Baguida
Encyclopedia
Baguida is a city of the suburbs of Lomé
Lomé
Lomé, with an estimated population of 737,751, is the capital and largest city of Togo. Located on the Gulf of Guinea, Lomé is the country's administrative and industrial center and its chief port. The city exports coffee, cocoa, copra, and palm kernels...

, the capital of Togo
Togo
Togo, officially the Togolese Republic , is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately with a population of approximately...

, and was once itself the capital.

It is located approximately 13 kilometers east of Lomé—between the neighborhoods of Damavo, Kagomé, Avépozo and the littoral
Littoral
The littoral zone is that part of a sea, lake or river that is close to the shore. In coastal environments the littoral zone extends from the high water mark, which is rarely inundated, to shoreline areas that are permanently submerged. It always includes this intertidal zone and is often used to...

 -- on national highway 5 leading to Cotonou
Cotonou
-Demographics:*1979: 320,348 *1992: 536,827 *2002: 665,100 *2005: 690,584 The main languages spoken in Cotonou include the Fon language, Aja language, Yoruba language and French.-Transport:...

, Benin
Benin
Benin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located...

.

History

The village of Baguida was created at the end of the 17th century, by a hunter named Sani, a former resident of
Bé is a neighborhood of Lomé, Togo, located on the lagoon, east of the city....

, today one of Lomé's neighborhoods.

This region being located along the Atlantic shore, was at the time completely lush with vegetation and featured numerous game animals and fertile lands. Then, the river Zio
Zio
Zio can refer to the following:* Zio, Togo, a prefecture in southern Togo* Zio, the Italian word for uncle* Zio a major antagonist from the video game Phantasy Star IV* the Zonal Informatics Olympiad of the Indian Computing Olympiad...

 ran nearby.

Sani and his brethren lived in this natural area, cultivating cereals, tubers and fabaceae
Fabaceae
The Fabaceae or Leguminosae, commonly known as the legume, pea, or bean family, is a large and economically important family of flowering plants. The group is the third largest land plant family, behind only the Orchidaceae and Asteraceae, with 730 genera and over 19,400 species...

 plants. The village became very populated and propering, attracting colonisers who founded the capital of Togo between 1884 and 1887.

The city's influence stretched towards nearby villages: Avépozo, Kpogan, Noudokopé and Dévégom attracting new migrants from the neighborhoods of Adrométi, Hédzé and Apéyémé. German, French and British colonisers
Colonisation
Colonization occurs whenever any one or more species populate an area. The term, which is derived from the Latin colere, "to inhabit, cultivate, frequent, practice, tend, guard, respect", originally related to humans. However, 19th century biogeographers dominated the term to describe the...

 stayed there during their conquering of the territory.

On 5 July 1884, the signature of the treaty of Baguida made this settlement the first capital of Togo, German colony until 1893. Meanwhile, in 1891, the Togo was under guidance from the Bureau of Colonies, itself linked to the Ministry of German Foreign Affairs. From 1893 on, Aného
Aneho
Aného is a town in southeastern Togo. It is situated 45 km east of the capital Lomé, between the Atlantic Ocean and Lake Togo in Maritime Region. Historically it was known under the name Little Popo and it had a Portuguese slave market. It later became the first German capital of Togo in the...

succeeded Baguida as capital, and in turn passed the title on to Lomé in 1897.
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