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Countries in Africa: flags, capitals and fun facts

GeoSilhueta has 54 countries in Africa. The largest by area is Algeria (2,381,741 km²) and the smallest is the Seychelles (457 km²). See each flag and capital, a fun fact, and open the page with the silhouette.

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  Algeria — capital: Algiers
  Most of Algeria's territory is covered by the Sahara Desert.
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  Angola — capital: Luanda
  Angola is home to the Kalandula Falls on the Lucala River, one of Africa's largest waterfalls.
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  Benin — capital: Porto-Novo
  Ganvié, on Lake Nokoué, is a village of stilt houses where people get around by canoe.
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  Botswana — capital: Gaborone
  The Okavango is an inland delta that floods during the dry season, drawing wildlife from the surrounding desert.
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  Burkina Faso — capital: Ouagadougou
  The name roughly means "land of upright people" and was adopted in 1984, replacing Upper Volta.
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  Burundi — capital: Gitega
  Lake Tanganyika, on the country's border, is the second deepest lake in the world.
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  Cabo Verde — capital: Praia
  The volcanic archipelago has ten islands, and Pico do Fogo is an active volcano about 2,800 m high.
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  Cameroon — capital: Yaoundé
  Cameroon is called Africa in miniature because it packs in beaches, rainforests, savannas, mountains and semi-desert.
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  Central African Republic — capital: Bangui
  The country is landlocked and sits almost at the geographic center of the African continent.
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  Chad — capital: N'Djamena
  Lake Chad, which gave the country its name, has shrunk dramatically since the 1960s.
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  Comoros — capital: Moroni
  Mount Karthala, on Grande Comore, is one of the world's largest active volcanoes and has erupted many times.
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  Democratic Republic of the Congo — capital: Kinshasa
  The okapi, a giraffe relative with zebra-like leg stripes, lives only in the forests of the DRC.
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  Djibouti — capital: Djibouti
  Lake Assal lies about 155 meters below sea level, the lowest point in Africa.
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  Egypt — capital: Cairo
  The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing.
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  Equatorial Guinea — capital: Malabo
  It is the only country in mainland Africa where Spanish is an official language.
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  Eritrea — capital: Asmara
  Asmara, the capital, has so many 20th-century modernist and Art Deco buildings that it became a UNESCO site.
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  Eswatini — capital: Mbabane
  The country was called Swaziland until 2018, when the king adopted Eswatini, "land of the Swazi".
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  Ethiopia — capital: Addis Ababa
  The churches of Lalibela, carved from rock around the 12th and 13th centuries, are a World Heritage Site.
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  Gabon — capital: Libreville
  Most of the country is covered by rainforest, and Gabon created 13 national parks in 2002.
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  Gambia — capital: Banjul
  It is mainland Africa's smallest country, a narrow strip along the Gambia River, surrounded by Senegal.
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  Ghana — capital: Accra
  In 1957, Ghana became the first sub-Saharan African country to gain independence from colonial rule.
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  Guinea — capital: Conakry
  The Niger River rises in Guinea's mountains, a short distance from the coast, but flows inland.
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  Guinea-Bissau — capital: Bissau
  The Bijagós archipelago, a UNESCO biosphere reserve, is home to hippos that wander into salt water.
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  Ivory Coast — capital: Yamoussoukro
  The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro was modeled on St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.
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  Kenya — capital: Nairobi
  The equator crosses Kenya, which gave its name to Mount Kenya, Africa's second-highest mountain.
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  Lesotho — capital: Maseru
  Lesotho is an enclave: it is entirely surrounded by South African territory.
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  Liberia — capital: Monrovia
  Liberia was founded by freed people from the United States and declared independence in 1847.
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  Libya — capital: Tripoli
  Most of Libya is covered by the Sahara Desert, and the country has no permanent rivers.
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  Madagascar — capital: Antananarivo
  Lemurs occur naturally only in Madagascar, where there are dozens of species.
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  Malawi — capital: Lilongwe
  Lake Malawi is home to hundreds of cichlid fish species, most of them found nowhere else.
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  Mali — capital: Bamako
  In Timbuktu, libraries hold medieval manuscripts on science, law and religion.
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  Mauritania — capital: Nouakchott
  The ore train between Zouérat and Nouadhibou is one of the longest in the world, with trains over 2 km long.
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  Mauritius — capital: Port Louis
  The dodo, a flightless bird, lived only on Mauritius and went extinct in the seventeenth century.
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  Morocco — capital: Rabat
  Al-Qarawiyyin University in Fez, founded in 859, is considered the oldest continuously operating university.
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  Mozambique — capital: Maputo
  Mozambique is the only country whose flag features an AK-47 rifle, alongside a book and a hoe.
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  Namibia — capital: Windhoek
  The Namib Desert is considered one of the oldest in the world and meets the Atlantic in giant dunes.
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  Niger — capital: Niamey
  Niger is crossed by the Sahara, and the Aïr Mountains hold part of a large nature reserve.
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  Nigeria — capital: Abuja
  Nollywood, Nigeria's film industry, is one of the largest in the world by number of films per year.
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  Republic of the Congo — capital: Brazzaville
  Brazzaville and Kinshasa face each other across the Congo River, one of the closest pairs of capitals in the world.
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  Rwanda — capital: Kigali
  Rwanda is known as the "land of a thousand hills" for its landscape of mountains and valleys.
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  São Tomé and Príncipe — capital: São Tomé
  Rolas Islet, south of São Tomé, is crossed by the Equator.
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  Senegal — capital: Dakar
  Lake Retba, near Dakar, has pink water caused by algae and its high salt content.
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  Seychelles — capital: Victoria
  Seychelles has the coco de mer, the world's largest seed, which can weigh about 20 kg.
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  Sierra Leone — capital: Freetown
  The name comes from 'Serra Leoa', given by Portuguese sailors to mountains said to sound like roaring lions.
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  Somalia — capital: Mogadishu
  Somalia has the longest coastline of mainland Africa, washed by the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden.
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  South Africa — capital: Pretoria
  The country has three capitals: Pretoria (executive), Cape Town (legislative) and Bloemfontein (judicial).
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  South Sudan — capital: Juba
  South Sudan became independent on July 9, 2011, making it the world's youngest country.
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  Sudan — capital: Khartoum
  Sudan has more pyramids than Egypt, built by the Nubian kings of Kush, as at Meroë.
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  Tanzania — capital: Dodoma
  Kilimanjaro, at 5,895 m, is Africa's highest mountain and a freestanding volcano.
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  Togo — capital: Lomé
  Lomé, the capital, sits almost right on the border with Ghana.
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  Tunisia — capital: Tunis
  Carthage, near Tunis, was the city of Hannibal, the general who crossed the Alps with elephants.
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  Uganda — capital: Kampala
  In Jinja, the Nile begins its journey as it leaves Lake Victoria.
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  Zambia — capital: Lusaka
  Victoria Falls, locally called Mosi-oa-Tunya, 'the smoke that thunders', lies on the border with Zimbabwe.
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  Zimbabwe — capital: Harare
  Victoria Falls is known locally as Mosi-oa-Tunya, the smoke that thunders.

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