View source for Place:List of regions of Africa

{{Short description|None}}

[[File:Africa map regions.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|The five region according to the United Nations geoscheme for Africa.]]
[[File:Regions of the African Union.png|thumb|upright=1.3|The five regions of the African Union.]]
[[File:Carte Afrique CAF.png|thumb|upright=1.3|The five regions of the Confederation of African Football.]]

The continent of [[Earth:Africa|Africa]] is commonly divided into five [[Earth:Region|region]]s or [[Earth:Subregion|subregion]]s, four of which are in [[Place:Sub-Saharan Africa|sub-Saharan Africa]].

== List of subregions in Africa ==
The five UN subregions:<ref>{{cite web |title=Geographic Regions |url=https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/m49/#geo-regions |publisher=United Nations Statistics Division |access-date=2 May 2021 |date=2021}}</ref>

* '''[[Place:North Africa|Northern Africa]]'''
* '''[[Place:East Africa|Eastern Africa]]'''
* '''[[Place:Central Africa|Middle Africa]]'''
* '''[[Place:Southern Africa|Southern Africa]]'''
* '''[[Place:West Africa|Western Africa]]'''
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Subregion !! Country / Territory
|-
| rowspan="12" | [[Place:North Africa|Northern Africa]]
|-
| {{Flag|Algeria}}
|-
| {{Flag|Canary Islands}} ({{wipe|Spain}})
|-
| {{Flag|Ceuta}} (Spain)
|-
| {{Flag|Egypt}}
|-
| {{Flag|Libya}}
|-
| {{Flag|Madeira}} (Portugal)
|-
| {{Flag|Melilla}} (Spain)
|-
| {{Flag|Morocco}}
|-
| {{Flag|Sudan}}
|-
| {{Flag|Tunisia}} 
|-
| {{Flag|Western Sahara}}
|-
| rowspan="23" | [[Place:East Africa|Eastern Africa]]
|-
| {{Flag|Burundi}}
|-
| {{Flag|Comoros}}
|-
| {{Flag|Djibouti}}
|-
| {{Flag|Eritrea}}
|-
| {{Flag|Ethiopia}}
|-
| {{Flag|French Southern and Antarctic Lands}} ({{wipe|France}})
|-
| {{Flag|Kenya}}
|-
| {{Flag|Madagascar}}
|-
| {{Flag|Malawi}}
|-
| {{Flag|Mauritius}}
|-
| {{Flag|Mayotte|local}} (France)
|-
| {{Flag|Mozambique}}
|-
| {{Flag|Reunion|local}} (France)
|-
| {{Flag|Rwanda}}
|-
| {{Flag|Seychelles}}
|-
| {{Flag|Somalia}}
|-
| {{Flag|Somaliland}} (Somalia)
|-
| {{Flag|South Sudan}}
|-
| {{Flag|Tanzania}}
|-
| {{Flag|Uganda}}
|-
| {{Flag|Zambia}}
|-
| {{Flag|Zimbabwe}}
|- 
| rowspan="10" | [[Place:Central Africa|Middle Africa]]
|-
| {{Flag|Angola}}
|-
| {{Flag|Cameroon}}
|-
| {{Flag|Central African Republic}}
|-
| {{Flag|Chad}}
|-
| {{Flag|Congo, Democratic Republic of the}}
|-
| {{Flag|Congo, Republic of the}}
|-
| {{Flag|Equatorial Guinea}}
|-
| {{Flag|Gabon}}
|-
| {{Flag|São Tomé and Príncipe}}
|-
| rowspan="6" |[[Place:Southern Africa|Southern Africa]]
|-
| {{Flag|Botswana}}
|-
| {{Flag|Eswatini|name=Eswatini (Swaziland)}}
|-
| {{Flag|Lesotho}}
|-
| {{Flag|Namibia}}
|-
| {{Flag|South Africa}}
|-
| rowspan="18" | [[Place:West Africa|Western Africa]]
|-
| {{Flag|Benin}}
|-
| {{Flag|Burkina Faso}}
|-
| {{Flag|Cape Verde}}
|-
| {{Flag|Ivory Coast|name=Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)}}
|-
| {{Flag|Gambia, The}}
|-
| {{Flag|Ghana}}
|-
| {{Flag|Guinea}}
|-
| {{Flag|Guinea-Bissau}}
|-
| {{Flag|Liberia}}
|-
| {{Flag|Mali}}
|-
| {{Flag|Mauritania}}
|-
| {{Flag|Niger}}
|-
| {{Flag|Nigeria}}
|-
| {{Flag|Senegal}}
|-
| {{Flag|Sierra Leone}}
|-
| {{Flag|Togo}}
|}

==Directional approach==
One common approach categorizes Africa directionally, e.g., by [[Cardinal direction|cardinal direction]] (compass direction):
*[[Place:North Africa|North Africa]] lies north of the Sahara and runs along the Mediterranean coast.
*[[Place:West Africa|West Africa]] is the portion roughly west of 10° east [[Earth:Longitude|longitude]], excluding Northern Africa and the [[Place:Maghreb|Maghreb]]. West Africa contains large portions of the Sahara Desert and the Adamawa Mountains.
*[[Place:East Africa|East Africa]] stretches from the Red Sea and the [[Place:Horn of Africa|Horn of Africa]] to Mozambique, including {{wipe|Madagascar}}.
*[[Place:Central Africa|Central Africa]] is the large mass at the center of Africa which either does not fall squarely into any other region or only partially does so.
*[[Place:Southern Africa|Southern Africa]] consists of the portion generally south of -10° latitude and the great rainforests of [[Place:Congo Basin|Congo]].

This approach is taken, for example, in the [[Place:United Nations geoscheme for Africa|United Nations geoscheme for Africa]] and the [[Place:Regions of the African Union|regions of the African Union]].

==Physiographic approach==
[[File:Africa satellite orthographic.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Satellite image of Africa, showing the ecological break that defines the sub-Saharan area]]
Another common approach divides Africa by using features such as landforms, climatic regions, or vegetation types:
*[[Place:Nubia|Nubia]] (Lower Nubia) (Upper Nubia)
* [[Place:Upper Egypt|Upper Egypt]] and [[Place:Lower Egypt|Lower Egypt]]
*The [[Place:Maghreb|Maghreb]] is a region of northwest Africa encompassing the coastlands and Atlas Mountains of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.
*The Sahara Desert is the massive but largely empty region in North Africa that contains the world's largest hot deserts 
*[[Place:Sub-Saharan Africa|Sub-Saharan Africa]] is the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara.
*The [[Place:Sahel|Sahel]] region covers a belt of grasslands south of the Sahara stretching from Senegal to Sudan.
*The [[Place:Sudan (region)|Sudan]], slightly more humid and arable region lying below the Sahel.
**[[Place:Sudanian Savanna|Sudanian Savanna]]
** Sudd
*The [[Place:Horn of Africa|Horn of Africa]] is a [[Earth:Peninsula|peninsula]] in East Africa that juts for hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea, and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It encompasses Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and Djibouti.
**[[Earth:Ethiopian Highlands|Ethiopian Highlands]] (Roof of Africa)
* Nigritia or [[Place:Negroland|Negroland]]
*The [[Place:Guinea (region)|Guinea region]] is distinguished from the neighboring Sudan region by its rainforests and runs along the Atlantic coast from Guinea to Nigeria.
** Upper, Middle, [[Place:Lower Guinea|Lower]] and Forest
**[[Place:Gold Coast (region)|Gold Coast]], [[Place:Slave Coast of West Africa|Slave Coast]], Ivory Coast and [[Place:Pepper Coast|Pepper Coast]]
* [[Place:Rhodesia (region)|Rhodesia (region)]] (Northern Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesia)
* [[Place:Mayombe|Mayombe]]
*The [[Place:Congo Basin|Congo Basin]] is the rainforest region
* The Chad Basin The Chad Basin is the largest endorheic drainage basin in Africa, centered on Lake Chad.
*East African Rift. The region contains Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda.
**Eastern Rift mountains
**Rift Valley Lakes
**[[Place:African Great Lakes|African Great Lakes]]
*Swahili Coast
*[[Place:Barbary Coast|Barbary Coast]]
*Skeleton Coast
*Great Escarpment
*Karoo
*Bushveld
*Mittelafrika
* Igboland ([[Place:Mbaise|Mbaise]])
* [[Place:Maputaland|Maputaland]]
* [[Place:Azania|Azania]]
* Kalahari
* [[Place:Borkou|Borkou]]
* Ouaddaï
* Agadez
* Azawad
* Kanem
* Darfur
* [[Place:Bahr el Ghazal (region of South Sudan)|Bahr el Ghazal]]
* [[Place:Equatoria|Equatoria]]
* [[Place:Greater Upper Nile|Greater Upper Nile]]
* Kordofan
* The Cape (Dutch Cape colony, Cape colony)
* Bushmanland
* Natal
* Griqualand
* [[Earth:Veld|Veld]]
*For depressions, refer to: Africa
*For mountain ranges, refer to: [[Earth:List of mountain ranges|Africa]]
*For deserts, refer to: [[Earth:List of deserts|Africa]]
*[[Place:Kivu|Kivu]]

==Linguistic approach==

[[File:Africa_ethnic_groups_1996.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Map showing the traditional language families represented in Africa:
{{legend|#E6EAAD|[[Social:Afroasiatic languages|Afroasiatic]] (Semitic-Hamitic)}}
{{legend|#8E7D8F|[[Social:Austronesian languages|Austronesian]] (Malay-Polynesian)}}
{{legend|#8A421A|[[Social:Indo-European languages|Indo-European]]}}
{{legend|#DC782D|[[Social:Khoisan languages|Khoisan]]}}
Niger-Congo:
{{legend|#A6BE50|[[Social:Bantu languages|Bantu]]}}
{{legend|#E9A96C|Central and Eastern Sudanese}}
{{legend|#51384E|Central Bantoid}}
{{legend|#C96273|Eastern Bantoid}}
{{legend|#A7BC47|Guinean}}
{{legend|#B77B85|[[Social:Mande languages|Mande]]}}
{{legend|#4D7830|Western Bantoid}}
[[Social:Nilo-Saharan languages|Nilo-Saharan]]:
{{legend|#827241|[[Social:Kanuri language|Kanuri]]}}
{{legend|#824240|[[Social:Nilotic languages|Nilotic]]}}
{{legend|#C88C50|[[Social:Songhay languages|Songhai]]}}]]

===By official language===
[[File:Official languages in Africa.svg|thumb|Official languages in Africa

{| cellpadding="0"
|-
| {{legend|#FF8C00|[[Social:Afrikaans|Afrikaans]]}} || {{legend|#8EB423|[[Social:Portuguese language|Portuguese]]}}
|-
| {{legend|#19822D|[[Social:Arabic|Arabic]]}} || {{legend|#DAC716|[[Social:Spanish language|Spanish]]}}
|-
| {{legend|#C35A91|[[Social:English language|English]]}} || {{legend|#55433B|[[Social:Swahili language|Swahili]]}}
|-
| {{legend|#415096|[[Social:French language|French]]}} || {{legend|#8A8B8D|other languages}}
|}|179x179px]]
*[[Social:English language|Anglophone]] Africa includes five countries in West Africa (The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, and the most populous African country Nigeria, as well as a part of Cameroon) that are separated by Francophone countries, South Sudan, and a large continuous area in [[Place:Southern Africa|Southern Africa]] and the [[Place:African Great Lakes|African Great Lakes]].
*Arabophone Africa includes the four most populous Arabic-speaking countries ([[Place:Egypt|Egypt]], the Sudan, Morocco, Algeria) as well as Tunisia, Mauritania and Chad, and includes a majority of both the population and the area of the Arabic-speaking countries. French has also kept a strong role in the [[Place:Maghreb|Maghreb]] countries, though this has receded somewhat with official [[Social:Arabization|Arabization]].
*Francophone Africa is a continuous area in [[Place:West Africa|West Africa]] and [[Place:Central Africa|Central Africa]], plus {{wipe|Madagascar}} and Djibouti.
*Lusophone Africa consists of the widely separated countries of Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe, Angola, and Mozambique.
*Equatorial Guinea is the only African country where the [[Social:Spanish language|Spanish language]] is official, though French is co-official (but rarely spoken).
*[[Social:Swahili language|Swahili]] is widely used as an inter language in East Africa; its use for official and educational functions is greatest in Tanzania.
*Ethiopia and Somalia use the [[Social:Afroasiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]] Amharic and [[Social:Somali language|Somali]] languages, respectively, as their official languages, although [[Social:Arabic|Arabic]] also serves as a secondary language in Somalia. Eritrea and some parts of Ethiopia use the [[Social:Tigrinya language|Tigrinya language]] as a working language and [[Social:Arabic|Arabic language]] as a non-indigenous working language within Eritrea.

===By indigenous language family===
*[[Social:Niger–Congo languages|Niger–Congo languages]] and [[Social:Nilo-Saharan languages|Nilo-Saharan languages]] are spoken in most of [[Place:Sub-Saharan Africa|Sub-Saharan Africa]]. Nilo-Saharan occupies a smaller area but is highly diverse, and may be related as a parent or sibling of Niger–Congo.
*Afro-Asiatic languages are spoken in [[Place:North Africa|North Africa]], the [[Place:Horn of Africa|Horn of Africa]], as well as parts of the [[Place:Sahel|Sahel]].
*[[Social:Khoisan languages|Khoisan languages]] are spoken in desert areas of Southern Africa, but were formerly spoken over a larger area, and are thought to include two small languages ([[Social:Hadza language|Hadza]] and Sandawe) in the [[Place:African Great Lakes|African Great Lakes]].
*[[Social:Austronesian languages|Austronesian languages]] originating from [[Place:Southeast Asia|Southeast Asia]] are spoken in {{wipe|Madagascar}}.

==Investment approach==

A slightly less common, but equally important method of division of the continent is by investment factors. For the purposes of investing, Africa is not a single destination with a single set of standardized risk factors and homogeneous potential for reward.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Compelling investment markets in Africa – Inside Riscura's Bright Africa 2015 Report: Debbie O'Hanlon, Senior Analyst, RisCura (Infographics) {{!}} African Business News {{!}} African Financial & Economic News|url = http://www.africanbusinesscentral.com/2015/10/12/compelling-investment-markets-in-africa-inside-riscuras-bright-africa-2015-report-debbie-ohanlon-senior-analyst-riscura-infographics/|website = African Business Central|access-date = 2015-11-09}}</ref> Although some high-level similarities are evident, digging into the specifics of certain regions and countries shows that Africa comprises a range of distinct investment destinations, each with its own attractions, flaws, cultural differences and business practices.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Segmenting Africa into meaningful markets {{!}} Bright Africa|url = http://www.riscura.com/brightafrica/segmenting-africa-into-meaningful-markets/|website = www.riscura.com|access-date = 2015-11-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title = Meaningful African markets for investment|url = http://www.capitalmarketsinafrica.com/meaningful-african-markets-for-investment/|website = Capital Markets in Africa|date = 22 September 2015|access-date = 2015-11-06|language = en-US}}</ref>

The investment approach was first developed by global, independent financial analytics provider and investment consultant, RisCura.
* Maghreb region
*: Otherwise known as the western portion of Northern Africa, these countries form the [[Organization:Arab Maghreb Union|Arab Maghreb Union]],<ref>{{Cite web|title = UMA|url = http://www.maghrebarabe.org/en/uma.cfm|website = www.maghrebarabe.org|access-date = 2015-11-09|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100420050932/http://www.maghrebarabe.org/en/uma.cfm|archive-date = 2010-04-20|url-status = dead}}</ref> established in 1989. The region was established with the goal of functioning as a unified political and economic grouping. [[Social:Arab Spring|Political unrest]] in the region<ref>{{Cite web|title = What Is the Arab Spring?|url = http://middleeast.about.com/od/humanrightsdemocracy/a/Definition-Of-The-Arab-Spring.htm|website = About.com News & Issues|access-date = 2015-11-09}}</ref> has stunted progress since its inception but hope still remains that the Union will fulfill its purpose in years to come. Algeria, [[Place:Libya|Libya]], Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia are included in this region.
* [[Place:Egypt|Egypt]] and the Sudan
*: Previously united under British rule, these countries still share strong ties,<ref>{{Cite web|title = Sudan - Egypt Relations|url = http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/sudan/forrel-eg.htm|website = www.globalsecurity.org|access-date = 2015-11-09}}</ref> as well as one significant commonality – the trade facilitation through transport on the Nile River. As Egypt does not fall within the Arab Maghreb Union, it is separated from the rest of [[Place:North Africa|North Africa]]. However, Egypt's strong economic and cultural ties with the [[Place:Middle East|Middle East]] bring natural trading partners, and it is often seen grouped with the Middle East for investment purposes.<ref>{{Cite magazine|title = Trading Peace in Egypt and Israel|url = https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/israel/2015-08-23/trading-peace-egypt-and-israel|website = Foreign Affairs| date=23 August 2015 |access-date = 2015-11-11| last1=Kessler | first1=Oren }}</ref>
* Francophone [[Place:West Africa|West Africa]] 
*: This is a commonly recognized region on the continent,<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://performance.ey.com/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2013/06/130219-SGF-TL-FSSA-email-version.pdf|title = What it takes to succeed in Francophone Africa}}</ref> and typically includes Mauritania. However, Mauritania is sometimes allocated to the Maghreb region as it is found to have closer ties to the North African countries. These [[Social:French language|French]]-speaking countries share more than just a language. Due to their common history as [[Place:French colonial empire|French colonies]], they also share similar legal and socio-political systems. The countries in this group are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal and Togo.
* Nigeria
*: On its own, Nigeria is the size of the entire Maghreb region on an aggregated-[[Finance:Gross domestic product|GDP]] basis. While Nigeria is traditionally grouped with the rest of [[Place:West Africa|West Africa]], its reliance on the rest of the region is less pronounced, likely as a result of its massive standalone GDP, its access to international markets via its six large ports, and its population of over 170 million people.
* [[Place:East Africa|East Africa]]
*: This is a combination of the [[Organization:East African Community|East African Community]] (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, [[Biology:Rwanda|Rwanda]] and Burundi), the LAPSSET corridor (Kenya, South Sudan and Ethiopia) as well as Djibouti, a crucial link to the [[Earth:Indian Ocean|Indian Ocean]] for Ethiopia and South Sudan. Kenya has traditionally headlined this region through consistently generating the largest GDP and acts as the primary route to international trade through the [[Place:Mombasa|Mombasa]] port. 
* [[Place:Central Africa|Central Africa]] 
*: This market is the same as that defined by the African Development Bank with the exception of {{wipe|Madagascar}}, which here is classified as Southern Africa (ex-SA). On a GDP basis ({{wipe|United States dollar}}) and by population, the Central Africa region is on par with the Francophone West African region. Countries included here are Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.
* Southern Africa excluding {{wipe|South Africa}} (ex-SA)
*: This incorporates countries south of central and eastern Africa, and north of the South African border. The region has support from the most developed economy on the continent from the south, and access to capital coming out of South Africa as large companies look to expand into the rest of the continent. The group comprises Angola (which offers substantial [[Chemistry:Oil|oil]] resources), Botswana, Comoros, {{wipe|Madagascar}}, Malawi, [[Earth:Mauritius|Mauritius]], Mozambique, Namibia, Reunion, Zambia (substantial supply of [[Chemistry:Copper|copper]]) and Zimbabwe.
* {{wipe|South Africa}}
*: 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. South Africa boasts the largest GDP per capita of all the regions (double that of Nigeria) and is the most advanced investment destination on the continent. The South African market includes Lesotho and Eswatini due to their reliance and proximity to SA. The [[Finance:Swazi lilangeni|Swazi lilangeni]] is pegged to the South African rand, which is also accepted as currency within the country.
* Other [[Place:West Africa|West Africa]]
*: This region includes Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau and The Gambia.

==See also==
* List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Africa
*[[Place:Regions of the African Union|Regions of the African Union]]
*[[Place:United Nations geoscheme for Africa|United Nations geoscheme for Africa]]

==Notes==
:1.{{note|Sahrawi}}Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic: sovereignty disputed with Morocco

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Regions Of Africa, List Of}}
[[Category:Regions of Africa| *]]

{{Sourceattribution|List of regions of Africa}}