Africa: Countries and Territories by Population

Figures as of October 8, 2026

Rank	Country / Region	Capital	Population	Area
1	Nigeria	Abuja	223.8 million	923,768 km²
2	DR Congo	Kinshasa	≈116.5 million	≈2.34 million km²
3	Ethiopia	Addis Ababa	≈111.7 million	≈1.10 million km²
4	Egypt	Cairo	≈108.6 million	≈1.00 million km²
5	Tanzania	Dodoma	≈70.0 million	945,087 km²
6	South Africa	Pretoria	≈63.0 million	≈1.22 million km²
7	Kenya	Nairobi	≈54.2 million	580,367 km²
8	Sudan	Khartoum	≈53.3 million	≈1.89 million km²
9	Algeria	Algiers	47.4 million	≈2.38 million km²
10	Uganda	Kampala	≈45.9 million	241,550 km²
11	Angola	Luanda	≈38.8 million	≈1.25 million km²
12	Morocco	Rabat	≈37.3 million	446,550 km²
13	Mozambique	Maputo	≈35.0 million	801,590 km²
14	Ghana	Accra	≈34.4 million	238,533 km²
15	Ivory Coast	Yamoussoukro	≈33.3 million	322,463 km²
16	Madagascar	Antananarivo	≈32.7 million	587,041 km²
17	Cameroon	Yaoundé	≈29.4 million	475,442 km²
18	Niger	Niamey	≈27.5 million	≈1.27 million km²
19	Mali	Bamako	≈23.9 million	≈1.24 million km²
20	Zambia	Lusaka	≈23.0 million	752,612 km²
21	Burkina Faso	Ouagadougou	≈22.5 million	272,967 km²
22	Malawi	Lilongwe	≈21.2 million	118,484 km²
23	Somalia	Mogadishu	≈20.3 million	637,657 km²
24	Chad	N'Djamena	≈20.0 million	≈1.28 million km²
25	Senegal	Dakar	≈19.6 million	196,722 km²
26	Guinea	Conakry	≈17.5 million	245,857 km²
27	Zimbabwe	Harare	≈16.2 million	390,757 km²
28	Rwanda	Kigali	≈14.4 million	26,338 km²
29	Benin	Porto-Novo	≈13.6 million	112,622 km²
30	South Sudan	Juba	≈12.7 million	619,745 km²
31	Burundi	Gitega	≈12.3 million	27,834 km²
32	Tunisia	Tunis	≈12.0 million	163,610 km²
33	Sierra Leone	Freetown	≈8.5 million	71,740 km²
34	Togo	Lomé	≈8.1 million	56,785 km²
35	Libya	Tripoli	≈7.5 million	≈1.76 million km²
36	Republic of the Congo	Brazzaville	≈6.3 million	342,000 km²
37	Central African Republic	Bangui	≈5.5 million	622,984 km²
38	Liberia	Monrovia	≈5.2 million	111,369 km²
39	Mauritania	Nouakchott	≈4.9 million	≈1.03 million km²
40	Eritrea	Asmara	≈3.7 million	117,600 km²
41	Namibia	Windhoek	≈3.0 million	825,615 km²
42	Botswana	Gaborone	≈2.5 million	582,000 km²
43	Gabon	Libreville	≈2.5 million	267,668 km²
44	Gambia	Banjul	≈2.4 million	10,689 km²
45	Lesotho	Maseru	≈2.1 million	30,355 km²
46	Guinea-Bissau	Bissau	≈1.9 million	36,125 km²
47	Equatorial Guinea	Malabo	≈1.8 million	28,051 km²
48	Mauritius	Port Louis	≈1.2 million	2,040 km²
49	Eswatini	Mbabane	≈1.2 million	17,364 km²
50	Djibouti	Djibouti	≈1.1 million	23,200 km²
51	Comoros	Moroni	944,388	1,862 km²
52	Réunion	Saint-Denis	840,974	2,511 km²
53	Western Sahara	El Aaiún	510,713	266,000 km²
54	Cape Verde	Praia	491,233	4,033 km²
55	Mayotte	Mamoudzou	226,915	374 km²
56	São Tomé and Príncipe	São Tomé	220,372	964 km²
57	Seychelles	Victoria	123,565	452 km²
58	Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha	Jamestown	5,651	394 km²

This list was last updated on October 8, 2026. Includes overseas territories and other regions as well as independent countries. Population and area are rounded in the table; the country pages show the exact figures.