The African continent is made up of 54 countries , distributed across five regions (Northern Africa, Southern Africa, Central Africa, West Africa and East Africa). In addition to countries, the continent also covers unrecognized territories, such as Somaliland and the Democratic Arab Saharawi Republic. The people that inhabit these countries today surpass the mark of one billion inhabitants, distributed in an area of approximately 30 million km 2 .
Read also : European countries
List with African countries and their capitals
South Africa (Cape Town)
Angola (Luanda)
Algeria (Algiers)
Benin (Porto Novo)
Botswana (Gaborone)
Burkina Faso (Ouagadougou)
Burundi (Gitega)
Cameroon (Yaoundé)
Chad (N’djamena)
Ivory Coast (Abidjan)
Djibouti (Djibouti)
Egypt (Cairo)
Eritrea (Asmara)
Ethiopia (Addis Ababa)
Gabon (Libreville)
Gambia (Banjul)
Ghana (Accra)
Guinea (Conakry)
Guinea-Bissau (Bissau)
Equatorial Guinea (Malabo)
Madagascar Islands (Antananarivo)
Cape Verde Islands (Praia)
Comoros Island (Moroni)
São Tomé and Príncipe Islands (São Tomé)
Seychelles Islands (Victoria)
Lesotho (Maseru)
Liberia (Monrovia)
Libya (Tripoli)
Malawi (Lilongwe)
Mali (Bamako)
Morocco (Rabat)
Mauritania (Nouakchott)
Mozambique (Maputo)
Namibia (Windhoek)
Niger (Niamey)
Nigeria (Abuja)
Kenya (Nairobi)
Central African Republic (Bangui)
Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa)
Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville)
Mauritius (Port Louis)
Rwanda (Kigali)
Senegal (Dakar)
Sierra Leone (Freetown)
Somalia (Mogadishu)
Eswatini (Lobamba)
Sudan (Khartoum)
South Sudan (Juba)
Tanzania (Dodoma)
Togo (Lomé)
Tunisia (Tunis)
Uganda (Kampala)
Zambia (Lusaka)
Zimbabwe (Harare)
Check out the African countries on the map:
→ Island countries in Africa
Island countries are independent territories formed by an island or more, and therefore have no land borders. Of the 54 African countries, six are island:
- Cape Verde Islands
- Comoros Islands
- Madagascar Islands
- Mauritius
- Sao Tome and Principe Islands
- Seychelles Islands
Also read : What are underdeveloped countries ?
Don’t stop now … There’s more after the publicity;)
Regions of Africa
The African continent is divided into five regions , which group countries with similar characteristics. See what they are:
The African continent is divided into five major regions
- Northern Africa:also known as North Africa, it houses countries like Algeria, Egypt, Sudan, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia. It is located close to the Mediterranean Sea and has a considerable number of inhabitants.
- Southern Africa:also known as Southern Africa, it is the region located in the southern part of the African continent. This region includes South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana. Geographically, this region lies between the Indian Ocean to the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. It stands out economically with agriculture and mineral extraction .
- Central Africa:as its name suggests, it is found in the central portion of the African continent. It contains the territories of countries such as Chad, Gabon, Republic of Congo, Angola, Cameroon and Democratic Republic of Congo. This is a region that differs from the others in terms of similarities, since this grouping does not take into account historical, political or economic similarities. Basically, it only groups the countries that are in the center of the continent.
- West Africa:located in the western part, between the Sahara desert and the Gulf of Guinea. It covers the territories of countries such as Niger, Senegal, Mauritania, Ghana, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Togo, among others. Part of these countries is part of the Economic Community of West African States.
- East Africa:located in the eastern part of Africa, between the watershed of the Congo and the Indian Ocean. Examples of countries that are part of this region are Kenya, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Eritrea etc. East Africa is considered to be one of the regions with the worst human development rates and, consequently, has several social problems.
Read also : Countries of Oceania
Which countries in Africa speak Portuguese?
In addition to Portugal and Brazil, there are nine other countries that speak Portuguese, the fifth most spoken language in the world, with approximately 280 million speakers. Of these nine countries where the language is spoken, six are on the African continent. Are they:
- Angola
- Cape Green
- Guinea Bissau
- Equatorial Guinea
- Mozambique
- Sao Tome and Principe
See also : Portuguese speaking countries
Flags of African countries
African countries with the largest economies
In Africa, there are countries with large economies, leveraged by the presence of mineral reserves, oil and natural gas and also the development of agricultural activities. Check out the largest economies on the continent according to Gross Domestic Product (sum of all goods and services produced over a year):
1st: Nigeria
Nigeria has the largest economy on the African continent
The Nigeria is the African country with the highest GDP , making around US $ 447.01 billion. The country became the continent’s largest economy in 2013 and there are estimates that the country could be on the list of the twenty largest economies in the world by 2050. This economic rise was mainly due to the presence of oil, which made Nigeria 12th largest producer and the 8th largest oil exporter in the world.
The oil production is approximately 40% of GDP. In addition to oil reserves, the country also has an abundance of mineral resources, such as natural gas, coal , bauxite, gold, iron, among others. Despite this, the Nigerian population is in extreme poverty and in the midst of numerous social problems.
2nd: Egypt
Egypt overtook South Africa, and is currently Africa’s second largest economy.
The Egypt is second in the list of ranking of the largest economies in Africa . In 2016, it took second place in the ranking, leaving the South African economy behind. With a GDP of approximately US $ 331 billion, the economy of Egypt’s main activities are agriculture , the telecommunications sector and also the production of oil and natural gas. Despite the large economy, the population suffers from high prices for products that are essential for daily life, and the population’s purchasing power does not rise, remaining stagnant.
3 °: South Africa
South Africa is one of the most developed countries on the African continent.
By 2013, the South Africa was the country with the largest economy in Africa , but was overtaken by the Nigerian economy and the Egyptian economy. The South African economy is linked especially to mineral resources, such as the production of gold and diamonds. Agriculture is also significant in the economy, with an emphasis on the production of sugarcane, corn and wheat.
Tourism, despite representing only between 1% and 3% of GDP, which is approximately US $ 313 billion, is one of the most prominent activities in South Africa. The country receives approximately 860 thousand visitors per month. However, despite representing a large world economy, the country faces numerous social problems, such as unemployment and extreme poverty.
