Africa: A Complex Giant

Africa spans nearly as far west to east as it does north to south. The Sahara - the world's largest hot desert - covers Africa's northern third, while tot he south lies bands of grassland, tropical rainforest, and more desert. The East African Rift system marks where shifting tectonic plates are splitting off the continent's edge. Africa has a wealth of cultures, speaking some 1,600 languages - more than on any other continent. Though the continent is mostly rural, Africans increasingly migrate to booming cities like Lagos, Cairo, and Johannesburg. Despite rich natural resources - from oil and coal to gemstones and precious metals - and partly as a result of them, many countries in Africa have endured colonization, corruption, and disease.

Physical Features

Landmarks

Northern Africa

Algiers, Algeria

Cairo, Egypt

Tripoli, Libya

Rabat, Morocco

Tunis, Tunisia

Laayoune, Western Sahara

This region, which is made up of five counties, stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. To the north the region is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea, while to the south lies the vast dry expanse of the Sahara. The world's longest river - the Nile - winds northward through Egypt, but most of the region is arid - meaning there is too little moisture to support trees or extensive vegetation. Most of the region's population lives in coastal areas or in the fertile valley of the Nile River. In recent years, the region has experienced widespread instability as a result of tensions between conservative Islamic groups and more liberal groups seeking modernization and democratic rule.

GEO WHIZ

• Ibn Battuta, who was born in Tangier, Morocco, in 1304, set off on a pilgrimage to Mecca that turned into a 29-year, 75,000 mile journey that took him from the Middle East to India, China, the East Indies, and back home.
• Egypt's Aswan High Dam, which forms Lake Nasser, produces up to 10 billion kilowatt hours of electricity every year and provides water for farms along the Nile in years of drought.
• Kairouan, Tunisia, is considered to be Islam's fourth holiest city after Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem.
  
• Towering dunes as well as barren, rocky expanses define Earth's largest hot desert - the Sahara, which separates northern Africa from the rest of the continent.
  
• Snails are a common snakc served at roadside stalls, or souks, in Marrakech, Morocco.
  
• Leptis Magna, a World Heritage site in Libya, was founded in the seventh century and became a major trade center. Following Roman and later Arab conquests, it fell into ruin.
  

The Basics

Largest Country: Algeria (919,595 sq mi)
Smallest Country: Tunisia (63,170 sq mi)
Most Populous Country: Egypt (99,413,000)
Least Populous Country: Libya (6,755,000)
Predominant Languages: Arabic, French, indigenous languages
Predominant Religions: Islam, indigenous beliefs
Highest GDP per capita: Algeria $15,200
Lowest GDP capital: Morocco $8,600
Highest Life Expectancy: Algeria, Libya, Morocco (77 years)
Lowest Life Expectancy: Egypt (73 years)

Northern African Countries

Northern African Capitals

Northern African Flags

Western Africa

Porto-Novo, Benin

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Praia, Cabo Verde

Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)

Banjul, Gambia

Accra, Ghana

Conakry, Guinea

Bissau, Guinea Bissau

Monrovia, Liberia

Bamako, Mali

Nouakchott, Mauritania

Niamey, Niger

Abuja, Nigeria

Dakar, Senegal

Freetown, Sierra Leone

Lome, Togo

Stretching from Cabo Verde in the west, Mauritania in the northwest, and the barren Sahara int he north, to Nigeria in the southeast, 16 countries make up western Africa. Three countries - Burkina Fasco, Mali, and Niger - are landlocked, meaning they have no direct access to ocean trade. The remaining 13 have coastlines along the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Guinea. Early kingdoms thrived in Mali, Ghana, and Benin, but European colonization disrupted traditional societies and economies, and left a legacy of political turmoil. Today, the countries are independent, but widespread use of French and English reflects the region's colonial past. Reliance on agriculture and falling global oil prices have left the region with a struggling economy.

GEO WHIZ

• For more than 300 years, the House of Slaves on Senegal's Goree Island served as a holding pen for enslaved people before they were sent to the Americas and elsewhere. Today, it is a museum and a memorial.
• Nigeria is a major producer and explorer of oil. Port Harcourt, in the Niger River Delta, is the center of the country's oil industry.
  
• In Cote d'Ivoire the beans are processed to create chocolate. About 70 percent of the world's cacao comes from African countries
  
• Nigeria produces more than half of the region's peanut crop.
  
• The ancient African kingdom of Benin produced outstanding bronze work. Each piece was created to honor the king.
  

The Basics

Largest Country: Niger (489,191 sq miles)
Smallest Country: Cabo Verde (1,557 sq miles)
Most Populous Country: Nigeria (203,453,000)
Least Populous Country: Cabo Verde (568,000)
Predominant Languages: French, English, Portuguese, Arabic, Spanish, indigenous languages
Predominant Religions: Islam, Christianity, indigenous beliefs
Highest GDP per capita: Cabo Verde ($6,900)
Lowest GDP capital: Liberia ($1,400)
Highest Life Expectancy: Cabo Verde (72 years)
Lowest Life Expectancy: Guinea-Biseau (51 years)

Western African Countries

Western African Capitals

Western African Flags

Eastern Africa

Gitega, Burundi

Djibouti, Djibouti

Asmara, Eritrea

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Nairobi, Kenya

Kigali, Rwanda

Mogadishu, Somalia

Dodoma, Tanzania

Kampala, Uganda

Eastern Africa's southern countries attract tourists to see big game - lions, elephants, giraffes, cape buffalo, zebras, wildebeests - that live on tropical grassland called savannas. Some also come to the region to climb its towering volcanic mountains, such as Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya. Along the western border lies Africa's Great Lakes, a part of the Rift Valley where tectonic forces are gradually separating eastern Africa from the rest of the continent. Religious and ethnic conflicts have plagued the region's northern countries for many years, leading to the political separation of Eritrea from Ethiopia. Civil unrest combined with drought has led to widespread famine, especially in Somalia.

GEO WHIZ

• Mount Kilimanjaro is the world's highest freestanding mountain. It has three volcanic cones, two of which are extinct while one is dormant.
  

The Basics

Largest Country: Tanzania (365,754 sq miles)
Smallest Country: Djibouti (8,958 sq miles)
Most Populous Country: Ethiopia (108,386,000)
Least Populous Country: Djibouti (884,000)
Predominant Languages: French, English, Arabic, Kiswahili, indigenous languages
Predominant Religions: Islam, Christianity, indigenous beliefs
Highest GDP per capita: Djibouti, Kenya ($3,500)
Lowest GDP capital: Somalia
Highest Life Expectancy: Djibouti (63 years)
Lowest Life Expectancy: Somalia (52 years)

Eastern African Countries

Eastern African Capitals

Eastern African Flags

Central Africa

Yaoundé, Cameroon

Bangui, Central African Republic

N’Djamena, Chad

Brazzaville, Congo

Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Malabo, Equatorial Guinea

Libreville, Gabon

São Tomé, Sao Tome and Principe

Juba, South Sudan

Khartoum, Sudan

The Congo, a major commercial waterway of central Africa, flows through rainforests being cut for timber and palm oil plantations. This places a large area of Earth's biodiversity at risk. To the north, Lake Chad, a large, but shallow lake, fluctuates greatly in size due to high rates of evaporation, unreliable rainfall, and overuse by the 20 million people who live near its shores. Diamonds, copper, and chromium are mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Central African Republic. Coffee is growing in the eastern highlands of the region, and livestock and cotton contribute to the economy of Chad. Religious and ethnic conflicts led to the separation of South Sudan from Sudan in 2011. Ongoing civil unrest and drought have led to widespread famine in South Sudan.

GEO WHIZ

• The region is home to the western lowland gorilla, which relies on the tropical rainforest habitats for food and habitat.
• The two main tributaries of the Nile join at Khartoum, in Sudan. Farmers rely on the world's longest river to water their crops.
• Mount Nyiragongo, in the Virunga Mountains of the DRC, contains one of the world's largest lava lakes.
  

The Basics

Largest Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo (905,354 sq miles)
Smallest Country: Sao Tome and Principe (362 sq miles)
Most Populous Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo (85,281,000)
Least Populous Country: Sao Tome and Principe (204,000)
Predominant Languages: French, English, Arabic, Portuguese, indigenous languages
Predominant Religions: Islam, Christianity, indigenous beliefs
Highest GDP per capita: Equatorial Guinea ($36,000)
Lowest GDP capital: Central African Republic ($700)
Highest Life Expectancy: Sao Tome & Principe (65 years)
Lowest Life Expectancy: Chad (51 years)

Central African Countries

Central African Capitals

Central African Flags

Southern Africa

Luanda, Angola

Gaborone, Botswana

Moroni, Comoros

Mbabane, Eswatini (Swaziland)

Maseru, Lesotho

Antananarivo, Madagascar

Lilongwe, Malawi

Port Louis, Maritius

Maputo, Mozambique

Windhoek, Namibia

Victoria, Seychelles

Pretoria, South Africa

Lusaka, Zambia

Harare, Zimbabwe

Ringed by uplands, the region's central basin hold the seasonally lush Okavango Delta and scorching Kalahari Desert. The mighty Zambezi thunders over Victoria Falls on its way to the Indian Ocean, where Madagascar is home to plants and animals found nowhere else in the world. Bantu and San are among the indigenous people who saw their hold on the land give way to Portuguese, Dutch, and British traders and colonists. The region offers a range of mineral resources and a variety of climates and soils that in some places yield bumper crops of grains, grapes, and citrus. Rich deposits of coal, diamonds, and gold have helped make South Africa the continent's economic powerhouse.

The Basics

Largest Country: Angola (481,353 sq miles)
Smallest Country: Seychelles (176 sq miles)
Most Populous Country: South Africa (55,380,000)
Least Populous Country: Seychelles (95,000)
Predominant Languages: French, English, Arabic, Portuguese, indigenous languages
Predominant Religions: Islam, Christianity, indigenous beliefs
Highest GDP per capita: Seychelles ($28,900)
Lowest GDP per capita: Malawi ($1,200)
Highest Life Expectancy: Mauritius (76 years)
Lowest Life Expectancy: Eswatini (52 years)

Southern African Countries

Southern African Capitals

Southern African Flags

GEO WHIZ

• South Africa's Kruger National Park, one of the largest in Africa, covers about the same area as the country of Israel.
• Great Zimbabwe National Monument has the largest ancient stone ruins in Africa south of the Sahara.
• Treacherous crosscurrents off the northwest coast of Namibia have caused countless ships to wreck, earning the area the nickname Skeleton Coast.
  
• Cape Town, South Africa's second most populous metropolitan area and seat of the legislative capital, began as a Dutch supply station in 1652. Table Mountain rises in the background. Over several years, starting 2015, dry winters created a water shortage that required residents and visitors to reduce consumption.