Togo divides between a Christian south, concentrated among the Ewe and Mina peoples, and a more Muslim and traditionalist north, with vodun and other indigenous religious practice remaining widespread across the whole country rather than confined to any one region; the term voodoo itself entered global usage through Togolese and neighboring Beninese practice. The constitution declares Togo a secular state that protects every citizen's right to worship consistent with the nation's laws, and religious associations register with the Directorate of Religious Affairs by submitting their statutes, doctrine and leadership for approval, though the government has not accepted a new registration application since 2013. Only registered denominations may open new places of worship, a restriction that has left newer charismatic and neo-Pentecostal congregations, now a fast growing share of Togolese Christianity, operating in a kind of regulatory limbo. Traditional annual festivals such as the Guin community's Epe Ekpe and the Kabye Evala wrestling rites remain occasions when indigenous religion and Christian or Muslim identity visibly overlap in the same families.
Facts
Law and State
Establishment Status State Funding MechanismSourced to the subject's own accountThe government assigns its own paid employees as additional teachers and staff to the many Catholic, Protestant, and Islamic schools in the country. 4 Registration or Recognition RegimeSourced to the subject's own accountReligious groups other than Roman Catholics, Protestants, and Muslims must register with the government, but the government has not accepted new registration applications since 2013. 4 Classification
State Funding of ReligionState Restriction or Control of Religion 5 Government
Government Type Sovereignty StatusSovereign UN member state 2 Established Year Demographics
Religious CompositionAbout 57 per cent Christian and 16 per cent Muslim, with the remainder following indigenous or folk religion or holding no religious affiliation (Pew Research Center, Religious Composition of the World, 2010-2020). 1 Status
Legal StatusThe constitution declares Togo a secular state that protects every citizen's right to exercise their religious beliefs consistent with the nation's laws, provides for equality before the law regardless of religion, and prohibits religious discrimination. 3 Government type (class) Location
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Religion and History in Togo
This article records tradition as it has been passed down and reported. Its sources are not yet part of the atlas's verified catalogue.
Togo divides between a Christian south, concentrated among the Ewe and Mina peoples, and a more Muslim and traditionalist north, with vodun and other indigenous religious practice remaining widespread across the whole country rather than confined to any one region. The term voodoo itself entered global usage through Togolese and neighboring Beninese practice. About 57 per cent of the population is Christian and 16 per cent Muslim, with the remainder following indigenous or folk religion or holding no religious affiliation.
Traditional annual festivals such as the Guin community's Epe Ekpe and the Kabye Evala wrestling rites remain occasions when indigenous religion and Christian or Muslim identity visibly overlap in the same families, a pattern of layered rather than exclusive religious identity that runs through Togolese life more broadly. Fast growing charismatic and neo-Pentecostal congregations have become a significant share of Togolese Christianity in recent decades, changing the country's Christian landscape even as its older Catholic and mainline Protestant churches remain rooted in the colonial-era missions that first brought them.
Registration and the Limits of Religious Recognition in Togo
This article records tradition as it has been passed down and reported. Its sources are not yet part of the atlas's verified catalogue.
The Togolese constitution declares the country a secular state that protects every citizen's right to exercise their religious beliefs consistent with the nation's laws, provides for equality before the law regardless of religion, and prohibits religious discrimination. In practice, that guarantee sits alongside a registration system that has been effectively closed for over a decade.
Religious associations register with the Directorate of Religious Affairs, submitting statutes, a doctrine statement, bylaws, leadership credentials, facility maps and financial information along with a fee of 150,000 CFA francs, about 255 US dollars, and only registered denominations may open new places of worship. The government has not accepted a new registration application since 2013, leaving newer charismatic and neo-Pentecostal congregations, among the fastest growing parts of Togolese Christianity, operating without the formal standing the law requires for opening new places of worship even as they continue to grow.
Togo
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Connections
Ancient and Historical Regions
Source United Nations Statistics Division: UN M49 Standard country or area codes for statistical use: geographic regions
Associated With
Ewe, Pantheons This source names Togo directly: "Yewe deities of the Ewe of Ghana and Togo."
Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
This source names Togo directly: "of the Ewe people of Ghana and Togo, centered on Mawu-Lisa, a paired creator divinity, and on Yewe, the name for both a group of thunder and lightning powers, including So (Xebioso), and the..."
Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Sources
1. Religious Composition of the World, 2010-2020
2. The World Factbook (Central Intelligence Agency)
Central Intelligence Agency, Central Intelligence AgencyGovernment, government type: TogoView the Source 3. International Religious Freedom Report
United States Department of State, Office of International Religious Freedom, US Department of State, 2023View the Source 4. Freedom of Religion in Africa by Country (Wikipedia)
Togo section, registration sentence, Freedom of religion in Africa by country
Religious groups other than Roman Catholics, Protestants, and Muslims must register with the government; however the government has not accepted new applications since 2013.
Togo section, school-staffing sentence, Freedom of religion in Africa by country
There are many Catholic, Protestant, and Islamic schools, to which the government assigns its own paid employees as additional teachers and staff.
View the Source5. The Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd edition
Oxford University Press, Oxford University Press- demonym / adjectival form
Entity description, state-funding
Only registered denominations may open new places of worship, a restriction that has left newer charismatic and neo-Pentecostal congregations, now a fast growing share of Togolese Christianity, operating in a kind of regulatory limbo.
View the Source United Nations Statistics Division: UN M49 Standard country or area codes for statistical use: geographic regions
United Nations Statistics DivisionAncient and Historical Regions: West Africa, Geographic regions table, Western AfricaQuote, Ancient and Historical Regions: West Africa, Geographic regions table, Western Africa
Western Africa 011 Benin 204 BEN LDC Burkina Faso 854 BFA LDC LLDC Cabo Verde 132 CPV SIDS Côte d’Ivoire 384 CIV Gambia 270 GMB LDC Ghana 288 GHA Guinea 324 GIN LDC Guinea-Bissau 624 GNB LDC SIDS Liberia 430 LBR LDC Mali 466 MLI LDC LLDC Mauritania 478 MRT LDC Niger 562 NER LDC LLDC Nigeria 566 NGA Saint Helena 654 SHN Senegal 686 SEN LDC Sierra Leone 694 SLE LDC Togo 768 TGO LDC
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