Pop-1981	Pop-1970	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Capital	Formal
Centrale	TG.CE	C	TO22	617,871	273,138	298,000	13,182	5,090	Sokodé	Région Centrale, Région du Centre
Kara	TG.KA	K	TO23	769,940	426,651	235,000	11,631	4,491	Kara	Région de la Kara
Maritime	TG.MA	M	TO24	2,599,955	1,040,241	712,000	6,395	2,469	Lomé	Région Maritime
Plateaux	TG.PL	P	TO25	1,375,165	650,393	472,000	16,974	6,554	Atakpamé	Région des Plateaux
Savanes	TG.SA	S	TO26	828,224	329,144	239,000	8,603	3,322	Dapaong	Région des Savanes
5 regions				6,191,155	2,719,567	1,956,000	56,785	21,926
HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Region codes from ISO 3166-2. For full identification in a global context, prefix "TG-" to the code (ex: TG-K represents Kara). FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. Pop-2010: 2010-11-06 census (source [4]) Pop-1981: 1981-11-22 census (source [4]) Pop-1970: 1970-03-01 census (source [11]) Formal: Full name of region.

Further subdivisions:

See the Prefectures of Togo page.

The regions are subdivided into préfectures.

Territorial extent: 

The UN LOCODE page  for Togo lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions. This information can be put together to approximate the territorial extent of subdivisions.

Change history: 

1. 1914-08: Under French administration, capital of Togo moved from Sebbe to Aného.
2. 1920: Capital of Togo moved from Aného to Lomé.
3. ~1920-1950: The divisions of Togo in this period are shown in the following table (sources [5]-[7]). They were called circonscriptions administratives, or later, cercles.

Cercle	Population	Area(km.²)	Capital
Anécho	140,838	2,499	Anécho
Centre	74,040	16,648	Atakpamé
Klouto	44,225	3,761	Klouto
Lomé	91,980	3,401	Lomé
Mango	118,809	9,899	Sansanné-Mango
Sokodé	268,736	18,790	Sokodé
6 cercles	738,628	54,998
Population: 1936 census (source [5]).

1. ~1955: According to sources [9] and [10], Togo consisted of ten divisions (source [10] calls them regions): Anécho, Atakpamé, Bassari, Dapango, Lama-Kara, Lomé, Mango, Palimé, Sokodé, and Tsévié.
2. ~1960: Source [8] shows Togo composed of four regions (Centrale, Maritime, Plateaux, and Savanes).

Region	Population	Area(km.²)	Capital
Centrale	363,074	19,940	Sokodé
Maritime	489,334	6,100	Lomé
Plateaux	365,718	20,430	Atakpamé
Savanes	221,646	10,130	Dapaong
4 regions	1,439,772	56,600
Population: 1960 census (source [8]).

1. ~1966: The four regions were supposedly abolished as administrative divisions. However, the same four regions show up in the late 1970s.
2. ~1981: Kara region formed from parts of Centrale and Savanes.

Other names of subdivisions: 

Centrale: Centre (variant)

Sources: 

1. [1] L'Évaluation des effectifs de la population des pays Africains, Tome I. Groupe de Démographie Africaine, Paris, 1982.
2. [2] Étude de Faisabilité des Forages Manuels au Togo , Togo Water Ministry, Lomé, 2009-10-01 (p. 24, retrieved 2010-10-28). Figures are a synthesis of data from several sources: incomplete surveys conducted between 1996 and 2007, extrapolated to include the growth rate.
3. [3] Togo's Direction Générale de la Statistique et de la Comptabilité Nationale  has yearly population estimates by prefecture and region (retrieved 2007-11-17 from a different URL).
4. [4] Recensement général de la population et de l'habitat : Résultats définitifs. Bureau Central du Recencement, 2011-12 (retrieved 2011-12-31). This document also has results of the 1981 census, and they differ from the figures I previously reported, which came from the Statesman's Yearbook 1988-1989.
5. [5] Encyclopædia Britannica World Atlas, 1951 edition.
6. [6] Territoire du Togo  placé sous le mandat de la France (map, retrieved 2004-01-19). This map references the 1914 borders, and probably dates from the interbellum period (1918-1939).
7. [7] Carte du Togo . Service Géographique des Colonies, 1926 (map, retrieved 2004-01-19).
8. [8] Encyclopædia Britannica World Atlas, 1964 edition.
9. [9] The Statesman's Year-Book 1959, Macmillan & Co., London, 1959.
10. [10] Fisher, Morris. Provinces and Provincial Capitals of the World. New York: Scarecrow Press, 1967.
11. [11] Encyclopædia Britannica, 15th Edition, Chicago, 1984: Togo article