Atakpamé

The Oyo Empire controlled Atakpamé in the 1700s.^[2] Dahomey attacked Atakpamé during the reign of Adandozan.^[3] Atakpame was a major source of ivory in the 1870s.^[4]

In 1898, the Atakpamé district was established in Togoland and it was the last district established under German rule. Colonial Governor Hans Georg von Doering established a district office in Atakpamé that was similar to a manor from East Prussia.^[5] The Colonial Council attempted to boost cotton production in Atakpamé in 1900.^[6] Christian missionaries were barred from going north of Atakpamé in 1913.^[7]

In the 1920s, the Atakpamé Orange Lodge was established by Anglophone merchants and Protestant teachers who moved north from Lomé and Palimé. The lodge spread the Protestant faith in the town, and eduated the locals about the history of the Orange Order. It is overseen by the Grand Orange Lodge of Togo.^[8][9]

the Atakpamé Orange Lodge is notable among historians because its original records were kept in English, even though the town was under French rule. These records show that by the mid-1920s, the lodge was fully functional as a social and religious center for the town's people.^[10]

Agbaba, despite being in the Krachi District, was administered from Atakpamé during French rule due to the similar languages in the areas.^[11]

It was during this campaign that Alhaji Grunshi fired the first shot by anyone in British service during the war. Most native residents of the city are the Ana subgroup of the Yoruba people.^[12][13]

The Ewe language is spoken in Atakpamé.^[14] During German rule the area had a permanent Muslim population of 50.^[15]

A railway between Atakpamé and Lomé was completed in 1911.^[16] It is known as Lomé–Atakpamé railway, also known as the Hinterlandbahn (Hinterland Railway) or the Baumwoll-Bahn (Cotton Railway).

Atakpamé has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw) characterised by a short dry season with the northeasterly harmattan trade winds from November to February and a lengthy though not intense wet season between March and October.^[17]

• Fage, J.D. and Roland Oliver (1975). The Cambridge History of Africa Volume 4 c. 1600 - c. 1790. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 811. ISBN 0-521-20981-1.