Full names and list of African Countries and capitals in alphabetical order. Africa as a whole comprises of 54 officially recognised countries, Africa is the second largest continent in the world with over 1.1 billion people living on the continent it is second only behind the highly populated Asian continent. Some people who haven’t been to Africa before still confuse this large continent as a country.

Despite the remarkable contributions of Africa, and the remarkable progress it has made, relatively little is known about Africa, her people, and culture outside of the continent. There is more to Africa than safari hunting, her poor public image and a history of the slave trade. Africa is only superseded by the Asian continent in terms of landmass and population. Below is the list of the 54 countries in Africa and their capital cities with the population;

List of African Countries and Capitals In Alphabetical Order 2024

No. Country Name Capital
1. Algeria Algiers
2. Angola Luanda
3. Benin Porto-Novo
4. Botswana Gaborone
5. Burkina Faso Ouagadougou
6. Burundi Bujumbura
7. Cameroon Yaounde
8. The Republic of Cape Verde Praia
9. The Central African Republic Bangui
10. Chad N’Djamena
11. Comoros Moroni
12. Democratic Republic of Congo Kinshasa
13. Republic of Congo Brazzaville
14. Cote d’Ivoire Yamoussoukro
15. Djibouti Djibouti
16. Egypt Cairo
17. Equatorial Guinea Malabo
18. Eritrea Asmara
19. Ethiopia Addis Ababa
20. Gabon Libreville
21. The Gambia Banjul
22. Ghana Accra
23. Guinea Conakry
24. Guinea-Bissau Bissau
25. Kenya Nairobi
26. Lesotho Maseru
27. Liberia Monrovia
28. Libya Tripoli
29. Madagascar Antananarivo
30. Malawi Lilongwe
31. Mali Bamako
32. Mauritania Nouakchott
33. Mauritius Port Louis
34. Morocco Rabat
35. Mozambique Maputo
36. Namibia Windhoek
37. Niger Niamey
38. Nigeria Abuja
39. Rwanda Kigali
40. Republic Arab Saharawi Democratic Aauin
41. Sao Tome and Principe Sao Tome
42. Senegal Dakar
43. Seychelles Victoria
44. Sierra Leone Freetown
45. Somalia Mogadishu
46. South Africa Pretoria (Executive), Bloemfontein (Judicial), Capetown (Legislative)
47. South Sudan Juba
48. Sudan Khartoum
49. Eswatini Lobamba (royal and legislative) Mbabane (Administrative)
50. Tanzania Dar es Salaam (Traditional capital) Dodoma (Legislature)
51. Togo Lomé
52. Tunisia Tunis
53. Uganda Kampala
54. Zambia Lusaka
55. Zimbabwe Harare

54 Names and List of African Countries and Their Capitals With Population 2024

• Algeria: Capital city Algiers, population 40,100,000.
• Angola: Capital city Luanda, population 25,326,000.
• Benin: Capital city Porto-Novo, population 10,782,000.
• Botswana: Capital city Gaborone, population 2,176,000.
• Burkina Faso: Capital city Ouagadougou, population 18,450,000.
• Burundi: Capital city Bujumbura, population 9,824,000.
• Cameroon: Capital city Yaounde, population 21,918,000.
• The Republic of Cape Verde: Capital city Praia, population 525,000
• The Central African Republic: Capital city Bangui, population 4,900,000
• Chad: Capital city N’Djamena, population 13,675,000
• Comoros: Capital city Moroni, population 783,000
• Democratic Republic of Congo: Capital city Kinshasa, population 77,267,000
• Republic of Congo: Capital city Brazzaville, population 4,706,000
• Cote d’Ivoire: Capital city Yamoussoukro, population 23,126,000.
• Djibouti: Capital city Djibouti, population 961,000
• Egypt: Capital city Cairo, population 88,523,000.
• Equatorial Guinea: Capital city Malabo, population 1,996,000
• Eritrea: Capital city Asmara, population 6,895,000
• Ethiopia: Capital city Addis Ababa, population 99,391,000
• Gabon: Capital city Libreville, population 1,873,000
• Gambia: Capital city Banjul, population 2,022,000
• Ghana: Capital city Accra, population 27,414,000
• Guinea: Capital city Conakry, population 10,935,000.
• Guinea-Bissau: Capital city Bissau, population 1,788,000
• Kenya: Capital city Nairobi, population 45,533,000
• Lesotho: Capital city Maseru, population 1,908,000
• Liberia: Capital city Monrovia, population 4,046,000
• Libya: Capital city Tripoli, population 6,278,000
• Madagascar: Capital city Antananarivo, population 23,043,000.
• Malawi: Capital city Lilongwe, population 16,307,000.
• Mali: Capital city Bamako, population 17,796,000.
• Mauritania: Capital city Nouakchott, population 3,632,000.
• Mauritius: Capital city Port Louis, population 1,263,000
• Morocco: Capital city Rabat, population 34,380,000
• Mozambique: Capital city Maputo, population 28,013,000.
• Namibia: Capital city Windhoek, population 2,281,000.
• Niger: Capital city Niamey, population 18,880,000
• Nigeria: capital city Abuja, population 182,202,000
• Rwanda: Capital city Kigali, population 11,324,000
• Republic Arab Saharawi Democratic: Capital city Aauin, population 509,000
• Sao Tome and Principe: Capital city Sao Tome, population 194,000
• Senegal: Capital city Dakar, population 14,150,000.
• Seychelles: Capital city Victoria, population 97,000
• Sierra Leone: Capital city Freetown, population 6,513,000
• Somalia: Capital city Mogadishu, population 10,972,000
• South Africa: Capital City Pretoria (Executive), Bloemfontein (Judicial), Capetown (Legislative), population 54,957,000
• South Sudan: Capital city Juba, population 12,519,000.
• Sudan: Capital city Khartoum, population 40,235,000.
• Eswatini: Capital Lobamba (royal and legislative) Mbabane (Administrative), population 1,119,000
• Tanzania: Capital Dar es Salaam (Traditional capital) Dodoma (Location of the legislature), population 51,046,000
• Togo: Capital city Lomé, population 7,065,000.
• Tunisia: Capital city Tunis, population 11,118,000
• Uganda: Capital city Kampala, population 37,102,000.
• Zambia: Capital city Lusaka, population 15,474,000.
• Zimbabwe: Capital city Harare, population 13,503,000

ARCHEOLOGICAL HISTORY

Fossil evidence has led many scientific experts to conclude that Africa is the oldest habitation of human beings.  Her first citizens were hunters and gatherers. This first citizen soon moved out to colonize the rest of the world. The Sahara was not always a desert and was not always as big as it is today. Around circa 10,500 BC, the Sahara was a green fertile valley. This is confirmed by one of the oldest cave paintings found in the Tassili n’Ajjer region. Africans began to domesticate castles at the same time that they were still hunting and gathering. This technology of animal husbandry came before agricultural practices. Other animals domesticated included donkeys and goats.

By the dawn of the first millennium BC, metalwork was discovered and was swiftly transferred through the northern parts of the sub-Sahara Africa region. Soon enough the technology became commonplace in western Africa. Some of the ancient art in Africa includes the Ife and Benin bronze cultures, the Nok terraculture, and ivory among others.

By Circa 3300 BC, the historical record reveals that literacy and literary culture began to emerge under the auspices of the Egyptian pharaohs. Learning, philosophy, and astronomy from the basics of what would become the bedrock of consecutive civilizations and one of the earliest and self-sustaining civilizations in the world.

After this period, an era of invasion began in Africa, first the Persians then Alexander the Great who liberated Egypt from Persia and set up a city after his name. the city would go on to become the capital of the Ptolemaic dynasty. After this, the Roman empire soon enveloped North Africa’s Mediterranean coastline.

In the early 7th century, Islam found its way to northern Africa via the effort of the newly formed Arabian.  During this period, the adoption of the theology and practice of Islam spread through sub-Saharan Africa. This was achieved through the use of trade routes and migration.

List of African Countries and Capitals In Alphabetical Order And Their Population

Complex bronze designs from 9th-century Igbo-Ukwu, in Nigeria exhibit a high level of technical finesse that supersedes the bronze creativity out of Europe at the same time. Before colonization, Africa possessed approximately more than 10,000 states with different states and political realities. Each of these states created its own rule of law and governmental hierarchy. Examples include small family groups of Hunter-gatherers in southern Africa; larger, the family clan of central, southern, and eastern Africa; profoundly organized clan clusters in the Horn of Africa; the large Sahelian monarchies; and self-governing city-states and domains such as those of West Africa.

In the ninth century AD, Some dynasties such as the Hausa states, Ghana, Gao, and Kanem-Bornu, overextended across the sub-Saharan savannah. The biggest empire was Ghana, which reigned supreme until it declined in the eleventh century, and was shortly succeeded by the Mali Empire.

Other notable political powers include The Kingdom of Ife, a Yoruba city-state governed under a priestly king. Ife contributed artistically to world heritage, with her tradition of unique and highly naturalistic bronze heads. The Ife model for a government formed the basis for the Oyo Empire.

SLAVERY

Slavery has a long history of affiliation with Africa first from the 7th to the 20th century, the Arab slave trade captured 18 million slaves from Africa. The Atlantic slave trade of the 15th to 19th centuries took an estimated number of 7–12 million slaves.

BERLIN CONFERENCE

In 1884 – 18885, European power holders were hosted by King Leopold II of Belgium in what is now referred to as the Berlin conference. The conference was held to determine the division of Africa into territories under the government of the attending powers. The lingering effect of this division is still seen today in Africa by affiliation with “mother” European states.

INDEPENDENCE

Independence for the African state did not gain much momentum, until after the end of world war two. The world war left many of the European states vulnerable In 1951, Libya became the first to gain independence from Italy, Next Tunisia and Morocco in 1956 became independent of France. Next was Ghana in 1957 the majority of the other African states got independence over the period of the next ten years, including Nigeria in 1960. However, Apartheid in South Africa lasted until 1994.

POST-COLONIAL AFRICA

Today’s African states contain 54 independent countries, most of whose borders reflect the legacy of the Berlin conference.  Since colonialism, African states have recurrently been faced with the challenges of area instability, corruption, violence, and authoritarianism.

These challenges rise to form the marginalization of the various ethnicity which was prior to colonization self-ruling. The grave is this situation that during the early 1960s to the late 1980s, the continent experienced over 70 military coups not counting 13 presidential assassinations.

The Cold War conflicts that occurred between the United States of America and the Soviet Union, coupled with the policies of the International Monetary Fund is partly responsible for instability in the area.

A notable tragic event in the history of Africa is the 1994 Rwandan Genocide where more than 800,000 people lost their lives. Aids and Malaria are issues of concern in modern-day Africa. However, since the dawn of the 21st century, there has been a steady decline in armed conflict on the continent.

Today’s Africa is open for investment, with China taking the lead in these areas. Quite a lot of African nations are among the world’s fastest-growing economies.

CULTURE

More than 1000 languages are spoken in Africa. Nigeria alone has over 300 ethnic groups with distinct dialects. Colonization and Westernization encouraged the suppression of indigenous African cultures, oftentimes referring to them as primitive and Barbaric. For example, African customs and languages are prohibited in mission schools.

Today, however, other influences like Negritude and Pan Africanism have encouraged a resurgence in the increasing interest, rediscovery, and revaluing of African traditions. Movements such as the African Renaissance, Afrocentrism, and Afrofuturism are all evolving. Also, the increasing worldwide acceptance and recognition of the African esoteric and traditional spiritualism through the toleration of Vodoo and other African forms of spirituality.

VISUAL ART AND ARCHITECTURE

African firmly exhibits her diversity in her art and architecture. Some of these includes:

  •    the oldest known beads from Africa made from Nassarius shells and put on as special adornment;
  •    The Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt one of the wonders of the world was the world’s tallest manmade structure for about 4,000 years.
  •     The stone ruins of Great Zimbabwe are among many others.

MUSIC AND DANCE

The sounds and rhythm of West Africa have been transmitted through the seven seas to various adaptations in modern dance styles. Popular styles out of Africa include Afrobeat and Highlife music. The much more modern sounds from Africa include

  •    the highly complex choral singing of southern Africa
  •    the dance rhythms of the soukous
  •    Gwara Gwara’s dance style featured in Childish Gambino’s this is America
  •    The Shaku shaku dance as danced by the Nigerian players at the 2018 world cup.

Sports

The Fifty-four recognized African countries all have national football teams that participate in the Confederation of African Football championship. Egypt has won the competition seven times, and a record-making three wins back to back. Much success has not been made on senior international football scenes with Cameroon, Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, and Algeria advanced to the knockout stage of the FIFA World Cup competition. South Africa hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup, becoming the first and only African country to do so. Nigeria, however, stunned the world in 1998 by clinging to Olympic gold medal for football. Also, She has seen amazing results in u-17 FIFA World Cups

Cricket is popular in some South African nations like South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Kenya.  The three states hosted the Cricket World Cup in 2003. Rugby is popular in South Africa, Namibia, and Zimbabwe.

Closing

There are more fascinating things about Africa that one article cannot cover. Some of these include the tourist attraction, in-depth insight into culture and tradition, her cuisines, and safaris of east Africa among many others. We do hope that you enjoy your next stay in Africa. Experts have always been disappointed positively by the reality on the ground that the media in the west do portray. Yes, there are challenges, there are difficulties, and insurgencies, not all Africans are out to get you or scam. Africans are beautiful and resilient people.

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