Africa, the second-largest continent after Asia, covers approximately one-fifth of Earth's total land surface. It is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Red Sea and Indian Ocean to the east, and the mingling waters of the Atlantic and Indian oceans to the south.
Africa’s total land area is approximately 11,724,000 square miles (30,365,000 square km), measuring about 5,000 miles (8,000 km) from north to south and about 4,600 miles (7,400 km) from east to west.
The continent is cut almost equally in two by the Equator, so that most of Africa lies within the tropical region, bounded on the north by the Tropic of Cancer and on the south by the Tropic of Capricorn. Because of the bulge formed by western Africa, the greater part of Africa’s territory lies north of the Equator. Africa is crossed from north to south by the prime meridian (0° longitude), which passes a short distance to the east of Accra, Ghana.
Off the coasts of Africa, a number of islands are associated with the continent. Of these, Madagascar, one of the largest islands in the world, is the most significant. Other, smaller islands include the Seychelles, Socotra, and other islands to the east; the Comoros, Mauritius, Réunion, and other islands to the southeast; Ascension, St. Helena, and Tristan da Cunha to the southwest; Cape Verde, the Bijagós Islands, Bioko, and São Tomé and Príncipe to the west; and the Azores and the Madeira and Canary islands to the northwest.
Geographic Regions of Africa
Africa can be divided into several key regions, each with unique characteristics:
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- North Africa: Refers to the northern part of the continent.
- West Africa: The portion roughly west of 10° east longitude, excluding Northern Africa and the Maghreb.
- East Africa: The eastern part of the continent, including the islands in the Indian Ocean.
- Central Africa: A region that is on par with the Francophone West African region on a GDP basis (USD) and by population.
- Southern Africa: Incorporates countries south of central and eastern Africa, and north of the South African border.
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East Africa: A Closer Look
East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the region is recognized in the United Nations Statistics Division scheme as encompassing 18 sovereign states and 4 territories.
East Africa is one of the earliest regions where Homo sapiens are believed to have lived. Evidence found in 2018 at the Kenyan site of Olorgesailie, dating to about 320,000 years ago, shows the early emergence of modern behaviors associated with Homo sapiens, including long-distance trade networks, the use of pigments, and the possible making of projectile points.
The migration route of the "Out of Africa" theory probably occurred in East Africa through the Bab-el-Mandeb. Today at the Bab-el-Mandeb straits, the Red Sea is about 12 miles (19 kilometres) wide, but 50,000 years ago it was much narrower and sea levels were 70 meters lower.
Between 2500 and 3000 years ago, Bantu-speaking peoples began a millennia-long series of migrations eastward from their homeland around southern Cameroon. This Bantu expansion introduced agriculture into much of the African Great Lakes region.
The Island of Mozambique was occupied by Portuguese explorers in the late 15th century. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to explore the region of current-day Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique by sea. Vasco da Gama visited Mombasa in 1498.
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Between the 19th and 20th centuries, East Africa became a theatre of competition between the major imperialistic European nations of the time. The British Empire acquired Uganda and Kenya, while the French settled Madagascar, Réunion, and the Comoros. The German Empire gained control of German East Africa, comprising present-day Rwanda, Burundi, and the mainland part of Tanzania named Tanganyika.
Since the end of colonialism, several East African countries have faced military coups, ethnic violence, and oppressive dictators. Kenya has enjoyed relatively stable governance, while Tanzania has known a stable government since independence.
Geography and Climate
The geography of East Africa is stunning and scenic, shaped by global plate tectonic forces that have created the East African Rift. East Africa is the site of Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya, the two tallest peaks in Africa.
East Africa has a diverse climate that consists of hot, dry desert regions, cooler regions, and highlands. Its climate generally is rather atypical of equatorial regions, being mostly arid or semi-arid with rainfall totals across much of the lowland regions below 600 millimetres or 24 inches per year. Rainfall generally increases towards the south and with altitude, being around 400 mm (16 in) at Mogadishu and 1,200 mm (47 in) at Mombasa on the coast.
Demographics and Languages
Eastern Africa had an estimated population of 260 million in 2000. This was projected to reach 890 million by 2050, with an average growth rate of 2.5% per annum.
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In the African Great Lakes region, Niger-Congo languages of the Bantu branch are most widely spoken. Among these languages are Kikuyu, Luhya, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Kisukuma, Luganda and many others. Swahili, with at least 80 million speakers as a first or second language, is an important trade language in the Great Lakes area.
Southern Africa: Regional Overview
Southern Africa incorporates countries south of central and eastern Africa, and north of the South African border. The region benefits from the support of the most developed economy on the continent, South Africa, and access to capital as large companies look to expand into the rest of the continent.
The South African market includes Eswatini and Lesotho due to their reliance and proximity to SA. South Africa boasts the largest GDP per capita of all the regions and is the most advanced investment destination on the continent.
Investment and Economic Segmentation
A slightly less common, but equally important method of division of the continent is by investment factors.
Like Nigeria, South Africa is a large African economy on a standalone basis. Due to the developed nature of South Africa relative to the rest of the continent, it has not been included in the Southern African region.
This is a combination of the East African Community (Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda), the LAPSSET corridor (Ethiopia, Kenya, and South Sudan) as well as Djibouti, a crucial link to the Indian Ocean for Ethiopia and South Sudan. This market is the same as that defined by the African Development Bank with the exception of Madagascar, which here is classified as Southern Africa (ex-SA).
| Region | Key Countries | Economic Overview |
|---|---|---|
| East Africa | Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia | Growing tourism, agriculture, and emerging markets. |
| Southern Africa | South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia | Rich in mineral resources, developed infrastructure in South Africa. |
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