How many countries are in Africa?

YearMaps maps 57 countries and territories in Africa: Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, DR Congo, Tanzania, South Africa, Kenya, Sudan, Uganda, Algeria, Angola, Morocco, and others.

What is the largest country in Africa?

Algeria is the largest by area at 2.38M km². Nigeria has the largest population, about 237.53 million.

What is the largest city in Africa?

Cairo is the largest city recorded for Africa, with a metropolitan population of about 11.89 million.

What is the highest mountain in Africa?

Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest summit recorded for Africa in YearMaps, at 5,895 m.

What is the largest lake in Africa?

Lake Victoria is the largest lake recorded in Africa, at about 69,385 km².

What is the tallest dam in Africa?

Cahora Bassa Dam is the tallest dam recorded in Africa, at 171 m.

Continent · 57 countries

Map of Africa

Africa takes in 57 countries and territories with a combined population of about 1.55 billion across 30.36M km². The interactive map below shows the region, and the tables rank its largest cities, highest mountains, largest lakes, tallest dams and deepest ports.

Countries: 57
Population: 1.55 billion
Largest Country: 2.38M km²
Most Populous: 237.53 million

About Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers around 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surface area. With nearly 1.4 billion of the world population, Africa's population is the youngest among the continents; the median age in 2012 was 19.7, when the worldwide median age was 30.4. Based on 2024 projections, Africa's population will exceed 3.8 billion people by 2100. Africa is the least wealthy inhabited continent per capita and second-least wealthy by total wealth, ahead of Oceania. Scholars have attributed this to various factors including geography, climate, corruption, colonialism, the Cold War, and neocolonialism. Despite this low concentration of wealth, the African economy is home to many of the world's fastest-growing economies.

Africa straddles the equator and the prime meridian. The continent is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Arabian plate and the Gulf of Aqaba to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Yemen have parts of their territories located on African geographical soil, mostly in the form of islands.

The continent includes Madagascar and various archipelagos. It contains 54 fully recognised sovereign states, eight cities and islands that are part of non-African states, and two de facto independent states with limited or no recognition. This count does not include Malta and Sicily, which are geologically part of the African continent. Algeria is the largest country by area, and Nigeria is largest by population. Nations cooperate through the establishment of the African Union, which is headquartered in Addis Ababa.

Africa is highly biodiverse; it is the continent with the largest number of megafauna species, as it was least affected by the extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna. However, it is heavily affected by a wide range of environmental issues, including desertification, deforestation, water scarcity, and pollution.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia: Africa (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Visiting Africa

Africa is the wellspring of the human race. The second largest continent in the world in both area and population, it offers the visitor a unique blend of natural wonders, renowned prehistoric sites, numerous and often sprawling remains of several of the world's greatest ancient civilisations, vibrant cultures, remote villages, and modern cities. Africa has shorelines on the Indian Ocean to the southeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Red Sea to the northeast, the Gulf of Aden slightly further south, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north. This huge continent is more than 8,000 km (5,000 mi) across north-south and 7,500 km (4,800 mi) east-west with some islands even further out and contains many vastly different peoples, religions, and cultures. Africa has more than 50 sovereign countries—the most of any continent.

Africa's Nile River is claimed by some to be the longest river in the world (other geographers argue that the Amazon is longer); the Nile runs 6,650 km (over 4,100 mi) from Burundi to Egypt.

Travel notes adapted from Wikivoyage: Africa (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Countries in Africa

Ranked by population. Each links to that country's own map.

Countries in Africa
#	Country	Population	Area	Capital
1	Nigeria	237.53 million	923,768 km²	Abuja
2	Ethiopia	135.47 million	1.10M km²	Addis Ababa
3	Egypt	118.37 million	1.01M km²	Cairo
4	DR Congo	112.83 million	2.34M km²	Kinshasa
5	Tanzania	70.55 million	947,303 km²	Dodoma
6	South Africa	64.75 million	1.22M km²	Bloemfontein
7	Kenya	57.53 million	581,309 km²	Nairobi
8	Sudan	51.66 million	1.89M km²	Khartoum
9	Uganda	51.38 million	241,038 km²	Kampala
10	Algeria	47.44 million	2.38M km²	Algiers
11	Angola	39.04 million	1.25M km²	Luanda
12	Morocco	38.43 million	446,550 km²	Rabat
13	Mozambique	35.63 million	801,590 km²	Maputo
14	Ghana	35.06 million	238,535 km²	Accra
15	Madagascar	32.74 million	587,295 km²	Antananarivo
16	Côte d'Ivoire	32.71 million	322,463 km²	Yamoussoukro
17	Cameroon	29.88 million	475,442 km²	Yaoundé
18	Niger	27.92 million	1.27M km²	Niamey
19	Mali	25.20 million	1.24M km²	Bamako
20	Burkina Faso	24.07 million	274,200 km²	Ouagadougou
21	Malawi	22.22 million	118,484 km²	Lilongwe
22	Zambia	21.91 million	752,618 km²	Lusaka
23	Chad	21.00 million	1.28M km²	N'Djamena
24	Somalia	19.65 million	637,657 km²	Mogadishu
25	Senegal	18.93 million	196,722 km²	Dakar
26	Zimbabwe	16.95 million	390,757 km²	Harare
27	Guinea	15.10 million	245,857 km²	Conakry
28	Benin	14.81 million	114,763 km²	Porto-Novo
29	Rwanda	14.57 million	26,338 km²	Kigali
30	Burundi	14.39 million	27,834 km²	Gitega
31	Tunisia	12.35 million	163,610 km²	Tunis
32	South Sudan	12.19 million	644,329 km²	Juba
33	Sierra Leone	8.82 million	71,740 km²	Freetown
34	Togo	8.59 million	56,785 km²	Lomé
35	Libya	7.46 million	1.76M km²	Tripoli
36	Republic of the Congo	6.48 million	342,000 km²	Brazzaville
37	Liberia	5.73 million	111,369 km²	Monrovia
38	Central African Republic	5.51 million	622,984 km²	Bangui
39	Mauritania	5.32 million	1.03M km²	Nouakchott
40	Eritrea	3.61 million	117,600 km²	Asmara
41	Namibia	3.09 million	825,615 km²	Windhoek
42	Gambia	2.82 million	11,300 km²	Banjul
43	Gabon	2.59 million	267,667 km²	Libreville
44	Botswana	2.56 million	581,737 km²	Gaborone
45	Lesotho	2.36 million	30,355 km²	Maseru
46	Guinea Bissau	2.25 million	36,125 km²	Bissau
47	Equatorial Guinea	1.94 million	28,051 km²	Ciudad de la Paz
48	Swaziland	1.26 million	17,364 km²	Lobamba
49	Mauritius	1.24 million	2,040 km²	Port Louis
50	Djibouti	1.18 million	23,200 km²	Djibouti
51	Réunion	889,679	2,512 km²	Saint-Denis
52	Comoros	882,847	2,034 km²	Moroni
53	Western Sahara	612,000	266,000 km²	—
54	Cape Verde	527,326	4,033 km²	Praia
55	Mayotte	320,901	374 km²	Dzaoudzi
56	Sao Tome and Principe	240,254	1,001 km²	São Tomé
57	Seychelles	122,730	459 km²	Victoria

Largest Cities in Africa

Top 15 of 1,288 recorded. Ranked by metropolitan population. A port city's harbour is written up on the page of its sea.

Largest Cities in Africa
#	Name	Population	Region	Role
1	Cairo	11.89 million	Al Qahirah	National capital
2	Lagos	9.47 million	Lagos	Admin-0 capital alt
3	Kinshasa	7.84 million	Kinshasa City	National capital
4	Luanda	5.17 million	Luanda	National capital
5	Khartoum	4.75 million	Khartoum	National capital
6	Alexandria	4.17 million	Al Iskandariyah	Populated place
7	Abidjan	3.80 million	Lagunes	National capital
8	Johannesburg	3.44 million	Gauteng	National capital
9	Algiers	3.35 million	Alger	National capital
10	Cape Town	3.21 million	Western Cape	National capital
11	Casablanca	3.18 million	Grand Casablanca	Admin-1 capital
12	Kano	3.14 million	Kano	Admin-1 capital
13	Addis Ababa	3.10 million	Addis Ababa	National capital
14	Nairobi	3.01 million	Nairobi	National capital
15	Benoni	2.99 million	Gauteng	Populated place

Highest Mountains in Africa

Top 15 of 90 recorded. Ranked by summit elevation above sea level. A summit on a border is listed under both countries.

Highest Mountains in Africa
#	Name	Elevation	Feet	Region
1	Mount Kilimanjaro	5,895 m	19,341 ft	Africa
2	Mount Kenya	5,199 m	17,057 ft	Africa
3	Mount Stanley	4,979 m	16,335 ft	Africa
4	Ras Dejen	4,533 m	14,872 ft	Africa
5	Volcan Karisimbi	4,519 m	14,826 ft	Africa
6	Talo	4,413 m	14,478 ft	Africa
7	Mount Elgon	4,321 m	14,177 ft	Africa
8	Mount Batu	4,307 m	14,131 ft	Africa
9	Amba Farit	4,270 m	14,009 ft	Africa
10	Jebel Toubkal	4,165 m	13,665 ft	Africa
11	Mont Cameroun	4,040 m	13,255 ft	Africa
12	Lesatima	4,001 m	13,127 ft	Africa
13	Loolmalasin	3,682 m	12,080 ft	Africa
14	Gugu	3,626 m	11,896 ft	Africa
15	Thabana Ntlenyana	3,482 m	11,424 ft	Africa

Major Dams in Africa

Top 6 of 6 recorded. Ranked by structural height.

Major Dams in Africa
#	Name	Height	River	Capacity	Completed
1	Cahora Bassa Dam	171 m	Zambezi	2,075 MW	1974
2	Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)	145 m	Blue Nile	5,150 MW	2023
3	Kariba Dam	128 m	Zambezi	1,830 MW	1959
4	Akosombo Dam	114 m	Volta	1,020 MW	1965
5	Aswan High Dam	111 m	Nile	2,100 MW	1970
6	Merowe Dam	67 m	Nile	1,250 MW	2009

Largest Lakes in Africa

Top 15 of 52 recorded. Ranked by mapped surface area. A lake on a border is listed under each country it lies in, with the area of the whole lake.

Largest Lakes in Africa
#	Name	Surface Area	Type
1	Lake Victoria	69,385 km²	Lake
2	Lake Tanganyika	32,896 km²	Lake
3	Lake Malawi	28,974 km²	Lake
4	Lake Volta	8,175 km²	Reservoir
5	Lake Turkana	7,747 km²	Alkaline Lake
6	Lake Albert	5,404 km²	Lake
7	Lac Moeru	5,057 km²	Lake
8	Lake Kariba	4,724 km²	Reservoir
9	Lake Nasser	3,575 km²	Reservoir
10	Lake Tana	3,154 km²	Lake
11	Lake Kivu	2,693 km²	Lake
12	Lac de Kossou	2,375 km²	Reservoir
13	Lake Edward	2,220 km²	Lake
14	Lake Bangweulu	2,125 km²	Lake
15	Lac Mai-Ndombe	2,000 km²	Lake

Ports in Africa

Top 15 of 222 recorded. Ranked by approach channel depth, the figure that limits which ships can call. Harbours link to their write-up on the page of the sea or coast they lie on.

Ports in Africa
#	Name	Channel Depth	Class	Sea	Max Vessel
1	Houmt Souk	56.7 m	Very Small	Eastern Mediterranean	point_of_interest
2	Chinde	56.7 m	Small	East & Southern Africa	medium vessels
3	St Louis	56.7 m	Small	Atlantic Coast of Africa	medium vessels
4	Forcados	53 m	Very Small	Atlantic Coast of Africa	large vessels
5	Zeit Bay Terminal	53 m	Small	Red Sea & Gulf of Aden	medium vessels
6	Zeit Bay Lpg Terminal	53 m	Very Small	Red Sea & Gulf of Aden	medium vessels
7	East Zeit Terminal	53 m	Very Small	Red Sea & Gulf of Aden	medium vessels
8	Marsa Sabratah	53 m	Very Small	Eastern Mediterranean	medium vessels
9	Karabane	53 m	Very Small	Atlantic Coast of Africa	medium vessels
10	Benti	53 m	Very Small	Atlantic Coast of Africa	point_of_interest
11	Bonthe	53 m	Very Small	Atlantic Coast of Africa	medium vessels
12	Burutu	53 m	Very Small	Atlantic Coast of Africa	medium vessels
13	Porto Belo	53 m	Small	East & Southern Africa	medium vessels
14	Kenitra	53 m	Small	Atlantic Coast of Africa	medium vessels
15	Quelimane	53 m	Very Small	East & Southern Africa	medium vessels

UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Africa

Top 15 of 137 recorded. Listed by year of inscription, earliest first. Sites shared with another country appear under each.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Africa
#	Name	Inscribed	Type	Criteria
1	Gorée	1978	Cultural	(vi)
2	Monolithic churches in Lalibela	1978	Cultural	(i) (ii) (iii)
3	Simien Mountains National Park	1978	Natural	(vii) (x)
4	Abu Mena	1979	Cultural	(iv)
5	Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis	1979	Cultural	(i) (iii) (vi)
6	Archaeological site of Carthage	1979	Cultural	(ii) (iii) (vi)
7	Fasil Ghebbi	1979	Cultural	(ii) (iii)
8	Forts and Castles, Volta, Greater Accra, Central and Western Regions	1979	Cultural	(vi)
9	Islamic Cairo	1979	Cultural	(i) (v) (vi)
10	Medina of Tunis	1979	Cultural	(ii) (iii) (v)
11	Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur	1979	Cultural	(i) (iii) (vi)
12	Ngorongoro Conservation Area	1979	Mixed	(iv) (vii) (viii) (ix) (x)
13	Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae	1979	Cultural	(i) (iii) (vi)
14	Roman amphitheatre of El Jem	1979	Cultural	(iv) (vi)
15	Virunga National Park	1979	Natural	(vii) (viii) (x)

Largest Islands of Africa

Top 15 of 26 recorded. Ranked by mapped area. An island divided between countries is listed under each, with the area of the whole island.

Largest Islands of Africa
#	Name	Area	Type
1	Madagascar	598,822 km²	Island
2	Mascarene Islands	359,697 km²	Island group
3	Ilhas de Cabo Verde	122,980 km²	Island group
4	Archipel Des Comores	46,618 km²	Island group
5	Chagos Archipelago	35,114 km²	Island group
6	Dahlak Arch	11,590 km²	Island group
7	Bioko	1,994 km²	Island
8	Mauritius	1,906 km²	Island
9	Zanzibar Island	1,564 km²	Island
10	Prince Edward Islands	1,093 km²	Island group
11	Grande Comore	1,029 km²	Island
12	Santiago	965 km²	Island
13	Arquipélago dos Bijagós	959 km²	Island group
14	Pemba Island	896 km²	Island
15	São Tomé	885 km²	Island

Mountain Ranges, Deserts and Landforms of Africa

Top 15 of 97 recorded. Ranked by mapped area. Covers mountain ranges, deserts, plateaus, named glaciers, plains, basins, peninsulas and capes. One that crosses a border is listed under every country it lies in, with the area of the whole feature.

Mountain Ranges, Deserts and Landforms of Africa
#	Name	Area	Type	Region
1	Africa	29.41M km²	Continent	Africa
2	Sahara	4.73M km²	Desert	Africa
3	Congo Basin	3.11M km²	Basin	Africa
4	Sahel	1.02M km²	Plain	Africa
5	Kalahari Desert	763,095 km²	Desert	Africa
6	Katanga Plateau	745,170 km²	Plateau	Africa
7	Ethiopian Highlands	638,304 km²	Range/mtn	Africa
8	Ténéré	348,246 km²	Desert	Africa
9	Drakensberg	296,305 km²	Range/mtn	Africa
10	Somali Peninsula	295,787 km²	Pen/cape	Africa
11	Iwembere Steppe	284,281 km²	Plain	Africa
12	El Djouf	269,752 km²	Desert	Africa
13	Adamawa Plateau	244,004 km²	Plateau	Africa
14	AHAGGAR Mountains	185,343 km²	Range/mtn	Africa
15	Northern Karroo	184,886 km²	Plateau	Africa

Africa: Quick Answers

How many countries are in Africa?: YearMaps maps 57 countries and territories in Africa: Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, DR Congo, Tanzania, South Africa, Kenya, Sudan, Uganda, Algeria, Angola, Morocco, and others.
What is the largest country in Africa?: Algeria is the largest by area at 2.38M km². Nigeria has the largest population, about 237.53 million.
What is the largest city in Africa?: Cairo is the largest city recorded for Africa, with a metropolitan population of about 11.89 million.
What is the highest mountain in Africa?: Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest summit recorded for Africa in YearMaps, at 5,895 m.
What is the largest lake in Africa?: Lake Victoria is the largest lake recorded in Africa, at about 69,385 km².
What is the tallest dam in Africa?: Cahora Bassa Dam is the tallest dam recorded in Africa, at 171 m.