Africa is the second largest and most populous continent in the world, with over 1.2 billion people constituting about 14 percent of the world’s population.
The continent is not only known for its large land size or population but also its diverse ethnicity and cultures. Most of the ethnic groups even transcend beyond the national borders of certain countries.
There are 54 recognised countries in Africa.
1.Algeria
2.Angola
3.Benin
4.Botswana
5.Burkina Faso
6.Burundi
7.Cameroon
8.Cape Verde
9.Central African Republic
10.Chad
11.Comoros
12.Côte d’Ivoire
13.DR Congo
14.Republic of Congo
15.Djibouti
16.Egypt
17.Equatorial Guinea
18.Eritrea
19.Ethiopia
20.Gabon
21.The Gambia
22.Ghana
23.Guinea
24.Guinea-Bissau
25.Kenya
26.Lesotho
27.Liberia
28.Libya
29.Madagascar
30.Malawi
31.Mali
32.Mauritania
33.Mauritius
34.Morocco
35.Mozambique
36.Namibia
37.Niger
38.Nigeria
39.Rwanda
40.São Tomé and Principe
41.Senegal
42.Seychelles
43.Sierra Leon
44.Somalia
45.South Africa
46.Sudan (north)
47.South Sudan Rep.
48.Swaziland
49.Tanzania
50.Togo
51.Tunisia
52.Uganda
53.Zambia
54.Zimbabwe
ALGERIA
Interim President: Abdelkader Bensalah
Prime Minister: Noureddine Bedoui
- AREA:382 MILLION KM² OF WHICH OVER 80 PERCENT IS DESERT.
- LOCATION: NORTH AFRICA’S MEDITERRANEAN COAST.
- POPULATION: APPROXIMATELY 41 MILLION
- CAPITAL CITY: AND IT’S THE MOST POPULOUS CITY WITH MORE THAN 3.5 MILLION RESIDENTS.
- GAINED INDEPENDENCE FROM FRANCE ON 5TH JULY, 1962
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: ARABIC
- CURRENCY: ALGERIAN DINAR.
- GDP:4 BILLION USD (2017)
- THE NATIONAL ANIMAL OF ALGERIA IS THE FENNEC FOX
- ALL BUT TWO PERCENT OF ALGERIA’S EXPORTS ARE FOSSIL FUELS. PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS MAKE UP 98 PERCENT OF THE COUNTRY’S EXPORTS. THE COUNTRY’S CRUDE OIL RESERVES ARE THE 16TH LARGEST IN THE WORLD WITH 12,200 MILLION BARRELS OF OIL RESERVES (AT THE START OF 2017). ALGERIA IS ALSO AFRICA’S LARGEST OAT MARKET.
ANGOLA
President: João Lourenço
- AREA:247 MILLION KM²
- LOCATION: WEST-COAST COUNTRY OF SOUTH-CENTRAL AFRICA. AND IT IS THE SEVENTH-LARGEST COUNTRY IN AFRICA.
- POPULATION: ABOUT 29.7 MILLION
- CAPITAL: LUANDA AND IT’S ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST EXPENSIVE CITIES FOR EXPATS.
- ANGOLA GAINED INDEPENDENCE FROM PORTUGAL ON NOVEMBER 11, 1975. IT IS THE LAST PORTUGUESE COLONY IN AFRICA TO GAIN INDEPENDENCE.
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: PORTUGUESE
- CURRENCY: THE ANGOLAN KWANZA.
- ANGOLA IS RICH IN NATURAL RESOURCES SUCH AS DIAMOND, OIL, GOLD, COPPER ETC. THESE TOGETHER MAKE TREMENDOUS CONTRIBUTIONS ON ITS GDP. AS AT 2017, THE GDP OF ANGOLA WAS IN THE REGION 124 BILLION USD.
BENIN
President: Patrice Talon
- AREA: 114,763 KM²
- LOCATION: WEST AFRICA BETWEEN NIGERIA AND TOGO.
- POPULATION: ABOUT 11 MILLION PEOPLE.
- CAPITAL CITY: PORTO-NOVO
- GAINED INDEPENDENCE FROM THE FRENCH ON AUGUST 1, 1960 AND CELEBRATES INDEPENDENCE DAY ON AUGUST 1ST EVERY YEAR
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: FRENCH
- CURRENCY: CFA FRANC
- THE LARGEST CITY IS COTONOU WHICH IS ALSO HOME TO THE GOVERNMENT.
- LARGEST EXPORT IS COTTON. IT ACCOUNTS FOR 80% OF ITS EXPORTS.
- OTHER RESOURCES: OIL, MARBLE AND LIMESTONE
- GDP: OVER 9.2 BILLION USD AS AT 2017.
BOTSWANA
President: Mokgweetsi Masisi
- AREA: 600,370 KM²
- LOCATION: SOUTHERN AFRICA BOUNDED BY NAMIBIA TO THE WEST, ZIMBABWE TO THE EAST AND SOUTH AFRICA TO THE SOUTH.
- POPULATION:292 MILLION (2017)
- CAPITAL CITY: GABORONE
- GAINED INDEPENDENCE FROM BRITAIN ON 30 SEPTEMBER 1966.
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: ENGLISH AND TSWANA
- CURRENCY: BOTSWANA PULA
- MAIN EXPORTS: DIAMONDS, COPPER, NICKEL, SODA ASH, BEEF AND TEXTILES
- GDP:41 BILLION USD (2017)
BURKINA FASO
President: Roch Marc Christian Kaboré
Prime Minister: Paul Kaba Thieba
- AREA: 274,200 KM²
- LOCATION: BURKINA FASO IS A LANDLOCKED COUNTRY IN WEST AFRICA. IT IS BOUNDED BY MALI TO THE NORTH AND WEST, NIGER TO THE NORTHEAST, BENIN TO THE SOUTHEAST, AND CÔTE D’IVOIRE, GHANA, AND TOGO TO THE SOUTH.
- POPULATION:8 MILLION
- CAPITAL CITY: OUAGADOUGOU
- BURKINA FASO GAINED INDEPENDENCE AS UPPER VOLTA IN 1960. THE NAME BURKINA FASO, WHICH MEANS “LAND OF INCORRUPTIBLE PEOPLE,” WAS ADOPTED IN 1984.
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: FRENCH
- CURRENCY: CFA FRANC/ WEST AFRICAN CFA FRANC
- MORE THAN HALF THE POPULATION IS MUSLIM. ABOUT ONE-FIFTH OF THE BURKINABÉ ARE ROMAN CATHOLIC, AND ONE-SIXTH FOLLOW TRADITIONAL RELIGIONS. MOST OF THE REMAINDERS ARE PROTESTANTS OR NONRELIGIOUS.
- MAIN EXPORTS: GOLD, COTTON AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS. BURKINA FASO IS AFRICA’S LARGEST PRODUCER OF COTTON.
- GDP:8 BILLION USD WHICH IS EXPECTED TO HIT ABOUT 13 BILLION USD BY THE END OF 2019.
BURUNDI
President: Pierre Nkurunziza
- AREA: 27,834 KM²
- LOCATION: LANDLOCKED COUNTRY AMID THE AFRICAN GREAT LAKES REGION WHERE EAST AND CENTRAL AFRICA CONVERGE. IT IS BOUNDED BY RWANDA TO THE NORTH, TANZANIA TO THE EAST AND SOUTH, LAKE TANGANYIKA TO THE SOUTHWEST, AND THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO TO THE WEST
- POPULATION: 86 MILLION (2017)
- CAPITAL CITY: GITEGA
- GAINED INDEPENDENCE FROM FROM BELGIUM, ON 1 JULY 1962
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: FRENCH, ENGLISH, KIRUNDI
- CURRENCY: BURUNDIAN FRANC
- MAIN EXPORTS: COFFEE AND TEA. OTHERS INCLUDE URANIUM, NICKEL, COBALT, COPPER AND PLATINUM
- GDP:478 BILLION USD (2017)
CAMEROON
President: Paul Biya
- AREA: 475,650 KM²
- LOCATION: CENTRAL AFRICA BOUNDED BY NIGERIA TO THE WEST AND NORTH; CHAD TO THE NORTHEAST; THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC TO THE EAST; AND EQUATORIAL GUINEA, GABON AND THE REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO TO THE SOUTH
- POPULATION:05 MILLION (2017)
- CAPITAL CITY: YAOUNDE
- INDEPENDENCE: ON 1 JANUARY 1960, FRENCH CAMEROUN GAINED INDEPENDENCE FROM FRANCE UNDER PRESIDENT AHMADOU AHIDJO. ON 1 OCTOBER 1961, THE FORMERLY BRITISH SOUTHERN CAMEROONS GAINED INDEPENDENCE VOTED BY VOTE OF THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND JOINED WITH FRENCH CAMEROUN TO FORM THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE(S): FRENCH AND ENGLISH
- CURRENCY: CFA FRANC AND CENTRAL AFRICAN CFA FRANC
- MAIN EXPORTS: OIL AND GAS, BAUXITE, COBALT, GOLD FROM LODE DEPOSITS, GRANITE, IRON ORE, NICKEL, RUTILE, HIGH-VALUE SPECIES OF TIMBER, AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS, SUCH AS COFFEE, COTTON, COCOA, MAIZE, AND CASSAVA.
- GDP:8 BILLION USD (2017)
CAPE VERDE
President: Jorge Carlos Fonseca
Prime Minister: Ulisses Correia e Silva
- AREA: 4,033 KM²
- LOCATION: IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN, APPROXIMATELY 570 KILOMETRES (350 MI) OFF THE WESTERN COAST OF THE AFRICAN CONTINENT, NEAR SENEGAL, THE GAMBIA, AND MAURITANIA, AND IS PART OF THE MACARONESIA ECOREGION.
- POPULATION: 546,388 (2017
- CAPITAL CITY: PRAIA
- GAINED INDEPENDENCE FROM PORTUGAL ON 5TH JULY, 1975.
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE(S): PORTUGUESE
- CURRENCY: CAPE VERDEAN ESCUDO
- MAIN EXPORTS: FUEL, SHOES, GARMENTS, FISH, HIDES. OTHER RESOURCES INCLUDE SALT, POZZOLANA (A VOLCANIC ROCK USED IN CEMENT PRODUCTION), AND LIMESTONE
GDP: 1.754 BILLION USD (2017)