The Countries of Africa

Part I
 The Countries of Africa
Part I

A Brief Approach to the Question

“How many countries are there in Africa?”

By

Sumedha Mānābarana
Sri Lanka

Special thanks to

• The Central Intelligence Agency in the US

• The BBC ‘COUNTRY PROFILES’
• The United Nations Statistics Division
• Google e.encyclopedia
• Brian Johnson Baker, Pocket Guide to Flags of the World
• Andrew Eugene Mānābarana (Proof Reader)
 I dedicate this book,
With deep respect and great love,
To Fely Tchaco the singer, songwriter, model and artist
From Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire.
You not only gave me the impetus
But unrelenting encouragement
To write more articles
In future.
For that I am so very grateful
Listen to Fely’s soulful music on this page. It’s free:
http://www.jango.com/music/Fely+Tchaco
 The Countries of Africa
FAQ
The question regarding the number of countries in Africa has become an FAQ.
Different sources provide different answers based on various criteria. This article
tries to provide a justifiable answer to the said question based on a few sources which
are generally believed to be reliable and accurate.

The three sources concerned here are:

1 ‘The Central Intelligence Agency’ (CIA) in the US

2 The BBC ‘COUNTRY PROFILES’

3 The United Nations ‘geoscheme’

1. What does The Central Intelligence Agency say?

1
The online Factbook by ‘The Central Intelligence Agency’ (CIA) in the US includes
56 countries under Africa, including Saint Helena1, Mayotte2, and Western Sahara3
(Please see the screen shots given in the next page).

However, the CIA in its INTORDUCTION to these three countries very clearly states
that ‘Saint Helena’1 is a British Overseas Territory, ‘Mayotte’2 is a departmental
collectivity of France, and the legal status of territory and issue of sovereignty of
‘Western Sahara’3 is unresolved.

As such, according to the CIA, the number of African countries should be 56 – 3 = 53.
This is the full list of the African countries given
by the CIA in the US
 2. What does the BBC say?

A site by the BBC that provides profiles of different countries of the world includes
only 53 countries in its ‘A Guide to Africa’ under ‘COUNTRY PROFILES’. (The
BBC uses ‘Ivory Coast’ instead of ‘Côte d'Ivoire’). They have excluded Western
Sahara, the disputed territory, and other regions which are generally considered to be
overseas territories or otherwise (Please see the screen shots below).
 3. What does the United Nations Statistics Division say?

The Statistics Division of the United Nations has developed a system called ‘The
United Nations geoscheme’. They have devised this scheme in order to collect,
process and circulate statistical information regarding the millennial development
goals of the continental regions, sub-regions, and other selected economic groups
worldwide. The UN geoscheme divides the African continent into 5 sub-regions.

• The 5 sub-regions of the UN geoscheme for Africa:

1. Northern Africa (North Africa)

2. Western Africa (West Africa)
3. Middle Africa (Central Africa)
4. Eastern Africa (East Africa)
5. Southern Africa (South Africa)
Each region is again subdivided into a number of countries. According to the UN,
these geographical divisions do not imply any assumption regarding political or other
affiliations of countries or territories. Therefore, care must be taken not to consider
all the entities thus divided as the African countries for various obvious reasons.

• The 19 countries or regions of Eastern Africa:

19 –02 = 17

1. Tanzania1
2. Kenya2
3. Uganda3
4. Rwanda4 Rwanda and Burundi are sometimes
5. Burundi5 considered as parts of Central Africa.

6. Djibouti6
7. Eritrea7
8. Ethiopia8
9. Somalia9
10. Mozambique10
11. Madagascar11
12. Malawi12
13. Zambia13
14. Zimbabwe14
15. Comoros15
16. Mauritius16
17. Seychelles17
18. Réunion00 Réunion and Mayotte are French
00 overseas territories.
19. Mayotte
• The 11 countries of Middle Africa:

11 – 02 = 09

1. Angola18
Burundi has already been counted
2. Burundi00 under Eastern Africa.
3. Cameroon19
4. Central African Republic20
5. Chad21
6. Democratic Republic of the Congo22
7. Equatorial Guinea23
8. Gabon24
9. Republic of the Congo25
Rwanda has already been counted
10. Rwanda00 under Eastern Africa.
11. São Tomé and Príncipe26

• The 7 countries or territories of North Africa:

08 – 01 = 07

1. Algeria27
2. Egypt28
3. Libya29
4. Morocco30
5. Sudan31 Mauritania has been included
32 under West Africa, too.
6. Tunisia
7. Mauritania33
Western Sahara is a disputed
8. Western Sahara00 territory.
• The 5 countries of South Africa:
05

1. Botswana34
2. Lesotho35
3. Namibia36
4. South Africa37
5. Swaziland38

• What are the 16 countries of West Africa?

16 – 01 = 15

1. Benin39
2. Burkina Faso40
3. Côte d'Ivoire41
4. Cape Verde42
5. The Gambia43
6. Ghana44
7. Guinea45
8. Guinea-Bissau46
9. Liberia47
10. Mali48
Mauritania has been included
11. Mauritania00 under North Africa, too.
12. Niger49
13. Nigeria50
14. Senegal51
15. Sierra Leone52
16. Togo53
Notable Notes

• Burundi and Rwanda are sometimes considered as part of Central Africa.

• Mozambique and Madagascar are often considered as part of Southern Africa.

• Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe are often included in Southern Africa, and
formerly of the Central African Federation.

• Réunion (Department of Reunion), when taken administratively, is one of the

overseas départements of France.

• Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania.

It includes the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean.
It has two main islands; Unguja (Zanzibar) and Pemba and
several small islands. Zanzibar has its own different flag.

• Ceuta is an autonomous city of Spain located on the North African side of the
Strait of Gibraltar.

• The Canary Islands (Islas Canarias) are a Spanish archipelago.

• Mayotte (officially the Departmental Collectivity of Mayotte) is geographically

a part of the Comoro Islands, but it is an overseas collectivity of France.
Mayotte has been politically separate since the 1970s.

• Western Sahara (Sahara Occidental) is geographically a territory in North

Africa. Both Morocco and the Polisario Front independence movement dispute
control of the territory. The United States and other Major Powers have taken a
neutral position on each side's claims. The United Nations considers Western
Sahara a non self-governed territory.
 The map of Africa with countries labelled
1 - 53

For an interactive map of African countries, use the link below:

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/region/region_afr.html
 1. Algeria 2. Angola 3. Benin

4. Botswana 5. Burkina Faso 6. Burundi

7. Cameroon 8. Cape Verde 9. Central African Republic

10. Chad 11. Comoros 12. Congo (Brazzaville)

13. Cote d'Ivoire 14. Democratic Republic of the Congo 15. Djibouti

16. Egypt 17. Equatorial Guinea 18. Eritrea

19. Ethiopia 20. Gabon 21. Gambia

22. Ghana 23. Guinea 24. Guinea-Bissau

 25. Kenya 26. Lesotho 27. Liberia

28. Libya 29. Madagascar 30. Malawi

31. Mali 32. Mauritania 33. Mauritius

34. Morocco 35. Mozambique 36. Namibia

 37. Niger 38. Nigeria 39. Rwanda

40. São Tomé and Príncipe 41. Senegal 42. Seychelles

43. Sierra Leone 44. Somalia 45. South Africa

46. Sudan 47. Swaziland 48. Tanzania

 49. Togo 50. Tunisia 51. Uganda

52. Zambia 53. Zimbabwe

The number of African countries may differ based on the definition.

Being a physical territory is not the only factor to be considered
when deciding whether a country is African or not.
Administration, too, plays a decisive factor.
Future political trends may further change the number at anytime.
The number of countries given in my article is only what is generally accepted.
I have made every effort to ensure that the information contained in this book was accurate
at the time of going to upload.

YOUR COMMENTS ARE HIGHLY APPRECIATED

THANK YOU FOR READING

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