Study notes: Africa
Algeria is the largest country by area and Nigeria the most populous. Use the practice rounds below to fix the rest of the map in your head, then test yourself in the daily expedition.
Our data covers 54 countries in Africa. The largest by land area is DR Congo and the most populous is Nigeria.
Learn it in bands
Start with the Mediterranean coast (Morocco to Egypt), then the Sahel belt running east from Mauritania through Mali, Niger and Chad to Sudan. Add the Horn of Africa, the Great Lakes, and finally southern Africa.
Two Congos, two capitals
The Republic of the Congo lies west of the much larger DR Congo. Their capitals, Brazzaville and Kinshasa, face each other across the Congo River.
Countries inside countries
Lesotho is completely surrounded by South Africa, and Eswatini almost is. The Gambia is a narrow strip along its river, enclosed by Senegal except for its short Atlantic coast.
Keep going
Ready for a mixed challenge? Try today’s expedition, or practise Asia, Europe, North America, South America or Oceania.
Countries of Africa
Population estimates and capitals from Natural Earth; areas computed from its boundaries.
| Country | Capital | Population | Land area |
|---|---|---|---|
| AlgeriaBorders Tunisia, Niger, Morocco, Mauritania +2 | Algiers | 43.1 million | 2,322,749 km² |
| AngolaBorders Zambia, Namibia, DR Congo, Republic of the Congo | Luanda | 31.8 million | 1,249,458 km² |
| BeninBorders Togo, Nigeria, Niger, Burkina Faso | Cotonou | 11.8 million | 116,582 km² |
| BotswanaBorders Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia | Gaborone | 2.3 million | 580,623 km² |
| Burkina FasoBorders Togo, Niger, Mali, Ghana +2 | Ouagadougou | 20.3 million | 273,685 km² |
| BurundiBorders Tanzania, Rwanda, DR Congo | Bujumbura | 11.5 million | 27,207 km² |
| Cabo Verde | Praia | 549,935 | 3,585 km² |
| CameroonBorders Nigeria, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Republic of the Congo +2 | Yaoundé | 25.9 million | 465,883 km² |
| Central African RepublicBorders South Sudan, Sudan, DR Congo, Republic of the Congo +2 | Bangui | 4.75 million | 620,985 km² |
| ChadBorders Sudan, Nigeria, Niger, Libya +2 | N'Djamena | 15.9 million | 1,271,010 km² |
| Comoros | Moroni | 850,886 | 1,586 km² |
| Côte d'IvoireBorders Mali, Liberia, Guinea, Ghana +1 | Abidjan | 25.7 million | 322,296 km² |
| DjiboutiBorders Ethiopia, Eritrea | Djibouti | 973,560 | 21,704 km² |
| DR CongoBorders Zambia, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan +5 | Kinshasa | 86.8 million | 2,334,629 km² |
| EgyptBorders Sudan, Libya, Israel, Palestine | Cairo | 100.4 million | 1,003,591 km² |
| Equatorial GuineaBorders Gabon, Cameroon | Malabo | 1.36 million | 26,644 km² |
| EritreaBorders Sudan, Ethiopia, Djibouti | Asmara | 6.08 million | 123,684 km² |
| EswatiniBorders South Africa, Mozambique | Mbabane | 1.15 million | 16,992 km² |
| EthiopiaBorders South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia, Kenya +2 | Addis Ababa | 112.1 million | 1,131,786 km² |
| GabonBorders Equatorial Guinea, Republic of the Congo, Cameroon | Libreville | 2.17 million | 260,663 km² |
| GambiaBorders Senegal | Banjul | 2.35 million | 10,314 km² |
| GhanaBorders Togo, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso | Accra | 30.4 million | 239,566 km² |
| GuineaBorders Sierra Leone, Senegal, Mali, Liberia +2 | Conakry | 12.8 million | 244,926 km² |
| Guinea-BissauBorders Senegal, Guinea | Bissau | 1.92 million | 32,056 km² |
| KenyaBorders Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Somalia +1 | Nairobi | 52.6 million | 594,836 km² |
| LesothoBorders South Africa | Maseru | 2.13 million | 30,028 km² |
| LiberiaBorders Sierra Leone, Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire | Monrovia | 4.94 million | 95,663 km² |
| LibyaBorders Tunisia, Sudan, Niger, Egypt +2 | Tripoli | 6.78 million | 1,626,501 km² |
| Madagascar | Antananarivo | 27 million | 594,600 km² |
| MalawiBorders Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique | Lilongwe | 18.6 million | 119,795 km² |
| MaliBorders Senegal, Niger, Mauritania, Guinea +3 | Bamako | 19.7 million | 1,258,214 km² |
| MauritaniaBorders Senegal, Mali, Algeria | Nouakchott | 4.53 million | 1,038,346 km² |
| Mauritius | Port Louis | 1.27 million | 1,879 km² |
| MoroccoBorders Algeria | Rabat | 36.5 million | 582,423 km² |
| MozambiqueBorders Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Eswatini +2 | Maputo | 30.4 million | 790,678 km² |
| NamibiaBorders Zambia, South Africa, Botswana, Angola | Windhoek | 2.49 million | 824,657 km² |
| NigerBorders Nigeria, Mali, Libya, Chad +3 | Niamey | 23.3 million | 1,185,059 km² |
| NigeriaBorders Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Benin | Abuja | 201 million | 911,556 km² |
| Republic of the CongoBorders Gabon, DR Congo, Central African Republic, Cameroon +1 | Brazzaville | 5.38 million | 346,876 km² |
| RwandaBorders Uganda, Tanzania, DR Congo, Burundi | Kigali | 12.6 million | 25,386 km² |
| São Tomé and Príncipe | São Tomé | 215,056 | 986 km² |
| SenegalBorders Mauritania, Mali, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea +1 | Dakar | 16.3 million | 197,328 km² |
| Seychelles | Victoria | 97,625 | 174 km² |
| Sierra LeoneBorders Liberia, Guinea | Freetown | 7.81 million | 71,876 km² |
| SomaliaBorders Kenya, Ethiopia | Mogadishu | 10.2 million | 473,603 km² |
| South AfricaBorders Zimbabwe, Eswatini, Namibia, Mozambique +2 | Pretoria | 58.6 million | 1,221,683 km² |
| South SudanBorders Uganda, Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia +2 | Juba | 11.1 million | 623,974 km² |
| SudanBorders South Sudan, Libya, Ethiopia, Eritrea +3 | Khartoum | 42.8 million | 1,863,052 km² |
| TanzaniaBorders Zambia, Uganda, Rwanda, Mozambique +4 | Dar es Salaam | 58 million | 945,787 km² |
| TogoBorders Ghana, Burkina Faso, Benin | Lomé | 8.08 million | 57,140 km² |
| TunisiaBorders Libya, Algeria | Tunis | 11.7 million | 156,658 km² |
| UgandaBorders Tanzania, South Sudan, Rwanda, Kenya +1 | Kampala | 44.3 million | 242,555 km² |
| ZambiaBorders Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Namibia, Mozambique +3 | Lusaka | 17.9 million | 755,596 km² |
| ZimbabweBorders Zambia, South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana | Harare | 14.6 million | 390,184 km² |