Africa is the second-largest and second-most populous continent on Earth, and is the only continent located in all four hemispheres. Africa comprises 20.37% of the world's land area, along with 19.1% of the world's current population. It also has the highest ranked growth rate today. The estimated population for Africa is 1,584,984,917.
58 countries
| | Country | Population ↓ | Density |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Nigeria | 242,432,000 | 262 |
 | Ethiopia | 138,902,000 | 126 |
 | Egypt | 120,101,000 | 120 |
 | DR Congo | 116,452,000 | 50 |
 | Tanzania | 72,563,800 | 77 |
 | South Africa | 65,453,100 | 54 |
 | Kenya | 58,636,400 | 101 |
 | Sudan | 53,282,700 | 28 |
 | Uganda | 52,761,500 | 218 |
 | Algeria | 48,028,300 | 20 |
 | Angola | 40,215,200 | 32 |
 | Morocco | 38,762,400 | 87 |
 | Mozambique | 36,639,900 | 46 |
 | Ghana | 35,697,600 | 150 |
 | Madagascar | 33,522,100 | 57 |
 | Ivory Coast | 33,494,300 | 104 |
 | Cameroon | 30,640,800 | 64 |
 | Niger | 28,814,900 | 23 |
 | Mali | 25,932,300 | 21 |
 | Burkina Faso | 24,601,700 | 90 |
 | Malawi | 22,785,500 | 192 |
 | Zambia | 22,521,900 | 30 |
 | Chad | 21,560,400 | 17 |
 | Somalia | 20,305,900 | 32 |
 | Senegal | 19,366,500 | 98 |
 | Zimbabwe | 17,273,600 | 44 |
 | Guinea | 15,442,000 | 63 |
 | Benin | 15,170,400 | 135 |
 | Rwanda | 14,889,700 | 565 |
 | Burundi | 14,729,200 | 529 |
 | South Sudan | 12,436,000 | 20 |
 | Tunisia | 12,415,100 | 76 |
 | Togo | 9,930,920 | 175 |
 | Sierra Leone | 8,996,740 | 125 |
 | Libya | 7,539,850 | 4.3 |
 | Republic of the Congo | 6,637,780 | 19 |
 | Liberia | 5,853,950 | 53 |
 | Central African Republic | 5,698,980 | 9.1 |
 | Mauritania | 5,461,320 | 5.3 |
 | Eritrea | 3,682,670 | 31 |
 | Namibia | 3,153,250 | 3.8 |
 | Gambia | 2,884,080 | 270 |
 | Gabon | 2,647,400 | 9.9 |
 | Botswana | 2,603,390 | 4.5 |
 | Lesotho | 2,389,340 | 79 |
 | Guinea-Bissau | 2,297,810 | 64 |
 | Equatorial Guinea | 1,984,470 | 71 |
 | Eswatini | 1,269,860 | 73 |
 | Mauritius | 1,265,060 | 620 |
 | Djibouti | 1,199,460 | 52 |
 | Comoros | 899,010 | 483 |
 | Reunion | 886,298 | 353 |
 | Western Sahara | 610,813 | 2.3 |
 | Cape Verde | 529,630 | 131 |
 | Mayotte | 347,536 | 929 |
 | Sao Tome and Principe | 244,994 | 254 |
 | Seychelles | 134,959 | 299 |
 | Saint Helena Ascension and Tristan da Cunha | 5,147 | 0.19 |
Africa is the second-largest and second most populous continent on earth with an estimated population in 2016 of 1.2 billion people. Africa is home to 54 recognized sovereign states and countries, 9 territories and 2 de facto independent states with very little recognition. The UN Population Fund stated in 2009 that the population of Africa had hit the one billion mark and had therefore doubled in size over the course of 27 years.
The Population Fund’s Director Thoraya Obeid spoke to the BBC at the time and underlined the reasons behind the growing population.
“African countries are all growing fast … because there is a large number of women who have no access to planning their families,” she said. “It’s an African phenomenon of a large growing population and a large percentage of young people in the population.”
54 countries make up the continent of Africa, and while population growth is relatively low in some areas, countries such as Nigeria and Uganda are increasing at an advanced rate. In most countries in the continent, the population growth is in excess of 2% every year.
In addition, there is a high proportion of younger people within the Africa population as a whole, with reports that 41% of the African population is under the age of 15. The life expectancy is also low – less than 50 in many nations and averaging 52 across the continent as a whole. This has reduced considerably over the course of the last twenty years with a widespread HIV and AIDS epidemic taking much of the blame for that statistic.
Infant mortality is also extremely high, and in Mali, it is reported that there are 102 deaths per 1,000 live births. All of these statistics could potentially lead to a fall in population numbers. but in Africa, the issue over family planning leads to the reverse effect.
The African nations as a whole are made up from such a diverse set of components that it is impossible to list them in full concerning demographics. However, in certain parts of the continent, there has been an increase in Asian and European settlers, which has also served to boost the population statistics as a whole.
In former British colonies, this can be seen extensively, and Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and South Africa are all good examples as to a growing set of diverse ethnicities.
The population in Africa has grown rapidly over the last 40 years and it has a relatively young population, with more than half of the population under 25 in some states.
134,959
Some of the countries in this region include:
This area has a population size of 514M and covers about 6.4M square miles.
Some of the countries in this region include:
This area has a population size of 238.5M and covers about 7.2M square miles.
Some of the countries in this region include:
This area has a population size of 280.7M and covers about 7.9M square miles.
Some of the countries in this region include:
This area has a population size of 74.9M and covers about 2.7M square miles.
Some of the countries in this region include:
This area has a population size of 1.3B and covers about 22.4M square miles.
Some of the countries in this region include:
This area has a population size of 476.9M and covers about 6.1M square miles.
5,005,339,144
743,197,243
621,247,959
440,484,603
47,118,951
