How Many Countries Are There on the African Continent? Reviewing the African Continent
How Many Countries Are There on the African Continent? Reviewing the African Continent
In this article, Yourskypost will invite you to review the African continent. Divided into 5 sub-regions, how many countries are there on the African continent?
Separated from Europe by the Mediterranean, Africa merges with Asia at its northeastern end through the 130 km wide Suez Canal. To the west it borders the Atlantic Ocean, and to the east it is the Indian Ocean. The African continent is the largest and second most populous continent after the Asian continent, the total area of the African continent is approximately 30,295,000 km2, about 1/5 of the total land area of the earth.
The climate on the African continent is broadly divided into three climates, namely tropical climate, tropical climates are in the area around the equator. This region has a rainfall of about 1000 to 2000 mm per year, making the region overgrown with many plants and forming rainforests and humid tropical deciduous forests. The second is a subtropical climate, a region that is far from the equator with a subtropical climate. This region is usually populated by savannas. Next there is the desert climate, which is defined as a very, very dry climate that receives less than 12 inches of rainfall each year.
The total population on the African continent according to the World population review reaches more than 1.4 billion people in 2022. This population accounts for 16.72% of the world's population which has reached more than 8 billion people. When viewed from the vastness, are you curious about the number of countries on the African continent? In this video, geography will invite you to process the African continent divided into 5 sub-regions. How many countries are there on the African continent?
The African continent contains a total of 54 independent states, three dependencies, and one disputed territory. North Africa has a total population of about 257 million in 2022. Countries in North Africa include Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, and Tunisia. All countries in North Africa identify their countries as Muslim, hence most of the population in these countries speaks Arabic and adheres to Islam.
Here are some interesting facts about countries in the North African subregion reported by the World Population Review:
1. Egypt is the most populous country in North Africa and the 14th most populous in the world, with a population of 111 million in 2022.
2. Libya is the least populous country, which is almost 7 million.
In this sub-region, the title of the most populous country on the African continent is held by Nigeria, whose population reaches more than 220 million in 2022, making it the sixth most populous country in the world. The record for the hottest place in the world has ever been recorded in Libya, which once reached a temperature of 58 degrees Celsius in 1922.
Algeria, otherwise known as Algeria, is the largest country on the African continent and ranks 10th largest in the world, with a total area of 2,381,741 square KM. The Sahara Desert, which is the hottest desert in the world and the largest on the African continent with an area of 9 million 200,000 km², is in most countries in North Africa, namely Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Sudan, Libya, and Tunisia. In Morocco, there is the oldest university in the country, founded in 859, Al-Qarawiyyin university located in the city of Fes. In this North African region there are also the largest olive oil producing countries in the world, namely Tunisia and Morocco, which in 2019 Tunisia produced 183,000 tons of olive oil and Morocco 200,000 tons. Another interesting fact: The meeting place of two major tributary springs, namely the White Nile which originates from Lake Victoria and the Blue Nile which originates from Lake Tanah in Ethiopia.
East Africa contains more than 470 million people living in 18 different countries. Countries in East Africa are Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Like most African sub-regions, East Africa is very diverse with many different ethnic and linguistic groups. Christianity and Islam are the most dominant religions in the subregion, although some residents also adhere to traditional African religions.
Here are some interesting facts about countries in the East African region:
1. The most populous country in the region is Ethiopia, with a population of nearly 115 million in 2022.
2. The most populous country in East Africa is in a special island nation located in the Indian Ocean off the coast of East Africa, Seychelles. Seychelles has more than 98,000 people with a population density of 214/km2, while its area is only 459 km2.
According to the World Population Review, Burundi is the poorest country in the world by GNI
per capita is only 270 dollars. In Tanzania, there is the largest crab in the world, the coconut crab. In the country of Djibouti there is a lake called Lek Asal or Lake Asal. This lake is the second saltiest body of water in the world after Don Juan Pond in Antarctica. Comoros is the largest producer of ilang-ilang flowers or better known as Kenanga. This flower is usually used as a raw material for the perfume industry. In 1998, experts discovered one of the oldest human skeletons in the world, in Eritrea.
Harare is the center of Islamic civilization in Ethiopia and is considered the fourth Muslim holy city in the world. Africa is not only about deserts, in Zimbabwe there is a waterfall that is one of the wonders of the world, namely Victoria Falls. Somalia has a long coastline in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Adan. The country's coast stretches 3,025 KM and is the longest of all countries on the African mainland, even so, the country is in the top 10 countries with the lowest life expectancy in the world which only reaches an average of 54 years. This East African region has the youngest country in the world, namely South Sudan. The country gained independence from Sudan in 2011.
West Africa is home to about 428 million people living in 16 different countries. West Africa has a large number of ethnic and linguistic groups. Islam is the most dominant religion in the region, especially in the north, while Christianity generally dominates the south. Countries in the region are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
Here are some interesting facts about countries in the West African subregion:
1. The most populous country in the sub-region is Nigeria, which is also the most populous country in Africa and the 7th most populous country in the world. The country has a total of more than 206 million people. While the least populated country is in Cape Verde, which is an island nation located off the coast of West Africa. Cape Verde has fewer than 556,000 people.
2. Burkina Faso there are 3 UNESCO world heritage sites, namely the Loropeni ruins located near the border of Ivory Coast that are almost 1000 years old, an ancient iron metallurgy site dating from the 8th century that is evidence of the oldest iron production still in existence in the country, and the search warli complex is a transnational property jointly owned between Niger, Burkina Faso, and the Republic of Appeal.
3. It turns out that the richest man in history comes from Mali. Mansa Musa is the richest man in history. He was the first king of Timbuktu and ruled the Mali empire from 1312 to 1337 AD. He has a fortune of about 400 billion dollars. If he's alive today, he's worth about twice that of Amazon's Jeff Bezos. That wealth comes from the country's enormous salt and gold deposits. The share at that time of Malian gold accounted for half of the worldwide gold supply. You can see his wealth in the form of hundreds of mosques that he built across the country, and still exist today.
Central Africa more than 183 million people live in 9 different countries in Central Africa. Countries in Central Africa are Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Sao Tome and Principe.
Here are some interesting facts about countries in the Central African subregion:
1. The region's most populous country is the Democratic Republic of Congo, home to more than 95.89 million people, while the least populated countries are Sao Tome and Principe, which can be found off the west coast of Africa.
2. The Central African Republic is a country without a sea located in the interior of Africa. Although it does not have a sea, the country still has a navy.
3. The rainforest in the Congo Basin is the second largest rainforest in the world. This rainforest stretched beyond present-day Peru and the Central African Republic.
4. Equatorial Guinea is building a new capital located on the mainland of the country. The new capital, Sidati Lapas, was supposed to be inaugurated in 2020, but is still under construction.
5. The Republic of Gabon has the same independence date as Indonesia, but in a different year. If Indonesia became independent on August 17, 1945, they became independent Gabon on August 17, 1960.
South Africa has an estimated population of 68 million people making it the least populated of all African sub-regions. Countries in this region are Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and the Republic of South Africa.
Here are some interesting facts about countries in the South African region:
1. The most populous country in South Africa is the landlocked country of Eswatini, formerly Swaziland, with a population of about 1.1 million people.
2. South Africa is perhaps best known historically for the struggle against the racist apartheid system in South Africa that ended in the 1990s. When the country became a multiracial democracy. Since then, the sub-region has been relatively stable compared to the rest of Africa, although it still faces some internal conflicts and also faces ongoing economic stagnation. South Africa has the largest population of African elephants of any other place on the African continent.
3. In Lesoto, there is still a tribe living in Goa, precisely in the Curtaini district. The name of the people is called Komi cave dwellers, and they live in a cave that they made themselves using wild mud. The Hoba meteorite is the largest meteorite ever found on earth. Found in Namibia, the weight of the meteorite was estimated at 54,000 kg.
4. The Republic of South Africa has abundant diamond reserves. In addition to the 54 African countries, it also includes three dependencies and one disputed territory. Two of the Dependencies, Reunion and Mayotte, were controlled by France. Reunion is an island located west of the small island nation of Mauritius and east of Madagascar. It is the most populous dependency in Africa, containing about 895,000 inhabitants. Mayotte is located in the Comoros archipelago, off the coast of Mozambique, and borders the country known as the Comoros.
The third dependent territory is Saint Helena. British-controlled Helena is located deep off the coast of Central Africa, in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean. The disputed territory is known as Western Sahara, located on the west coast of North Africa, between Morocco to the north and Mauritania to the south. The region is now the scene of a protracted conflict between its local population who want independence and the Moroccan state which claims the territory as its own.
