North Africa or Northern Africa |
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Image: Mohammed Amri |
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North Africa or Northern Africa (as used by the United Nations) refers to the portion of Africa along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea (except for Sudan). In the northwest, the Atlas Mountains dominate the area. South of the Mediterranean coastal strip stretches the Sahara from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. There are six countries in Northern Africa and one disputed territory, Western Sahara. According to the United Nations Population Division, approximately 250 million people live in Northern Africa (in 2021). |
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Algeria | 42,679 | Algeria Map | Algiers | |
Egypt | 101,169 | Egypt Map | Cairo | |
Libya | 6,570 | Libya Map | Tripoli | |
Morocco | 36,635 | Morocco Map | Rabat | |
Sudan | 42,514 | Sudan Map | Khartoum | |
Tunisia | 11,783 | Tunisia Map | Tunis | |
Western Sahara | 582 | see: Mauritania Map | (El Aaiún) | |
West Africa or Western Africa |
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Image: Peter A Harrison |
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West Africa or Western Africa mostly refers to the countries north of the Gulf of Guinea in the north-western part of the continent. West Africa is located in the southern part of the so-called hump of Africa; it is bounded in the north by the Sahara desert and the Sahel zone. There are sixteen countries in West Africa and one British Overseas Territory, Saint Helena. According to the United Nations Population Division, an estimated 412 million people live in West Africa (in 2021). |
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Benin | 11,802 | Benin Map | Porto-Novo, Cotonou | |
Burkina Faso | 20,322 | Burkina Faso Map | Ouagadougou | |
Cape Verde | 560 | Cape Verde Map | Praia | |
Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) | 25,531 | Ivory Coast Map | Yamoussoukro, Abidjan | |
Gambia, The | 2,228 | see: Senegal Map | Banjul | |
Ghana | 30,100 | Ghana Map | Accra | |
Guinea | 13,400 | Guinea Map | Conakry | |
Guinea-Bissau | 1,954 | Guinea-Bissau Map | Bissau | |
Liberia | 4,978 | Liberia Map | Monrovia | |
Mali | 19,689 | Mali Map | Bamako | |
Mauritania | 4,661 | Mauritania Map | Nouakchott | |
Niger | 23,177 | Niger Map | Niamey | |
Nigeria | 200,962 | Nigeria Map | Abuja | |
Saint Helena (UK) | 4.5 | Jamestown | ||
Senegal | 16,744 | Senegal Map | Dakar | |
Sierra Leone | 7,883 | Sierra Leone Map | Freetown | |
Togo | 8,186 | Togo Map | Lomé | |
Central Africa (Middle Africa, or also Equatorial Africa) |
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Image: L.Willms |
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Central Africa or Middle Africa (as used by the United Nations) refers to the tropical central portion of the African continent.
There are nine countries in Central Africa, including the island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe. According to the United Nations Population Division, approximately 185 million people live in Central Africa (in 2021). |
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Angola | 31,788 | Angola Map | Luanda | |
Cameroon | 25,313 | Cameroon Map | Yaounde | |
Central African Republic | 4,826 | Central African Republic Map | Bangui | |
Chad | 15,814 | Chad Map | N'Djamena | |
Congo, Dem. Rep. (Kinshasa) | 86,728 | Congo, Dem. Rep. Map | Kinshasa | |
Congo, Rep. (Brazzaville) | 5,542 | Congo, Rep. Map | Brazzaville | |
Equatorial Guinea | 1,360 | Equatorial Guinea Map | Malabo | |
Gabon | 2,109 | Gabon Map | Libreville | |
São Tomé & Príncipe | 213 | São Tomé | ||
East Africa | ||||
Image: Bernard DUPONT |
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East Africa, or Eastern Africa, is the eastern portion of the African continent; it includes Madagascar and other smaller islands. In a narrower sense, the term East Africa may refer to the former British colonial areas of present-day Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. According to the United Nations Population Division, roughly 457 million people live in East Africa (in 2021). |
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Burundi | 11,576 | Burundi Map | Bujumbura | |
Comoros | 851 | Comoros Map | Moroni | |
Djibouti | 986 | Djibouti Map | Djibouti | |
Eritrea | 5,310 | Eritrea Map | Asmara | |
Ethiopia | 110,136 | Ethiopia Map | Addis Ababa | |
Kenya | 52,215 | Kenya Map | Nairobi | |
Madagascar | 26,970 | Madagascar Map | Antananarivo | |
Malawi | 19,719 | Malawi Map | Lilongwe | |
Mauritius | 1,271 | Mauritius Map | Port Louis | |
Mozambique | 31,409 | Mozambique Map | Maputo | |
Réunion (France) | 890 | Réunion Map | Saint Denis | |
Rwanda | 12,794 | Rwanda Map | Kigali | |
Seychelles | 96 | Seychelles Map | Victoria | |
Somalia and Somaliland | 15,636 | Somalia Map | Mogadishu | |
South Sudan | 13,263 | see: Sudan Map | Juba | |
Tanzania | 60,914 | Tanzania Map | Dodoma, Dar es Salaam | |
Uganda | 45,712 | Uganda Map | Kampala | |
Zambia | 18,137 | Zambia Map | Lusaka | |
Zimbabwe | 17,297 | Zimbabwe Map | Harare | |
Southern Africa | ||||
Image: Yathin S Krishnappa |
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Southern Africa is the southern portion of the African continent, bounded by the South Atlantic Ocean in the west and the Indian Ocean in the east.
The United Nations geoscheme lists five countries in Southern Africa, with a total population of about 68.3 million people (in 2021). |
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Botswana | 2,375 | Botswana Map | Gaborone | |
Lesotho | 2,293 | Maseru | ||
Namibia | 2,642 | Namibia Map | Windhoek | |
South Africa | 58,065 | South Africa Map | Pretoria, Bloemfontein, Cape Town | |
Swaziland | 1,415 | Swaziland Map | Mbabane, Lobamba | |