About Africa
54 countries. 1.5 billion people. 2,000 languages. Six time zones. The world’s second-largest continent, the cradle of humanity, and the place every traveler underestimates until they’ve been.
Africa at a glance
Countries (UN)
54
Population (2024)
1.5 billion
Land area
30.3 M km²
Languages
2,000+
Time zones
6 (UTC−1 to UTC+4)
Largest country
Algeria (2.38 M km²)
Smallest country
Seychelles (455 km²)
Most populous
Nigeria (~228 M)
Five ways in
Reference primers on the continent’s nations, peoples, wildlife, landscapes and history.
Countries
Every African country has its own capital, currency, languages and travel personality. Browse them by region — and jump into our destination guides where they exist.
ReadCultures
Africa is home to roughly 3,000 ethnic groups and more than 2,000 languages. A brief tour of the major peoples, faiths and traditions.
ReadWildlife
From the Big Five to the lemurs of Madagascar, Africa hosts roughly a quarter of the world's mammal species and a third of its bird species.
ReadGeography
Africa is the second-largest continent — 30.3 million km². A guide to its landscapes, mountains, rivers, lakes and deserts.
ReadHistory
Three million years of human history compressed into a single sentence: Africa is where we all come from.
ReadWhy we built this section
Africa is not a country
It’s a continent the size of the US, China, India and most of Europe combined. The Saharan dunes are 6,000 km from the Cape’s vineyards. A Moroccan riad and a Malagasy forest village have very little in common except a postcode. The pages here are a starter — pick the angle that matches your interest.