LOME

city, capital of Togo. Lom lies on the Gulf of Guinea (Atlantic coast) in the extreme southwestern corner of the country. Selected as the colonial capital of German Togoland in 1897, it became important as an administrative, commercial, and transport centre. A modern town was laid out, and a 1,380-foot (420-metre) jetty was built to facilitate the export of raw materials. Three railways fan out from Lom to the hinterland: northwest to Palim, north to Sokod, and east along the coast to Anho. Modernization of the port was begun in the 1960s, and a deepwater harbour, completed in 1968, can handle 1,500,000 tons of goods annually. This has greatly facilitated the shipping of phosphates and other major exports, such as cocoa, coffee, copra, cotton, and palm products. The Lom oil refinery was opened in 1978, and in that same year construction began on a thermal power plant. The Maison du Peuple, opened in 1972, has a 3,000-seat conference hall and is the national headquarters for Togo's only political party. An international airport is nearby. The Universit du Bnin was founded in 1965 at Lom. The Togolese capital was also the site of several important summits; the first Lom Convention was signed there in 1975, establishing an aid and trade agreement between African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries and the European Union. Pop. (1990 est.) 513,000.