Capital: Lome | Language: French, up to 39 indigenous | Currency:  West African CFA (franc) | Religion: Christian, Islam, animism, voodoo | Population: 7.6 million

Togo is a tiny slice of a country sandwiched between Ghana and Benin. In the faded capital Lome, the beach encroaches on the city and many streets are quite literally sand. Quiet, palm-studded neighborhood streets are lined with little bars and maquis – kitchens, basically – music drifting from one to the next. Little towns where coffee and cocoa grow in the hills all around are a good base for hiking into the surrounding forest and swimming in waterfalls.