How Many Countries are There in Africa

Africa is the world's second largest continent after Asia, it also holds the honor of being the second most populous continent after Asia. With an area about 30.2 million km, counting the adjacent islands, Africa covers about 6% of the earth's total surface and about 20.4% of the land area. It also forms around 14.72% of the world's total population which is pretty big. Man since long has been obsessed with Africa and the various theories related to it. Almost everyone on this planet knows about Africa, even small kids know because educational channels like Discovery and National Geographic broadcast a larger chuck of their documentaries from Africa. Check any program about animals and tribal people on Discovery or Nat Geo, the content would be coming from Africa or any of its surrounding islands. In spite of being so famous, Africa is still the poorest continent in the world. In this article on how many countries are in Africa we also see some amazing facts about this fascinating continent which will help us understand Africa more.

Facts about Countries in the African Continent

From the Sahara Desert to Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa is a continent where you'll find everything in extremes. It is a continent where some countries still have minerals and natural resources in abundance while some are as barren as the Dead Sea. Before we begin listing how many countries are in Africa, let's have a look at some astonishing facts about this continent.

• The largest country in Africa is Sudan.
• Cairo is the largest city in Africa with over nine million inhabitants.
• Africa is the birthplace of the human species.
• Nile is the longest river in the world.
• Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa.
• South America and Africa were connected millions of years ago, but due to the movement of the tectonic plates they moved away.
• The Sahara Desert in Africa is the largest desert in the world.
• Africa produces 50% of the diamonds in the world.
• Human fossils have been found in Africa which have been dated over four million years old and some seven million years old.
• The first dominant human civilization was found in Africa and they were the "Egyptians" in 3,300 BC.
• The largest mountain in Africa is Mt. Kilimanjaro with a height of 19,317 feet.
• Arabs made Africa their home in 7th century AD and spread Islam throughout the continent.
• Africa is currently the poorest continent on Earth.
• In the early 18th and 19th century, European powers colonized Africa.
• Most countries in Africa gained independence in the early 20th century.

How Many Countries are There in the African Continent

There are 47 countries in Africa which includes the disputed territory of Western Sahara. If you also count the surrounding islands on the cost of Africa, then the number rises to 53. The islands of Madagascar, the Comoros, Mauritius, Cape Verde, Sao Tome, Principe and the Seychelles are now recognized as independent nations. Some people don't count the surrounding islands so the answer to how many countries are in Africa altogether keeps fluctuating. However, facts cannot be overlooked which says that all these surrounding regions have a high density of African population and a strong historical bond with Africa so they are usually considered as African countries.

African Countries	Capitals
Algeria	Algiers
Angola	Luanda
Benin	Porto-Novo
Botswana	Gaborone
Burkina Faso	Ouagadougou
Burundi	Bujumbura
Cameroon	Yaounde
Cape Verde	Praia
Central African Republic	Bangui
Chad	N'Djamena
Comoros	Moroni
Congo, Democratic Republic of (Congo-Kinshasa)	Kinshasa
Congo, Republic of (Congo-Brazzaville)	Brazzaville
Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)	Yamoussoukro
Djibouti	Djibouti
Egypt	Cairo
Equatorial Guinea	Malabo
Eritrea	Asmara
Ethiopia	Addis Ababa
Gabon	Libreville
Gambia	Banjul
Ghana	Accra
Guinea	Conakry
Guinea-Bissau	Bissau
Kenya	Nairobi
Lesotho	Maseru
Liberia	Monrovia
Libya	Tripoli
Madagascar	Antananarivo
Malawi	Lilongwe
Mali	Bamako
Mauritania	Nouakchott
Mauritius	Port Louis
Morocco	Rabat
Mozambique	Maputo
Namibia	Windhoek
Niger	Niamey
Nigeria	Abuja
Rwanda	Kigali
Sao Tome and Principe	São Tomé
Senegal	Dakar
Seychelles	Vicoria
Sierra Leone	Freetown
Somalia	Mogadishu
South Africa	Pretoria
Sudan	Khartoum
Swaziland	Mbabane
Tanzania	Dodoma
Togo	Lomé
Tunisia	Tunis
Western Sahara	El-Aaiún
Uganda	Kampala
Zambia	Lusaka
Zimbabwe	Harare

So the continent of Africa houses all these countries and their people. Apart from its rich culture and geographical locations, Africa is also famous for its wildlife safaris, so ensure that you guys check that one out too.