Africa Map

The Africa map is a detailed description of the African continent. The map shows all the 54 sovereign states as well as 10 non-sovereign territories that comprise the continent. The map is a detailed representation of the fully recognized states, states that have limited recognition and dependent territories belong to both African as well as non-African states.

taly, Spain, France, Malta, and Portugal are a few European countries that have some territory located in the African continent. Though these territories are much closer to Africa as compared to the European mainland, they are considered European. Similar is the case with the island of Socotra. The island is a part of Yemen, a country in Asia, but actually lies on the African plate and is much near to Africa as compared to Asia. Egypt, too, is considered a part of Africa; however, it extends into Asia through the Sinai Peninsula.

About Africa

Africa comprises an area of 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles), including the surrounding islands, and is the second largest continent in the world. It is also the second most populous continent in the world and has a population of around 1,2 billion people, as of 2016. Africa comprises around16 percent of the population of the world and covers approximately 6 percent of the surface of the earth. In terms of area and population, Asia is the largest. Among all the continents of the world, Africa has the youngest population. According to statistics, in 2012, the median age in the continent was 19.7.

The Mediterranean Sea is located to the north of Africa, while the Indian Ocean is to the southeast. The Red Sea and the Suez Canal are located to the northeast along the Sinai Peninsula. The Atlantic Ocean is located to the west. The continent includes many archipelagoes, including Madagascar. Apart from these, the continent is made up of 54 fully sovereign countries and nine territories. The continent also includes two de facto independent states, which have either limited or no recognition. Among the countries that comprise the continent, Algeria is the largest in terms of area, while Nigeria is the most populous.

Africa is a huge continent comprising many cultures, languages, ethnicities and traditions. It has also a rich and diverse history. In fact, it is said that Africa is the place where the humankind originated. It is also the place of origin of the Hominidae Clade (great apes). The earliest Homo sapiens that have been found in Ethiopia dated back to approximately 200,000 years ago. Africa, which is home to a diverse landscape and numerous climates, is the only continent in the world that stretches from the northern temperate to the southern temperate zones.

Africa is also home to different environments, and varies from country to country in terms of historical ties, governments, and economies. The Europeans began the process of the colonization of the continent in the late 19th century; however in the 20th century the decolonization process began which led to the emergence of many modern states. The century also witnesses the establishment of the African Union with its headquarters in Addis Abba.

History of Africa

Africa has a rich history, which dates back to many millennia. According to archeologists, the history of Africa starts with Homo sapiens, who originated in the east of the continent. The Kingdom of Kush comprises the first recorded early civilization of Africa. Later civilizations emerged in Maghreb, Ancient Egypt, the Sahel, and the Horn of Africa. The Middles Ages witnessed the emergence of Islam, which traveled to Egypt from Arabia. Some of the pre-colonial civilizations, which gained prominence in Africa and also carved a name across the world, are Ancient Carthage, Benin Empire, Kingdom of Zimbabwe, Numidia, Ashanti Empire, and many others.

In 652 AD the second battle of Dongola took place, which witnessed an armistice between the Kingdom of Makuria and the Rashidun Caliphate. Following this, as a part of the Muslim trade, Africans were enslaved by the Muslim Arabs. These slaves were transported across the Sahara Desert, Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. The late 15th century witnessed the Europeans joining the slave trade. As a part of the Atlantic Slave Trade, the Portuguese began to acquire slaves. They initially acquired slaves through trade; however, later they began to use force. The slaves were transported out of Africa.

The late 19th and early 20th century witnessed various colonial powers setting up their colonies in Africa. This phase came to be known as the Scramble for Africa. According to estimates, prior to the colonization of the continent, it was home to around 10,000 different states and autonomous groups comprising their distinct culture, traditions, languages, and customs.

The middle of the 20th century witnessed the emergence of the freedom movement in many parts of the continent. These freedoms struggles against the European powers weakened by the devastation of the Second World War enabled many countries to attain independence. This culminated in the 1960 Year of Africa.

Geography of Africa

Africa comprises a diverse geography, which includes mountains, rivers, deserts, and other physical features. Covering an area of 30,368,609 km2 (11,725,385 sq mi), Africa comprises 63 political territories. Nile is the largest river in Africa, while Lake Victoria is the longest river. The highest mountain in Africa is Mount Kilimanjaro.

The Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea separate Africa from Europe and a major part of Asia respectively. However, a part of Asia is joined to Africa via the Isthmus of Suez. The Sinai Peninsula, which is located to the east of Suez Canal is often referred to as a part of the African continent.

Sovereign Countries in Africa

Recognised African Countries

The following 54 fully recognised countries are all members of the UN, and as of 2015, all other than Central African Republic and Morocco are members of the African Union.

S.N.	Recognised States in Africa	Capital	Population	Currency	Dialing Code	GDP (PPP) in Millions	Nominal GDP - $ Millions	GDP (PPP) per Capita	Area (km2)	Area (sq mi)
1	Algeria	Algiers	333,33,267	Dinar	+213	$5,70,600	$1,75,100	$14,400	23,81,740	9,19,595
2	Angola	Luanda	169,41,000	Kwanza	+244	$1,85,200	$1,02,000	$7,600	12,46,700	4,81,354
3	Benin	Porto-Novo	84,39,000	CFA franc	+229	$21,160	$7,701	$2,000	1,12,622	43,484
4	Botswana	Gaborone	18,39,833	Pula	+267	$37,160	$13,090	$17,700	5,81,726	2,24,606
5	Burkina Faso	Ouagadougou	132,28,000	CFA franc	+226	$31,180	$11,320	$1,800	2,74,000	1,05,792
6	Burundi	Bujumbura	75,48,000	Burundian franc	+257	$7,883	$2,970	$900	27,830	10,745
7	Cameroon	Yaoundé	177,95,000	CFA franc	+237	$72,110	$28,520	$3,200	4,75,442	1,83,569
8	Cape Verde	Praia	4,20,979	Cape Verdean escudo	+238	$3,479	$1,641	$6,700	4,033	1,557
9	Central African Republic	Bangui	42,16,666	CFA franc	+236	$3,052	$1,624	$600	6,22,984	2,40,535
10	Chad	N'Djamena	101,46,000	CFA franc	+235	$32,000	$11,690	$2,800	12,84,000	4,95,755
11	Comoros	Moroni	7,98,000	Comorian franc	+269	$1,214	$589	$1,600	2,235	863
12	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Kinshasa	755,07,308	Congolese franc	+243	$63,270	$39,060	$800	23,44,858	9,05,355
13	Djibouti	Djibouti City	9,06,000	Djiboutian franc	+253	$3,093	$1,743	$3,300	23,200	8,958
14	Egypt	Cairo	845,50,000	Egyptian pound	+20	$9,96,000	$2,86,400	$11,500	10,01,449	3,86,662
15	Equatoria`l Guinea	Malabo	5,04,000	CFA Franc	+240	$25,940	$10,030	$33,300	28,051	10,831
16	Eritrea	Asmara	58,80,000	Nakfa	+291	$7,938	$4,256	$1,200	1,17,600	45,406
17	Ethiopia	Addis Ababa	852,37,338	Birr	+251	$1,59,200	$57,560	$1,700	11,04,300	4,26,373
18	Gabon	Libreville	13,84,000	CFA franc	+241	$34,410	$13,800	$21,700	2,67,668	1,03,347
19	Gambia	Banjul	15,17,000	Gambian dalasi	+220	$3,269	$761	$1,700	10,380	4,008
20	Ghana	Accra	230,00,000	Ghana cedi	+233	$1,13,300	$37,680	$4,300	2,38,534	92,098
21	Guinea	Conakry	100,57,975	CFA Franc	+240	$15,280	$6,733	$1,300	2,45,857	94,926
22	Guinea-Bissau	Bissau	15,86,000	CFA franc	+245	$2,677	$1,035	$1,500	36,125	13,948
23	Ivory Coast	Yamoussoukro	176,54,843	CFA franc	+225	$78,330	$31,270	$3,400	3,22,460	1,24,503
24	Kenya	Nairobi	347,07,817	Kenyan shilling	+254	$1,43,100	$63,120	$3,300	5,80,367	2,24,081
25	Lesotho	Maseru	20,67,000	Lesotho loti	+266	$5,777	$2,035	$3,000	30,355	11,720
26	Liberia	Monrovia	41,28,572	Liberian dollar	+231	$3,780	$2,015	$900	1,11,369	43,000
27	Libya	Tripoli	60,36,914	Dinar	+218	$92,870	$29,720	$15,100	17,59,540	6,79,362
28	Madagascar	Antananarivo	186,06,000	Malagasy ariary	+261	$35,560	$9,514	$1,500	5,87,041	2,26,658
29	Malawi	Lilongwe	128,84,000	Kwacha	+265	$20,560	$6,388	$1,200	1,18,484	45,747
30	Mali	Bamako	135,18,000	CFA franc	+223	$29,150	$10,950	$1,800	12,40,192	4,78,841
31	Mauritania	Nouakchott	30,69,000	Ouguiya	+222	$16,430	$4,677	$4,500	10,30,700	3,97,955
32	Mauritius	Port Louis	12,19,220	Mauritian rupee	+230	$24,510	$11,570	$19,500	2,040	788
33	Morocco	Rabat	357,57,175	Moroccan dirham	+212	$2,74,500	$1,03,100	$8,300	4,46,550	1,72,414
34	Mozambique	Maputo	203,66,795	Mozambican metical	+258	$33,730	$16,990	$1,300	8,01,590	3,09,496
35	Namibia	Windhoek	20,31,000	Namibian dollar	+264	$24,840	$12,860	$11,300	8,25,418	3,18,696
36	Niger	Niamey	139,57,000	CFA franc	+227	$18,960	$7,119	$1,100	12,67,000	4,89,191
37	Nigeria	Abuja	1745,07,539	Naira	+234	$11,05,000	$4,93,000	$6,400	9,23,768	3,56,669
38	Republic of the Congo	Brazzaville	40,12,809	CFA franc	+242	$28,920	$8,871	$6,800	3,42,000	1,32,047
39	Rwanda	Kigali	76,00,000	Rwandan franc	+250	$20,320	$8,468	$1,800	26,798	10,347
40	São Tomé and Príncipe	São Tomé	1,83,176	Dobra	+239	$663.7	$326	$3,400	964	372
41	Senegal	Dakar	116,58,000	CFA franc	+221	$36,300	$13,990	$2,500	1,96,723	75,955
42	Seychelles	Victoria	80,654	Seychellois rupee	+248	$2,533	$1,375	$27,000	451	174
43	Sierra Leone	Freetown	61,44,562	Leone	+232	$9,833	$4,266	$1,600	71,740	27,699
44	Somalia	Mogadishu	98,32,017	Somali shilling	+252	$4,431	$5,800	$400	6,37,657	2,46,201
45	South Africa	Bloemfontein(judicial) Cape Town(legislative) and Pretoria(executive)	529,81,991	South African rand	+27	$7,24,000	$3,17,300	$13,400	12,21,037	4,71,445
46	South Sudan	Juba	82,60,490	South Sudanese pound	+211	$22,460	$12,880	$2,000	6,44,329	2,48,777
47	Sudan	Khartoum	367,87,012	Sudanese pound	+249	$1,67,400	$84,330	$4,500	18,61,484	7,18,723
48	Swaziland	Lobamba (royal and legislative) Mbabane(administrative)	10,32,000	Lilangeni	+268	$10,870	$4,305	$9,800	17,364	6,704
49	Tanzania	Dodoma	449,29,002	Tanzanian shilling	+255	$1,38,300	$46,190	$3,000	9,45,203	3,64,945
50	Togo	Lomé	71,54,237	CFA franc	+228	$10,820	$4,152	$1,500	56,785	21,925
51	Tunisia	Tunis	101,02,000	Tunisian dinar	+216	$1,27,200	$44,270	$11,600	1,63,610	63,170
52	Uganda	Kampala	276,16,000	Ugandan shilling	+256	$79,750	$24,940	$2,100	2,36,040	91,136
53	Zambia	Lusaka	146,68,000	Zambian kwacha	+260	$64,650	$24,470	$4,300	7,52,614	2,90,586
54	Zimbabwe	Harare	130,10,000	US dollar	+263	$27,920	$13,910	$2,100	3,90,757	1,50,872

African Countries with Limited Recognition

The following are countries that have settled themselves in Africa as sovereign countries, but remain partial in official acceptance and are not members of the UN. The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic however, is a member of African Union.

S.N.	Country	Status	Capital	Curremcy	Dialing Code	Population	GDP (PPP) in Millions	GDP Nominal in Millions	GDP per capita	Area (km2)	Area (sq mi)
1	Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic	Claimed as the southernmost provinces of Morocco. Recognized by the African Union and 84 UN members as the representative government of Western Sahara.	El Aaiún(proclaimed)	Algerian dinar, Sahrawi peseta	+212	2,66,000				2,67,405	1,03,246
2	Somaliland	State within the Federal regions of Somalia.Recognized by no UN member.	Hargeisa	Somaliland shilling	+252	40,00,000	$3,200		$577	1,37,600	53,128

Non-Sovereign Territories in Africa

There are ten non-sovereign territories currently located in Africa.

Dependent Territories in Africa

This list includes territories that are politically administered as external dependencies of other countries.

S.N.	Dependent Territories in Africa	Status	Capital	Curremcy	Dialing Code	Population	GDP (PPP) in Millions	GDP Nominal in Millions	GDP per capita	Area (km2)	Area (sq mi)
1	French Southern and Antarctic Lands	French overseas territory	Saint-Pierre	Euro	+33, +262	140 estimate				38.6	15
2	Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha	British overseas territory	Jamestown	Saint Helena pound, Pound sterling	+290	5661	$31.10		$7,800	420	162

Other Areas in Africa Continent

This list includes areas that are administered as incorporated parts of a mainly non-African country.

S.N.	Other Areas in Africa	Status	Capital	Curremcy	Dialing Code	Population	GDP (PPP) in Millions	GDP Nominal in Millions	GDP per capita	Area (km2)	Area (sq mi)
1	Canary Islands	Spanish autonomous community	Santa Cruz and Las Palmas	Euro	+34	22,05,247		$54,737	$25,512	7,447	2,875
2	Ceuta	Spanish autonomous city	Ceuta	Euro	+34 952	76,861		$2,194	$28,372	28	11
3	Madeira	Portuguese autonomous region	Funchal	Euro	(+351) 291 XXX XXX	2,67,785		$5,750	$23,226	828	320
4	Mayotte	French overseas department	Mamoudzou	Euro	+262	1,86,452		$2,400	$10,891	374	144
5	Melilla	Spanish autonomous city	Melilla	Euro	+34 952	72,000		$2,037	$26,915	20	8
6	Plazas de soberanía	Spanish overseas territory	N/A	Euro	+34	74
7	Réunion	French overseas region	Saint-Denis	Euro	+262	7,93,000		$22,200	$26,369	2,512	970
8	Pelagie Islands	Italian territory	Lampedusa e Linosa	Euro	+39	6,304				21.4	8