Africa is the world’s second largest continent and consists of 54 recognized states. At the same time, the African Union has 55 member states, because the organization also counts the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. Western Sahara is often described as a disputed territory, which is the most common explanation for why different sources sometimes give different numbers of countries in Africa.
Africa contains a very large geographic and cultural diversity. The continent stretches from the Mediterranean in the north to the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean, and the African Union divides its member states into five geographic regions: North Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, and Southern Africa. This makes Africa a continent with great breadth in nature, history, and social development.
Here are the 54 generally recognized states in Africa, sorted alphabetically.
All recognized states in Africa
- Algeria
- Angola
- Benin
- Botswana
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cameroon
- Cape Verde
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Comoros
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Djibouti
- Egypt
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Eswatini
- Ethiopia
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Guinea Bissau
- Ivory Coast
- Kenya
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Libya
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Republic of the Congo
- Rwanda
- São Tomé and Príncipe
- Senegal
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Sudan
- Sudan
- Tanzania
- Togo
- Tunisia
- Uganda
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe