List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Africa Facts for Kids

Africa is a huge continent with many countries!

This page lists the independent countries and territories in Africa. Africa is a giant continent with many different countries. There are 56 independent countries listed here. Most of these (54) are part of the United Nations, which is a group of countries working together for peace. They are also members of the African Union, a group of African countries that work together.

Some places like Malta and parts of France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain are very close to Africa or even on the same land plate. But usually, people think of them as part of Europe. Egypt is mostly in Africa, even though a small part of it reaches into Asia.

Independent Countries in Africa
- Countries Everyone Recognizes
- Countries Not Fully Recognized by Everyone
Territories Ruled by Other Countries
- Dependent Territories
- Other Territories
See also

Independent Countries in Africa

These are countries that govern themselves.

Countries Everyone Recognizes

These 54 countries are fully recognized by other countries around the world. They are all members of the United Nations and the African Union.

Country Name	Capital City	Population	Area (km²)	Currency
Algeria	Algiers	42,228,408	2,381,740	Algerian dinar
Angola	Luanda	30,809,787	1,246,700	kwanza
Benin	Porto-Novo	11,485,044	112,622	CFA franc
Botswana	Gaborone	2,254,068	581,726	pula
Burkina Faso	Ouagadougou	19,751,466	274,000	CFA franc
Burundi	Gitega	11,175,374	27,830	Burundi franc
Cameroon	Yaoundé	25,216,267	475,442	CFA franc
Cape Verde	Praia	543,767	4,033	Cape Verdean escudo
Central African Republic	Bangui	4,666,368	622,984	CFA franc
Chad	N'Djamena	15,477,729	1,284,000	CFA franc
Comoros	Moroni	832,322	2,235	Comorian franc
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Kinshasa	84,068,091	2,344,858	Congolese franc
Republic of the Congo	Brazzaville	5,244,359	342,000	CFA franc
Djibouti	Djibouti	958,923	23,200	Djibouti franc
Egypt	Cairo	98,423,598	1,001,449	Egyptian pound
Equatorial Guinea	Malabo	1,308,975	28,051	CFA franc
Eritrea	Asmara	3,452,786	117,600	nakfa
Eswatini	Lobamba (royal and legislative), Mbabane (administrative)	1,136,281	17,364	lilangeni
Ethiopia	Addis Ababa	109,224,414	1,104,300	Ethiopian birr
Gabon	Libreville	2,119,275	267,668	CFA franc
The Gambia	Banjul	2,280,094	10,380	dalasi
Ghana	Accra	29,767,102	238,534	Ghana cedi
Guinea	Conakry	12,414,293	245,857	Guinean franc
Guinea-Bissau	Bissau	1,874,303	36,125	CFA franc
Ivory Coast	Yamoussoukro	25,069,230	322,460	CFA franc
Kenya	Nairobi	51,392,565	580,367	Kenyan shilling
Lesotho	Maseru	2,108,328	30,355	loti
Liberia	Monrovia	4,818,973	111,369	Liberian dollar
Libya	Tripoli	6,678,559	1,759,540	Libyan dinar
Madagascar	Antananarivo	26,262,313	587,041	ariary
Malawi	Lilongwe	18,143,217	118,484	Malawian kwacha
Mali	Bamako	19,077,749	1,240,192	CFA franc
Mauritania	Nouakchott	4,403,313	1,030,700	ouguiya
Mauritius	Port Louis	1,267,185	2,040	Mauritian rupee
Morocco	Rabat	36,029,093	446,550	Moroccan dirham
Mozambique	Maputo	29,496,004	801,590	metical
Namibia	Windhoek	2,448,301	825,418	Namibian dollar
Niger	Niamey	22,443,000	1,267,000	CFA franc
Nigeria	Abuja	185,989,640	923,768	naira
Rwanda	Kigali	1,230,197	26,798	Rwandese franc
São Tomé and Príncipe	São Tomé		964	Dobra
Senegal	Dakar	15,854,323	196,723	CFA franc
Seychelles	Victoria	97,096	451	Seychelles rupee
Sierra Leone	Freetown	7,650,150	71,740	leone
Somalia	Mogadishu	15,008,226	637,657	Somali shilling
South Africa	Bloemfontein (judicial), Cape Town (legislative), and Pretoria (executive)	57,792,518	1,221,037	rand
South Sudan	Juba	10,975,927	644,329	South Sudanese pound
Sudan	Khartoum	41,801,533	1,861,484	Sudanese pound
Tanzania	Dodoma (official), Dar es Salaam (seat of government)		945,203	Tanzanian shilling
Togo	Lomé	7,889,093	56,785	CFA franc
Tunisia	Tunis	11,565,201	163,610	Tunisian dinar
Uganda	Kampala	42,729,036	236,040	Ugandan shilling
Zambia	Lusaka	17,351,708	752,614	Zambian kwacha
Zimbabwe	Harare	14,438,802	390,757	Zimbabwe dollar

Countries Not Fully Recognized by Everyone

These two places say they are independent countries. They control their own land. But not all other countries agree to recognize them as fully independent. They are not members of the United Nations. However, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is a member of the African Union.

Flag	Map	Country Name	Status	Capital City	Population	Area (km²)	Currency
		Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic	This area is claimed by Morocco. Many countries recognize it as the government of Western Sahara.	El Aaiún (proclaimed)	582,478	267,405	Sahrawi peseta
		Somaliland	This area declared itself independent. But it is still officially part of Somalia to most countries. Only Taiwan recognizes it.	Hargeisa	4,000,000	176,120	Somaliland shilling

Territories Ruled by Other Countries

There are 11 territories in Africa that are not independent countries. They are ruled by other countries, mostly from Europe. Most of these are islands off the coast of Africa.

Dependent Territories

These territories are directly controlled by a country that is not in Africa.

Flag	Map	Territory Name	Ruling Power	Status	Capital City	Population	Area (km²)	Currency
		Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha	United Kingdom	British Overseas Territory	Jamestown	5,633	420	Saint Helena pound (Saint Helena & Ascension), Pound sterling (Tristan da Cunha)
		French Southern and Antarctic Lands	France	Overseas territory of France	Saint Pierre	No permanent population	38.60	euro

Other Territories

These 9 territories are also part of countries that are not mainly in Africa. They are treated as regular parts of those countries.

Territory Name	Ruling Power	Status	Capital City	Population	Area (km²)	Currency
Canary Islands	Spain	Autonomous community of Spain	Santa Cruz and Las Palmas	2,207,225	7,447	euro
Ceuta	Spain	Autonomous city of Spain	Ceuta	84,843	28	euro
Madeira	Portugal	Autonomous Region of Portugal	Funchal	267,785	828	euro
Mayotte	France	Overseas region of France	Dzaoudzi (official), Mamoudzou (seat of prefect and departmental council)	266,380	374	euro
Melilla	Spain	Autonomous city of Spain	Melilla	84,714	20	euro
Pelagie Islands	Italy	Archipelago of Italy	Lampedusa e Linosa	6,304	21.4	euro
Plazas de soberanía	Spain	Overseas territory of Spain	N/A	74	0.59	euro
Reunion	France	Overseas region of France	Saint-Denis	889,918	2,512	euro
Socotra Archipelago	Yemen	Governorate of Yemen	Hadibu	60,550	3,974.64	Yemeni rial