It is the second largest continent after Asia, covering about one-fifth of the total land surface of Earth, with a total land area of about 30.3 million km2.
With 1.4 billion people it accounts for about 18% of the world's population.
Despite a wide range of natural resources, Africa is the least wealthy continent per capita.
This can be attributed to different factors including geography, climate, tribalism, colonialism (and neocolonialism), the Cold War, lack of democracy, and corruption.
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.
Despite a wide range of natural resources, Africa is the least wealthy continent per capita and second-least wealthy, ahead of Oceania.
This can be attributed to different factors including geography, climate, tribalism, colonialism (and neocolonialism), the Cold War, lack of democracy, and corruption.
Despite this low concentration of wealth, recent economic expansion and the large and young population make Africa an important economic market in the broader global context.
northern region
algeria
ceuta & melilla
egypt
gambia
guinea
guinea-bissau
ivory coast
libya
mauritania
morocco
niger
senegal
togo
tunisia
western sahara
islands of macaronesia
azores
madeira
canary islands
cape verde
central region
central african republic
angola
burundi
chad
cameroon
congo
democratic republic of the congo
equitorial guinea
gabon
kenya
rwanda
mali
são tomé & príncipe
zambia
western region
benin
burkina faso
côte d’ivoire
ghana
liberia
nigeria
sierra Leone
sudan
saint helena
eastern region
djibouti
eritrea
ethiopia
madagascar
mauritius
mayotte
réunion
seychelles
south sudan
sudan
somalia
tanzania
southern region
botswana
comoros
lesotho
malawi
mozambique
namibia
south africa
eswatini
uganda
zimbabwe