African Countries: List of Countries in Africa By Population


Africa has one of the most land masses on earth, covering 30.2 million square km (11.7 million sq mi) including adjacent islands. With this, Africa covers 6% of the Earth’s total surface area and 20.4 % of the world’s land area and is home to more than 1 billion people.

There are 54 African countries sharing this huge land mass. Most countries in Africa have seen a massive population growth with values doubling up in the past 50 years and these values are estimated to at least double by 2050 according to the latest United Nations projections.

In Africa today, 2 in every 3 people living in Africa are under 25 years of age (This number is 2 times the number in Europe). The population distribution of people in African countries is such that 32 inhabitants live in every square km and on the average, the Sub-Saharan Africa is more densely populated than the Latin America which has 28 inhabitants living in every square Km and it is estimated that  Sub-Saharan Africa’s population density is going to increase to more than double where Latin America is today.

Africa Map

In most African countries, two-thirds of the population still live in rural areas although there is massive migration to the towns.

As at 1960, only the city of Johannesburg, had a population of more than one million people but not anymore since more than 40 African cities now have more 1 million people and if this rate continues, more than 50% of rural dwellers will migrate to the urban areas by 2030.

 African Countries List By Population

 Countries                                                          Estimated 2013 Population

Seychelles Island 94,000
São Tomé and Príncipe 194,000
Cape Verde 511,000
Equatorial Guinea 685,000
Comoros 743,000
Djibouti 918,000
Swaziland 1,077,000
Mauritius 1,273,000
Guinea-Bissau 1,699,000
Gambia 1,794,000
Lesotho 1,887,000
Botswana 2,096,000
Namibia 2,160,000
Gabon 2,204,000
Mauritania 3,461,000
Liberia 3,881,000
Republic of the Congo 4,525,000
Eritrea 4,980,000
Central African Republic 5,217,000
Sierra Leone 5,823,000
Libya 6,323,000
Togo 6,675,000
Burundi 9,023,000
Somalia 9,662,000
Republic of Benin 9,742,000
South Sudan 10,334,000
Rwanda 10,780,000
Tunisia 10,889,000
Guinea 11,861,000
Chad 12,948,000
Zimbabwe 13,098,000
Senegal 13,567,000
Zambia 14,129,000
Malawi 15,316,000
Mali 16,678,000
Niger Republic 16,850,000
Burkina Faso 17,338,000
Angola 21,256,000
Cameroon 21,331,000
Madagascar 21,852,000
Ivory Coast 24,261,000                         
Mozambique 24,491,000
Ghana 26,441,000
Morocco 32,950,000
Sudan 35,150,000
Uganda 35,363,000
Algeria 38,295,000
Kenya 43,291,000
Tanzania 45,950,000
South Africa 53,076,000
Democratic Republic of the Congo  74,618,000
Egypt 84,605,000
Ethiopia 86,565,000
Nigeria 177,096,000

The above numbers have shown some remarkable increase from the previous values one to two years ago for instance, the Federal Republic of Nigeria had an estimated population of 162,470,737 as at 2011 but this number is estimated to be a staggering 177, 096,000. In the nearest future, if the population is consistent with its current rate of growth, the African jungles and the rain forests may wave goodbye and many of Africa’s species of cats and primates may no longer be in existence or at most displaced.

11 countries of the world have fertility rate above 6 babies per woman and 9 of them are Africa countries and the top two high fertility countries in the world have seen their fertility increase from 2000 to 2007. In Mali, the rate increased from 6.89 to 7.38, Niger Republic rose from 7.16 to 7.37 and Burundi increased from 6.25 to 6.48 but again the big question is how many survive beyond the first 5 years? the answer may be “enough to push the population through the roof”