Africa consists of 59 countries with a total land area of 30 million km² (twelve million square miles), representing 20% of the Earth’s habitable surface. Africa’s coastlines have a combined length of 41,184 km (25,596 miles). There are 1.39 billion people living in Africa — that’s 17.7% of the world’s population — and they account for around 2.8% of global economic output.
The straight borderlines in North Africa are striking and often look like they were drawn with a ruler over hundreds of kilometres. Until colonial times, there were hardly any fixed national borders. It was not until the late 19th century that the northern countries of Africa were divided up by Europeans according to purely political and economic criteria. Ethnic or geographical criteria rarely played a role here.
Presidential republic
Independent since 1962
Official: People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria
Local name: الجزائر al-Dschazā’ir
Region: Northern Africa
Area: 2,381,740 km²
Capital: Algiers
Presidential republic
Independent since 1922
Official: Arab Republic of Egypt
Local name: مصر Miṣr
Region: Northern Africa
Area: 1,001,450 km²
Capital: Cairo
Parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Independent since 1956
Official: Kingdom of Morocco
Local name: Al-Maghrib
Region: Northern Africa
Area: 446,550 km²
Capital: Rabat
Presidential republic
Independent since 2011
Official: Republic of South Sudan
Region: Northern Africa
Area: 644,330 km²
Capital: Juba
Presidential republic
Independent since 1956
Official: Republic of the Sudan
Local name: جمهورية السودان / As-Sūdān
Region: Northern Africa
Area: 1,879,358 km²
Capital: Khartoum
Parliamentary republic
Independent since 1956
Official: Republic of Tunisia
Local name: تونس / الجمهورية التونسية / Tūnisiyya
Region: Northern Africa
Area: 163,610 km²
Capital: Tunis
Republic
Local name: الصحراء الغربية / aṣ-Ṣaḥrāʾ al-Ġarbiyya
Region: Northern Africa
Area: 266,000 km²
Capital: El Aaiún
Parliamentary republic
Independent since 1966
Official: Republic of Botswana
Local name: Botswana
Region: Southern Africa
Area: 581,730 km²
Capital: Gaborone
Absolute monarchy
Independent since 1968
Official: Kingdom of Eswatini
Local name: Umbuso weSwatini
Region: Southern Africa
Area: 17,360 km²
Capital: Mbabane
Presidential republic
Independent since 1990
Official: Republic of Namibia
Local name: Namibia
Region: Southern Africa
Area: 824,290 km²
Capital: Windhoek
Parliamentary republic
Independent since 1910
Official: Republic of South Africa
Local name: Suid-Afrika / South Africa / Sewula Afrika
Region: Southern Africa
Area: 1,219,090 km²
Capital: Pretoria
Presidential republic
Independent since 1960
Official: Republic of Benin
Local name: Bénin
Region: Western Africa
Area: 114,760 km²
Capital: Porto-Novo
Presidential republic
Independent since 1960
Local name: Burkina Faso
Region: Western Africa
Area: 274,220 km²
Capital: Ouagadougou
Parliamentary republic
Independent since 1975
Official: Republic of Cabo Verde
Local name: Cabo Verde
Region: Western Africa
Area: 4,030 km²
Capital: Praia
Presidential republic
Independent since 1965
Official: Islamic Republic of the Gambia
Local name: The Gambia
Region: Western Africa
Area: 11,300 km²
Capital: Banjul
Presidential republic
Independent since 1957
Official: Republic of Ghana
Local name: Ghana
Region: Western Africa
Area: 238,540 km²
Capital: Accra
Presidential republic
Independent since 1958
Official: Republic of Guinea
Local name: La Guinée
Region: Western Africa
Area: 245,860 km²
Capital: Conakry
Semi-presidential republic
Independent since 1974
Official: Republic of Guinea-Bissau
Local name: Guiné-Bissau
Region: Western Africa
Area: 36,130 km²
Capital: Bissau
Presidential republic
Independent since 1960
Official: Republic of Côte d’Ivoire
Local name: Côte d’Ivoire
Region: Western Africa
Area: 322,460 km²
Capital: Yamoussoukro
Presidential republic
Independent since 1847
Official: Republic of Liberia
Local name: Liberia
Region: Western Africa
Area: 111,370 km²
Capital: Monrovia
Semi-presidential republic
Independent since 1960
Official: Republic of Mali
Local name: Mali
Region: Western Africa
Area: 1,240,190 km²
Capital: Bamako
Presidential republic
Independent since 1960
Official: Islamic Republic of Mauritania
Local name: Muritaniya/Mauritanie
Region: Western Africa
Area: 1,030,700 km²
Capital: Nouakchott
Semi-presidential republic
Independent since 1960
Official: Republic of the Niger
Local name: Niger
Region: Western Africa
Area: 1,267,000 km²
Capital: Niamey
Parliamentary democracy (limited self-governing territory of the UK)
Local name: Saint Helena
Region: Western Africa
Area: 391 km²
Capital: Jamestown
Presidential republic
Independent since 1960
Official: Republic of Senegal
Local name: Sénégal / Sounougal
Region: Western Africa
Area: 196,710 km²
Capital: Dakar
Presidential republic
Independent since 1961
Official: Republic of Sierra Leone
Local name: Sierra Leone
Region: Western Africa
Area: 72,300 km²
Capital: Freetown
Presidential republic
Independent since 1960
Official: Republic of Togo
Local name: Togo
Region: Western Africa
Area: 56,790 km²
Capital: Lomé
British overseas territory
Local name: British Indian Ocean Territory
Region: Eastern Africa
Area: 63 km²
Presidential republic
Independent since 1962
Official: Republic of Burundi
Local name: Burundi / Uburundi
Region: Eastern Africa
Area: 27,830 km²
Capital: Bujumbura
Federal presidential republic
Independent since 1975
Official: Union of the Comoros
Local name: القمر جزر / قمر / Comores
Region: Eastern Africa
Area: 1,861 km²
Capital: Moroni
Semi-presidential republic
Independent since 1977
Official: Republic of Djibouti
Local name: جيبوتي / Dschībūtī / Djibouti / Jabuuti / Gab
Region: Eastern Africa
Area: 23,200 km²
Capital: Djibouti
Presidential republic
Independent since 1993
Official: State of Eritrea
Local name: ኤርትራ Ertra / إرتريا Iritriyyā
Region: Eastern Africa
Area: 117,600 km²
Capital: Asmara
Federal parliamentary republic
Independent since 1000 b.c.
Official: Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
Local name: ኢትዮጵያ Ityop̣p̣əya
Region: Eastern Africa
Area: 1,104,300 km²
Capital: Addis Ababa
Presidential republic
Independent since 1964
Official: Republic of Malawi
Local name: Malawi
Region: Eastern Africa
Area: 118,480 km²
Capital: Lilongwe
Parliamentary republic
Independent since 1968
Official: Republic of Mauritius
Local name: Maurice
Region: Eastern Africa
Area: 2,040 km²
Capital: Port Louis
French overseas territory
Official: Department of Mayotte
Local name: Mayotte
Region: Eastern Africa
Area: 374 km²
Capital: Mamoudzou
Presidential republic
Independent since 1975
Official: Republic of Mozambique
Local name: Moçambique
Region: Eastern Africa
Area: 786,380 km²
Capital: Maputo
French overseas territory
Local name: Réunion
Region: Eastern Africa
Area: 2,512 km²
Capital: Saint-Denis
Presidential republic
Independent since 1962
Official: Republic of Rwanda
Local name: Rwanda / Urwanda
Region: Eastern Africa
Area: 26,340 km²
Capital: Kigali
Presidential republic
Independent since 1976
Official: Republic of Seychelles
Local name: Sese l /Seychelles
Region: Eastern Africa
Area: 460 km²
Capital: Victoria
Federal parliamentary republic
Independent since 1960
Official: Federal Republic of Somalia
Local name: Soomaaliya / Somalia / الصومال
Region: Eastern Africa
Area: 637,660 km²
Capital: Mogadishu
Presidential republic
Independent since 1961
Official: United Republic of Tanzania
Local name: Tanzania
Region: Eastern Africa
Area: 947,300 km²
Capital: Dodoma
Presidential republic
Independent since 1962
Official: Republic of Uganda
Local name: Uganda
Region: Eastern Africa
Area: 241,550 km²
Capital: Kampala
Presidential republic
Independent since 1964
Official: Republic of Zambia
Local name: Zambia
Region: Eastern Africa
Area: 752,610 km²
Capital: Lusaka
Semi-presidential republic
Independent since 1980
Official: Republic of Zimbabwe
Local name: Zimbabwe
Region: Eastern Africa
Area: 390,760 km²
Capital: Harare
Presidential republic
Independent since 1975
Official: Republic of Angola
Local name: Ngola
Region: Central Africa
Area: 1,246,700 km²
Capital: Luanda
Presidential republic
Independent since 1960
Official: Republic of Cameroon
Local name: Cameroun / Cameroon
Region: Central Africa
Area: 475,440 km²
Capital: Yaounde
Presidential republic
Independent since 1960
Local name: Centrafrique / Bê-Afrîka
Region: Central Africa
Area: 622,980 km²
Capital: Bangui
Presidential republic
Independent since 1960
Official: Republic of Chad
Local name: جمهوريّة تشاد / Tchad
Region: Central Africa
Area: 1,284,000 km²
Capital: N’Djamena
Semi-presidential republic
Independent since 1960
Local name:
République Démocratique du Congo
Region:
Central Africa
Area:
2,344,860 km²
Capital:
Kinshasa
Presidential republic
Independent since 1968
Official: Republic of Equatorial Guinea
Local name: Guinea Ecuatorial
Region: Central Africa
Area: 28,050 km²
Capital: Malabo
Presidential republic
Independent since 1960
Official: Gabonese Republic
Local name: Le Gabon
Region: Central Africa
Area: 267,670 km²
Capital: Libreville
Presidential republic
Independent since 1960
Local name: Congo
Region: Central Africa
Area: 342,000 km²
Capital: Brazzaville
Semi-presidential republic
Independent since 1975
Official: Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe
Local name: São Tomé e Príncipe
Region: Central Africa
Area: 960 km²
Capital: São Tomé