Aného, previously known as Anecho is a town in southeastern

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

, lying on the Gulf of Guinea near the border of Benin. Founded in the late 17th century by Ane people fleeing from Denkyira attacks in Elmina (now in Ghana), Aného developed as a slave port and commercial center. It was the capital of German Togoland from 1885 to 1887 and of the French occupation from 1914 to 1920. Aného remains an important intellectual center for Togo, though it has not grown as rapidly as Togo’s other major cities. Its estimated population in 2005 was 25,400. It is situated 45 km east of the capital

Lomé Lomé is the capital and largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437

, between the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

and

Lake Togo Lake Togo ''( French: Lac Togo)'' is the largest part of a lagoon in Togo, separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a narrow coastal strip. It is shallow and a popular location for water sports. Towns on the lake's shore include Agbodrafo and Togovi ...

Maritime Region Maritime is the southernmost of Togo's five regions, with the country's only shoreline on the Bight of Benin. Tsévié serves as the regional capital. It is the smallest region in terms of area, but it has the largest population. Other major c ...

. Historically it was known as Petit Popo and it had a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

slave market A slave market is a place where slaves are bought and sold. These markets became a key phenomenon in the history of slavery. Slave markets in the Ottoman Empire In the Ottoman Empire during the mid-14th century, slaves were traded in special ...

. The nearby town of

Zebe Zebe ( sr-cyrl, Зебе) is a village in the municipality of Bosansko Grahovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Demographics According to the 2013 census, its population was 36, all Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numer ...

became the second

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

German Togoland Togoland was a German Empire protectorate in West Africa from 1884 to 1914, encompassing what is now the nation of Togo and most of what is now the Volta Region of Ghana, approximately 90,400 km2 (29,867 sq mi) in size. During the period kn ...

in 1887. It gradually declined in importance after the capital was transferred to Lomé in 1897, a decline exacerbated by

coastal erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landwar ...

. The town's main industries are

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

and

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from fish stocking, stocked bodies of water such as fish pond, ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. ...

, while it is still a center for Voodoo. Notable buildings include Aneho Protestant Church (built in 1895) and Aneho Peter and Paul Church, cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Aného, dating from 1898. These buildings were together added to the UNESCO Tentative List on December 12, 2000, in the Cultural category.Agglomération Aného-Glidji - UNESCO World Heritage Centre
/ref>

References

External links

Communes page
Populated places in Maritime Region Cantons of Togo {{Togo-geo-stub