page_title: Sub-Saharan Africa
section_title: Major cities
hierarchical_section_title: Sub-Saharan Africa / Demographics / Major cities
caption_attribution_description: English: Nairobi skyline.
context_page_description: Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically and ethnoculturally, the area of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. According to the United Nations, it consists of all African countries and territories that are fully or partially located south of the Sahara. While the United Nations geoscheme for Africa excludes Sudan from its definition of sub-Saharan Africa, the African Union's definition includes Sudan but instead excludes Mauritania.
  It contrasts with North Africa, whose countries are part of the League of Arab states within the Arab world. The states of Somalia, Djibouti, Comoros and the Arabic-speaking Mauritania and Sudan are, however, geographically in sub-Saharan Africa, although they are members of the Arab League as well. The UN Development Program lists 46 of Africa's 54 countries as "sub-Saharan", excluding Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Somalia, Sudan and Tunisia.
  The term has been criticized by late Professor Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe, on Pambazuka as being a racist word because it refers to the area south of the Sahara by geographical conventions.
context_section_description: Sub-Saharan Africa has several large cities. Lagos is a city in the Nigerian state of Lagos. The city, with its adjoining conurbation, is the most populous in Nigeria, and the second-most populous in Africa after Cairo, Egypt. It is one of the fastest-growing cities in the world, and also one of the most populous urban agglomerations. Lagos is a major financial centre in Africa; this megacity has the highest GDP, and also houses Apapa, one of the largest and busiest ports on the continent.
  Dar es Salaam is the former capital of, as well as the most populous city in, Tanzania; it is a regionally important economic centre. It is located on the Swahili coast.
  Johannesburg is the largest city in South Africa. It is the provincial capital and largest city in Gauteng, which is the wealthiest province in South Africa. While Johannesburg is not one of South Africa's three capital cities, it is the seat of the Constitutional Court. The city is located in the mineral-rich Witwatersrand range of hills, and is the centre of a large-scale gold and diamond trade.
  Nairobi is the capital and the largest city of Kenya. The name comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyrobi, which translates to "cool water", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city is popularly referred to as the Green City in the Sun.
  Other major cities in sub-Saharan Africa include Abidjan, Cape Town, Kinshasa, Luanda, Mogadishu and Addis Ababa.
caption: Nairobi
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