Togo, a narrow strip of land on Africa's west coast, has for years been the target of criticism over its human rights record and political governance.

Tensions spilled over into deadly violence when its strong-arm, veteran leader died in 2005 and a succession crisis followed. Political reconciliation remains elusive.

Togo formed part of the Slave Coast, from where captives were shipped abroad by European slavers during the 17th century. In 1884 it became the German protectorate of Togoland.

It was seized by Britain and France at the start of World War I, divided and administered under League of Nations mandates.

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At a glance

Politics: President Faure Gnassingbe succeeded his father in a manner condemned internationally

Economy: Togo is among the world's poorest countries. Isolation has further aggravated its weak economy

International: Togo faces international pressure to hold credible parliamentary elections and improve its human rights record. Thousands fled to Benin after 2005 election violence

The British-ruled western part was later incorporated into what is now Ghana.

France granted independence in 1960 and Togo's first president, Sylvanus Olympio, was assassinated in a military coup three years later. Head of the armed forces Gnassingbe Eyadema seized power in a 1967 coup and dissolved all political parties.

Although political parties were legalised in 1991 and a democratic constitution was adopted in 1992, the leadership was accused of suppressing opposition and of cheating in elections.

A joint UN-Organisation of African Unity investigation into claims that hundreds of people were killed after controversial elections in 1998 concluded that there had been systematic human rights violations.

Gnassingbe Eyadema died in early 2005 after 38 years in power. The military's immediate but short-lived installation of his son, Faure Gnassingbe, as president provoked widespread international condemnation. Mr Faure stood down and called elections which he won two months later. The opposition said the vote was rigged.

The developments of 2005 led to renewed questions about a commitment to democracy made by Togo in 2004 in a bid to normalise ties with the EU, which cut off aid in 1993 over the country's human rights record.

Moreover, up to 500 people were killed in the political violence surrounding the presidential poll, according to the UN. Around 40,000 Togolese fled to neighbouring countries.

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A largely semi-desert country, Chad is rich in gold and uranium and stands to benefit from its recently-acquired status as an oil-exporting state.

However, Africa's fifth-largest nation suffers from inadequate infrastructure and internal conflict. Poverty is rife, and health and social conditions compare unfavourably with those elsewhere in the region.

Chad's post-independence history has been marked by instability and violence stemming mostly from tension between the mainly Arab-Muslim north and the predominantly Christian and animist south.

In 1969 Muslim dissatisfaction with the first president, Ngarta Tombalbaye – a Christian southerner – developed into a guerrilla war. This, combined with a severe drought, undermined his rule and in 1975 President Tombalbaye was killed in a coup led by another southerner, Felix Malloum.

Mr Malloum, too, failed to end the war, and in 1979 he was replaced by a Libyan-backed northerner, Goukouki Oueddei. But the fighting continued, this time with a former defence minister, Hissen Habre, on the opposite side.

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At a glance

Politics: Crises on several fronts: President Deby, in power since 1990, faces an armed rebellion by several groups and incursions from neighbouring Sudan. He survived a coup attempt in 2006

Humanitarian issues: 140,000 people are internal refugees; 200,000 refugees are from Sudan

Economy: Chad is enjoying an oil boom. Changes to rules governing how revenues can be spent have been controversial. Chad ranks as the world's most corrupt state

International: Chad cut ties with Sudan in 2006, accusing it of supporting rebels, but since 2009 efforts have been made to resolve the countries' differences. Chad hosts large numbers of refugees from Central African Republic and Sudan's Darfur

Country profiles compiled by BBC Monitoring

In 1982, with French help, Mr Habre captured the capital, N'Djamena, and Mr Oueddei escaped to the north, where he formed a rival government. The standoff ended in 1990, when Mr Habre was toppled by the Libyan-backed Idriss Deby.

By the mid-1990s the situation had stabilised and in 1996 Mr Deby was confirmed president in Chad's first election.

In 1998 an armed insurgency began in the north, led by President Deby's former defence chief, Youssouf Togoimi. A Libyan-brokered peace deal in 2002 failed to put an end to the fighting.

From 2003 unrest in neighbouring Sudan's Darfur region spilled across the border, along with hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees. They have been joined by thousands of Chadians who are fleeing rebel fighting as well as violence between ethnic Arab and ethnic African Chadians.

Chad and Sudan accuse each other of backing and harbouring rebels, and the dispute led to severing of relations in 2006. However, since then, progress has been made towards normalising ties, with the two countries' presidents meeting for the first time in six years in 2010.

Chad became an oil-producing nation in 2003 with the completion of a $4bn pipeline linking its oilfields to terminals on the Atlantic coast. The government has moved to relax a law controlling the use of oil money, which the World Bank had made a condition of its $39m loan.

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US special forces are advising the Ugandan army in their hunt for Joseph Kony

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Joseph Kony

Ugandan survivors

Profile of the LRA leader

Rise of online campaigning

Kony2012# under fire

The Ugandan army says the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) led by Joseph Kony is being supported and supplied by the Sudanese government.

The LRA is accused of rape, mutilation, murder and the recruitment of child soldiers.

A Ugandan Defence Force colonel told the BBC they captured a member of the LRA who was wearing a Sudanese uniform, and carried its weapons and ammunition.

The US has sent special forces to help in the hunt for Mr Kony.

The 100-strong mission is working in four bases across Central Africa, where the LRA is moving in small groups, raiding and abducting villagers to become fighters, sex slaves or porters.

An online video produced by the US pressure group Invisible Children earlier this year helped raise international awareness of the LRA's activities.

Last month the African Union set up a 5,000-strong force to track down the fugitive warlord.

Mr Kony and his close aides have been wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court since 2005.

Joseph Kony wants to install a government in Uganda based on the Biblical 10 Commandments

‘Tangible’ fear

Col Felix Kulayigye of the Ugandan Defence Force told the BBC it had information that the LRA was now moving into Sudan, including areas controlled by the Janjaweed militia which is backed by Khartoum.

“Kony knows we can't enter that region, so when the pressure is high in Central Africa he crosses into the Sudanese border [areas],” he said.

Mr Kony, whose army first emerged in northern Uganda, has evaded capture for more than 20 years as his forces terrorised large areas of Central Africa.

He claims he has been fighting to install a government in Uganda based on the Biblical 10 Commandments.

Mr Kony was due to sign a peace deal with the Ugandan government in 2008, but peace talks fell apart because the LRA leader wanted assurances that he and his allies would not be prosecuted.

The BBC's Dan Damon is one of a few journalists who has visited the US forces based in Obo, Central African Republic.

He says fear of the LRA is tangible and real to people in Central Africa, especially in remote areas along the heavily forested and often unmarked borders between Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Central African Republic.

The US forces told the BBC that they were not hunting for Kony themselves, but assisting local armies and coordinating intelligence and communications.

Maria Wangechi from the medical charity Merlin says the LRA staged its most recent attack two weeks ago, but the presence of the US and AU forces has helped reassure civilians in the region.

The LRA has now split into small groups. The BBC's Dan Damon says they do not use any form of electronic communications, but instead use runners and rendezvous points to keep in touch.

He says that means the US electronic surveillance technology may not be so useful as the hunt for Joseph Kony continues.

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A poor country even by West African standards, landlocked Burkina Faso has suffered from recurring droughts, matched in number only by the military coups it has endured, especially during the 1980s.

Burkina Faso has significant reserves of gold, but cotton production is the economic mainstay for many Burkinabes. The industry is vulnerable to changes in world prices.

Formerly Upper Volta, Burkina Faso has spent many of its post-independence years under military rule.

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At a glance

Politics: Coup leader Blaise Compaore won a new five-year term in 2010 after 23 years at the helm

Economy: The UN rates Burkina Faso as the world's third poorest country

International: Burkina Faso has been linked to conflicts within the region. Many citizens who have traditionally worked in Ivory Coast have fled instability there

Country profiles compiled by BBC Monitoring

After taking power in a 1983 coup, Thomas Sankara adopted a policy of nonalignment, developed relations with Libya and Ghana, and gave the country its present name, which translates as “land of honest men”.

In 1987 Mr Sankara was overthrown and then executed in a coup masterminded by Blaise Compaore, who has since instituted a multi-party system.

Burkina Faso has faced domestic and external concern over the state of its economy and human rights, and allegations that it was involved in the smuggling of diamonds by rebels in Sierra Leone.

Troubles in neighbouring Ivory Coast have raised tensions. Ivory Coast has accused Burkina Faso of backing rebels in its north, a claim denied by Ouagadougou, which accuses its neighbour of mistreating Burkinabes living in Ivory Coast.

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