This West African country was inhabited by native peoples when the Portuguese in the late 1400s. It was dubbed "the slave coast" because of the vigorous slave trade carried on for about 200 years (1600s to 1800s). In 1884, the Germans made Togo a protectorate, but as in much of Africa, the aftermath of World War I left the country divvied up between Britain and France, an arrangement supported by the League of Nations. The British sector later became a part of Ghana, while the French portion became independent in 1960, becoming the Independent Republic of Togo. In 1967, a military coup overthrew the government. Lt. Col. Gnassingbe Eyadema was installed as president; he served until 1990, when democratic reformers forced him out. Though he briefly returned to serve in 1992, a new constitution (1992) and new elections (1994) changed the course of the government to multiparty democracy.