# Africa

Africa

continent, geographic location, region| Part of | Ostfeste, Earth, Afro-Eurasia, Afro-Asia  |
| Native label | Africa  |
| Located in/on physical feature | Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere  |
| Coordinate location | 0°0′0″N 15°0′0″E  |
| Highest point | Mount Kibo  |
| Lowest point | Afar Triangle  |
| Owner of | International Council of African Museums  |
| Dey share bother plus | Eurasia, Asia  |
| Has boundary | boundary between Africa and Asia, boundary between Africa and Europe  |
| Studied by | African studies, African studies  |
| Hashtag | africa  |
| Depicted by | Study with Allegories of Europe and Africa  |
| Geography of topic | geography of Africa  |
| History of topic | history of Africa  |
| ‎most populous urban area | Lagos  |
| Related category | Category:Explorers of Africa  |
| Economy of topic | economy of Africa  |
| Demographics of topic | demographics of Africa  |
| NCI Thesaurus ID | C26272  |
| Category for maps or plans | Category:Maps of Africa  |

**Africa** be de world ein second-largest den second-most populous continent afta Asia. For about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) wey dey include adjacent islands, edey cover 20% of Earth ein land area den 6% of ein total surface area. Plus 1.4 billion people as of 2021, edey account for about 18% of de world ein human population. Africa ein population be de youngest amongst all de continents; na de median age insyd 2012 be 19.7, wen na de worldwide median age be 30.4. Despite wide range of natural resources, Africa be de least wealthy continent per capita den second-least wealthy by total wealth, ahead of Oceania. Scholars attribute dis to different factors wey dey include geography, climate, tribalism, colonialism, de Cold War, neocolonialism, lack of democracy, den corruption. Despite dis low concentration of wealth, recent economic expansion den de large den young population dey make Africa important economic market insyd de broader global context.

De continent be surrounded by de Mediterranean Sea go de north, de Isthmus of Suez den de Red Sea go de northeast, de Indian Ocean go de southeast den de Atlantic Ocean go de west. De continent dey include Madagascar den various archipelagos. Edey contain 54 fully sovereign states dem recognise, eight cities den islands wey be part of non-African states, den two *de facto* independent states plus limited anaa no recognition. Dis count no dey include Malta den Sicily, wey be geologically part of de African continent. Algeria be Africa ein largest country by area, den Nigeria be ein largest by population. African nations dey cooperate thru de establishment of de African Union, wey be headquartered insyd Addis Ababa.

Africa dey straddle de equator den de prime meridian. Ebe de continent per wey dey stretch from de northern temperate go de southern temperate zones. De majority of de continent den ein countries dey insyd de Northern Hemisphere, plus substantial portion den number of countries insyd de Southern Hemisphere. Most of de continent dey lie insyd de tropics, except for large part of Western Sahara, Algeria, Libya den Egypt, de northern tip of Mauritania, den de entire territories of Morocco, Ceuta, Melilla, den Tunisia wey in turn dey locate above de tropic of Cancer, insyd de northern temperate zone. Insyd de oda extreme of de continent, southern Namibia, southern Botswana, great parts of South Africa, de entire territories of Lesotho den Eswatini den de southern tips of Mozambique den Madagascar dey locate below de tropic of Capricorn, insyd de southern temperate zone.

## Economy

For sam recently analysis dem publish wey dey base for World Values Survey data top, de Austrian political scientist Arno Tausch maintain say several African countries, most notably Ghana, perform quite well for scales of mass support top for democracy den de market economy.

| Rank | Country | GDP (nominal, Peak Year)
millions of USD | Peak Year |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| — | *African Union* | 2,945,709 | 2022 |
| 1 | Nigeria | 568,499 | 2014 |
| 2 | Egypt | 476,748 | 2022 |
| 3 | South Africa | 458,708 | 2011 |
| 4 | Algeria | 224,107 | 2023 |
| 5 | Ethiopia | 155,804 | 2023 |
| 6 | Morocco | 147,343 | 2023 |
| 7 | Angola | 145,712 | 2014 |
| 8 | Kenya | 113,701 | 2022 |
| 9 | Libya | 92,542 | 2012 |
| 10 | Tanzania | 84,033 | 2023 |

| Rank | Country | GDP (PPP, Peak Year)
millions of USD | Peak Year |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| — | *African Union* | 8,865,179 | 2023 |
| 1 | Egypt | 1,809,425 | 2023 |
| 2 | Nigeria | 1,365,903 | 2023 |
| 3 | South Africa | 997,444 | 2023 |
| 4 | Algeria | 628,990 | 2023 |
| 5 | Ethiopia | 393,297 | 2023 |
| 6 | Morocco | 385,337 | 2023 |
| 7 | Kenya | 338,964 | 2023 |
| 8 | Angola | 260,323 | 2023 |
| 9 | Tanzania | 227,725 | 2023 |
| 10 | Ghana | 227,189 | 2023 |

### Alternative Estimates of African Population, 0–2018 AD (insyd thousands)

Source: Maddison den odas. (University of Groningen).

| Year | 0 | 1000 | 1500 | 1600 | 1700 | 1820 | 1870 | 1913 | 1950 | 1973 | 1998 | 2018 | 2100
(dem project) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Africa** | 16 500 | 33 000 | 46 000 | 55 000 | 61 000 | 74 208 | 90 466 | 124 697 | 228 342 | 387 645 | 759 954 | 1 321 000 | 3 924 421 |
| **World** | 230 820 | 268 273 | 437 818 | 555 828 | 603 410 | 1 041 092 | 1 270 014 | 1 791 020 | 2 524 531 | 3 913 482 | 5 907 680 | 7 500 000 | 10 349 323 |

### Shares of Africa den World Population, 0–2020 AD (% of world total)

Source: Maddison den odas (University of Groningen).

| Year | 0 | 1000 | 1500 | 1600 | 1700 | 1820 | 1870 | 1913 | 1950 | 1973 | 1998 | 2020 | 2100
(dem project) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Africa** | 7.1 | 12.3 | 10.5 | 9.9 | 10.1 | 7.1 | 7.1 | 7.0 | 9.0 | 9.9 | 12.9 | 18.2 | 39.4 |

## Territories den regions

Dem categorize de countries insyd dis table according to de scheme for geographic subregions de United Nations dey use, den data dem include be per sources insyd cross-referenced articles. Wer dem dey differ, dem clearly indicate provisos.

| Arms | Flag | Name of region den
territory, plus flag | Area
(km2) | Population | Year | Density
(per km2) | Capital | Name(s) for official language(s) insyd | ISO 3166-1 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **North Africa** |
|  |  | Algeria | 2,381,740 | 46,731,000 | 2022 | 17.7 | Algiers | الجزائر (al-Jazāʾir)/Algérie | DZA |
|  |  | Canary Islands (Spain) | 7,492 | 2,154,905 | 2017 | 226 | Las Palmas de Gran Canaria,
Santa Cruz de Tenerife | Canarias | IC |
|  |  | Pelagie Islands (Italy) | 25.5 | 6,556 | 2019 | 247 | Lampedusa | Pelagie/Isole Pelagie/Ìsuli Pilaggî | ITA |
|  |  | Ceuta (Spain) | 20 | 85,107 | 2017 | 3,575 | — | Ceuta/Sebta/سَبْتَة (Sabtah) | EA |
|  |  | Egypt | 1,001,450 | 82,868,000 | 2012 | 83 | Cairo | مِصر (Miṣr) | EGY |
|  |  | Libya | 1,759,540 | 6,310,434 | 2009 | 4 | Tripoli | ليبيا (Lībiyā) | LBY |
|  |  | Madeira (Portugal) | 797 | 245,000 | 2001 | 307 | Funchal | Madeira | PRT-30 |
|  |  | Melilla (Spain) | 12 | 85,116 | 2017 | 5,534 | — | Melilla/Mlilt/مليلية | EA |
|  |  | Morocco | 446,550 | 35,740,000 | 2017 | 78 | Rabat | المغرب (al-maḡrib)/ⵍⵎⵖⵔⵉⴱ (lmeɣrib)/Maroc | MAR |
|  |  | Sudan | 1,861,484 | 30,894,000 | 2008 | 17 | Khartoum | Sudan/السودان (as-Sūdān) | SDN |
|  |  | Tunisia | 163,610 | 10,486,339 | 2009 | 64 | Tunis | تونس (Tūnis)/Tunest/Tunisie | TUN |
|  |  | Western Sahara | 266,000 | 405,210 | 2009 | 2 | El Aaiún | الصحراء الغربية (aṣ-Ṣaḥrā' al-Gharbiyyah)/Taneẓroft Tutrimt/Sáhara Occidental | ESH |
| **East Africa** |
|  |  | Burundi | 27,830 | 8,988,091 | 2009 | 323 | Gitega | Uburundi/Burundi/Burundi | BDI |
|  |  | Comoros | 2,170 | 752,438 | 2009 | 347 | Moroni | Komori/Comores/جزر القمر (Juzur al-Qumur) | COM |
|  |  | Djibouti | 23,000 | 828,324 | 2015 | 22 | Djibouti | Yibuuti/جيبوتي (Jībūtī/Djibouti/Jabuuti) | DJI |
|  |  | Eritrea | 121,320 | 5,647,168 | 2009 | 47 | Asmara | Eritrea | ERI |
|  |  | Ethiopia | 1,127,127 | 84,320,987 | 2012 | 75 | Addis Ababa | ኢትዮጵያ (Ītyōṗṗyā)/Itiyoophiyaa/ኢትዮጵያ/Itoophiyaa/Itoobiya/ኢትዮጵያ | ETH |
|  |  | French Southern Territories (France) | 439,781 | 100 | 2019 | — | Saint Pierre | Terres australes et antarctiques françaises | FRA-TF |
|  |  | Kenya | 582,650 | 39,002,772 | 2009 | 66 | Nairobi | Kenya | KEN |
|  |  | Madagascar | 587,040 | 20,653,556 | 2009 | 35 | Antananarivo | Madagasikara/Madagascar | MDG |
|  |  | Malawi | 118,480 | 14,268,711 | 2009 | 120 | Lilongwe | Malaŵi/Malaŵi | MWI |
|  |  | Mauritius | 2,040 | 1,284,264 | 2009 | 630 | Port Louis | Mauritius/Maurice/Moris | MUS |
|  |  | Mayotte (France) | 374 | 223,765 | 2009 | 490 | Mamoudzou | Mayotte/Maore/Maiôty | MYT |
|  |  | Mozambique | 801,590 | 21,669,278 | 2009 | 27 | Maputo | Moçambique/Mozambiki/Msumbiji/Muzambhiki | MOZ |
|  |  | Réunion (France) | 2,512 | 743,981 | 2002 | 296 | Saint Denis | La Réunion | FRA-RE |
|  |  | Rwanda | 26,338 | 10,473,282 | 2009 | 398 | Kigali | Rwanda | RWA |
|  |  | Seychelles | 455 | 87,476 | 2009 | 192 | Victoria | Seychelles/Sesel | SYC |
|  |  | Somalia | 637,657 | 9,832,017 | 2009 | 15 | Mogadishu | 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖 (Soomaaliya) /الصومال (aṣ-Ṣūmāl) | SOM |
|  |  | Somaliland | 176,120 | 5,708,180 | 2021 | 25 | Hargeisa | Soomaaliland/صوماليلاند (Ṣūmālīlānd) |  |
|  |  | South Sudan | 619,745 | 8,260,490 | 2008 | 13 | Juba | South Sudan | SSD |
|  |  | Tanzania | 945,087 | 44,929,002 | 2009 | 43 | Dodoma | Tanzania/Tanzania | TZA |
|  |  | Uganda | 236,040 | 32,369,558 | 2009 | 137 | Kampala | Uganda/Yuganda | UGA |
|  |  | Zambia | 752,614 | 11,862,740 | 2009 | 16 | Lusaka | Zambia | ZMB |
|  |  | Zimbabwe | 390,580 | 11,392,629 | 2009 | 29 | Harare | Zimbabwe | ZWE |
| **Central Africa** |
|  |  | Angola | 1,246,700 | 12,799,293 | 2009 | 10 | Luanda | Angola | AGO |
|  |  | Cameroon | 475,440 | 18,879,301 | 2009 | 40 | Yaoundé | Cameroun/Kamerun | CMR |
|  |  | Central African Republic | 622,984 | 4,511,488 | 2009 | 7 | Bangui | Ködörösêse tî Bêafrîka/République centrafricaine | CAF |
|  |  | Chad | 1,284,000 | 10,329,208 | 2009 | 8 | N'Djamena | تشاد (Tšād/Tchad) | TCD |
|  |  | Republic of the Congo | 342,000 | 4,012,809 | 2009 | 12 | Brazzaville | Congo/Kôngo/Kongó | COG |
|  |  | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 2,345,410 | 69,575,000 | 2012 | 30 | Kinshasa | République démocratique du Congo | COD |
|  |  | Equatorial Guinea | 28,051 | 633,441 | 2009 | 23 | Malabo | Guinea Ecuatorial/Guinée Équatoriale/Guiné Equatorial | GNQ |
|  |  | Gabon | 267,667 | 1,514,993 | 2009 | 6 | Libreville | gabonaise | GAB |
|  |  | São Tomé and Príncipe | 1,001 | 212,679 | 2009 | 212 | São Tomé | São Tomé e Príncipe | STP |
| **Southern Africa** |
|  |  | Botswana | 600,370 | 1,990,876 | 2009 | 3 | Gaborone | Botswana/Botswana | BWA |
|  |  | Eswatini | 17,363 | 1,123,913 | 2009 | 65 | Mbabane | eSwatini/Eswatini | SWZ |
|  |  | Lesotho | 30,355 | 2,130,819 | 2009 | 70 | Maseru | Lesotho/Lesotho | LSO |
|  |  | Namibia | 825,418 | 2,108,665 | 2009 | 3 | Windhoek | Namibia | NAM |
|  |  | South Africa | 1,219,912 | 51,770,560 | 2011 | 42 | Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Pretoria | yaseNingizimu Afrika/yoMzantsi-Afrika/Suid-Afrika/Afrika-Borwa/Aforika Borwa/Afrika Borwa/Afrika Dzonga/yeNingizimu Afrika/Afurika Tshipembe/yeSewula Afrika | ZAF |
| **West Africa** |
|  |  | Benin | 112,620 | 8,791,832 | 2009 | 78 | Porto-Novo | Bénin | BEN |
|  |  | Burkina Faso | 274,200 | 15,746,232 | 2009 | 57 | Ouagadougou | Burkina Faso | BFA |
|  |  | Cape Verde | 4,033 | 429,474 | 2009 | 107 | Praia | Cabo Verde/Kabu Verdi | CPV |
|  |  | The Gambia | 11,300 | 1,782,893 | 2009 | 158 | Banjul | The Gambia | GMB |
|  |  | Ghana | 239,460 | 23,832,495 | 2009 | 100 | Accra | Ghana | GHA |
|  |  | Guinea | 245,857 | 10,057,975 | 2009 | 41 | Conakry | Guinée | GIN |
|  |  | Guinea-Bissau | 36,120 | 1,533,964 | 2009 | 43 | Bissau | Guiné-Bissau | GNB |
|  |  | Ivory Coast | 322,460 | 20,617,068 | 2009 | 64 | Abidjan, Yamoussoukro | Côte d'Ivoire | CIV |
|  |  | Liberia | 111,370 | 3,441,790 | 2009 | 31 | Monrovia | Liberia | LBR |
|  |  | Mali | 1,240,000 | 12,666,987 | 2009 | 10 | Bamako | Mali/Maali/مالي (Mālī)/𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Maali)/ߡߊߟߌ (Mali) | MLI |
|  |  | Mauritania | 1,030,700 | 3,129,486 | 2009 | 3 | Nouakchott | موريتانيا (Mūrītānyā) | MRT |
|  |  | Niger | 1,267,000 | 15,306,252 | 2009 | 12 | Niamey | Niger | NER |
|  |  | Nigeria | 923,768 | 166,629,000 | 2012 | 180 | Abuja | Nigeria | NGA |
|  |  | Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (United Kingdom) | 420 | 7,728 | 2012 | 13 | Jamestown | Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha | SHN |
|  |  | Senegal | 196,190 | 13,711,597 | 2009 | 70 | Dakar | Sénégal | SEN |
|  |  | Sierra Leone | 71,740 | 6,440,053 | 2009 | 90 | Freetown | Sierra Leone | SLE |
|  |  | Togo | 56,785 | 6,019,877 | 2009 | 106 | Lomé | togolaise | TGO |
| Africa Total | 30,368,609 | 1,001,320,281 | 2009 | 33 |

* Brantlinger, Patrick (1985). "Victorians and Africans: The Genealogy of the Myth of the Dark Continent" (PDF). *Critical Inquiry*. **12** (1): 166–203. doi:10.1086/448326. JSTOR 1343467. S2CID 161311164.
* Malone, Jacqui (1996). *Steppin' on the Blues: the Visible Rhythms of African American Dance*. University of Illinois Press. OCLC 891842452.
* Robinson, Ronald; Gallagher, John; Denny, Alice (1961). *Africa and the Victorians: The official mind of imperialism* (2 ed.). Macmillan. ISBN 9780333310069. OL 17989466M.
* Shillington, Kevin (2005). *History of Africa*. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-333-59957-0.
* Southall, Roger; Melber, Henning (2009). *A New Scramble For Africa?: Imperialism, Investment and Development*. University of KwaZulu-Natal Press.
* Welsh-Asante, Kariamu (2009). *African Dance*. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4381-2427-8.

## You fi read further

* Asante, Molefi (2007). *The History of Africa*. US: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-77139-9.
* Clark, J. Desmond (1970). *The Prehistory of Africa*. London: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-02069-2.
* Crowder, Michael (1978). *The Story of Nigeria*. London: Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-04947-9.
* Davidson, Basil (1966). *The African Past: Chronicles from Antiquity to Modern Times*. Harmondsworth: Penguin. OCLC 2016817.
* Gordon, April A.; Gordon, Donald L. (1996). *Understanding Contemporary Africa*. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers. ISBN 978-1-55587-547-3.
* Khapoya, Vincent B. (1998). *The African experience: an introduction*. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-745852-3.
* Moore, Clark D., and Ann Dunbar (1968). *Africa Yesterday and Today*, in series, *The George School Readings on Developing Lands*. New York: Praeger Publishers.
* Naipaul, V.S. *The Masque of Africa: Glimpses of African Belief*. Picador, 2010. ISBN 978-0-330-47205-0
* Wade, Lizzie (2015). "Drones and satellites spot lost civilizations in unlikely places". *Science*. doi:10.1126/science.aaa7864.

**General information Africa web resources GovPubs provide at de University of Colorado Boulder Libraries
* Top Africa Universities web resources at de Africa Listings
* Africa at de *Encyclopædia Britannica*
* Africa: Human Geography at de National Geographic Society
* African & Middle Eastern Reading Room from de United States Library of Congress
* Africa South of the Sahara from Stanford University
* Aluka, digital library of scholarly resources from den about Africa

**History The Story of Africa from BBC World Service
* "Africa" . *Encyclopædia Britannica*. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). 1911. pp. 320–358.