List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Africa
Last updated
This is a list of sovereign states and dependent territories in Africa. It includes fully recognised states, states with limited or zero recognition, and dependent territories of both African and non-African states. It lists 56 sovereign states (54 of which are member states of the United Nations), two non-sovereign (dependent) territories of non-African sovereign states, and nine sub-national regions of non-African sovereign states. Malta and parts of France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain are located on the African continental plate, some considerably closer to the African mainland than the European mainland but, politically, are generally considered to be European by convention. Egypt, although extending into Asia through the Sinai Peninsula, is considered an African state.
475,442km2 (183,569sqmi) includes the Cameroonian-administered parts of Southern Cameroons, which is claimed by the Southern Cameroons Peoples Organisation as the Republic of Ambazonia
English: South Africa—Republic of South Africa Tsonga: Afrika Dzonga—Riphabliki ra Afrika Dzonga Tswana: Aforika Borwa—Rephaboliki ya Aforika Borwa Southern Ndebele: Sewula Afrika—iRiphabliki yeSewula Afrika Northern Sotho: Afrika-Borwa—Repabliki ya Afrika-Borwa (Southern) Sotho: Afrika Borwa—Rephaboliki ya Afrika Borwa Swati: Ningizimu Afrika—iRiphabhulikhi yeNingizimu Afrika Venda: Afurika Tshipembe—Riphabuḽiki ya Afurika Tshipembe Xhosa: uMzantsi Afrika—iRiphabliki yomZantsi Afrika Zulu: Ningizimu Afrika—iRiphabhuliki yaseNingizimu Afrika
The following two entities have declared themselves to be sovereign states and are in control of some territory but have limited or no recognition from other states. Neither entity is a member state of the United Nations, although the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is a member of the African Union.
↑ Some territory could be argued to be a part of Asia or Africa.
↑ Ciudad de la Paz is to be the future capital of Equatorial Guinea; currently under construction.
↑ Also known as Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from neighboring Guinea-Bissau.
↑ Occupies part of the territory of Western Sahara, disputed with Morocco.
↑ Currently under Moroccan administration. Tifariti is the factual temporary capital, but Tindouf located in Algeria is the place of some government and military facilities.
↑ Only the Îles Éparses are considered part of the African continent. The remaining four districts lie outside the continental shelf in the Indian Ocean or Antarctica.
↑ The main station on the Îles Éparses is on Tromelin. The headquarters of the district chief, however, is Saint Pierre, in Réunion.
↑ Geographically part of the archipelago (Lampedusa and Lampione) belongs to the African continent; politically and administratively, the islands fall within the Province of Agrigento in Sicily
Related Research Articles
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, states with limited recognition, constituent country, or a dependent territory. Most sovereign states, but not all countries, are members of the United Nations. There is no universal agreement on the number of "countries" in the world since several states have disputed sovereignty status, limited recognition and a number of non-sovereign entities are commonly considered countries.
Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, the Gulf of Aden to the north, and the Indian Ocean to the east. Somalia has the longest coastline on Africa's mainland. Somalia has an estimated population of 18.1 million, of which 2.7 million live in the capital and largest city, Mogadishu. Around 85% of its residents are ethnic Somalis and the official languages of the country are Somali and Arabic, though the former is the primary language. Somalia has historic and religious ties to the Arab world. As such the people in Somalia are Muslims, the majority of them Sunni.
Somaliland, officially the Republic of Somaliland, is an unrecognised country in the Horn of Africa. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden and bordered by Djibouti to the northwest, Ethiopia to the south and west, and Somalia to the east. Its claimed territory has an area of 176,120 square kilometres (68,000 sq mi), with approximately 6.2 million people as of 2024. The capital and largest city is Hargeisa.
A dependent territory, dependent area, or dependency is a territory that does not possess full political independence or sovereignty as a sovereign state and remains politically outside the controlling state's integral area. As such, a dependent territory includes a range of non-integrated not fully to non-independent territory types, from associated states to non-self-governing territories.
Foreign relations of the Republic of Somaliland are the responsibility of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Somaliland. The region's self-declaration of independence remains unrecognised by the international community.
Somaliland, officially the State of Somaliland, was a short-lived independent country in the territory of the present-day unilaterally declared Republic of Somaliland, which regards itself as its legal successor. It existed on the territory of former British Somaliland for five days between 26 June 1960 and 1 July 1960, when it merged with the formerly Italian administered Trust Territory of Somaliland to form the Somali Republic.
Somaliland a self-declared independent country in the Horn of Africa in which inhabitants were initially governed by various kinship networks. Upon contact with Europeans, treaties were signed in the area to secure rights to trade in the territory in exchange for protection of clans from rivals. Britain formally extended a protectorate over British Somaliland in 1898. Inhabitants of Somaliland were British Protected Persons from that date until they gained their independence in 1960 and joined in the union of their state with Italian Somaliland to form the Somali Republic. Inhabitants derive their nationality from Somali law. The legal means to acquire nationality, formal legal membership in a sovereign nation, differ from the domestic relationship of rights and obligations between a citizen within its nation, known as citizenship. Nationality describes the relationship of an individual to the nation under international law, whereas citizenship is the domestic relationship of an individual within the state. As the African Union, United Nations, and no independent nation has recognized its national sovereignty, Somaliland's inhabitants are Somali nationals, but since declaring its independence in 1991, it has de facto authority to control internal affairs and citizenship within its territory.
The Somaliland Declaration of Independence was made on 18 May 1991 by Somali sultans from the Isaaq, Dhulbahante, Issa, Gadabursi, Warsangali clans, as well as the Somali National Movement.
References
↑ "Member States". United Nations. Archived from the original on 7 February 2011. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
1 2 "UNGEGN List of Country Names"(PDF). United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names. 2007. Archived(PDF) from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
↑ "UNGEGN World Geographical Names". United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names. 29 July 2011. Archived from the original on 1 August 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
↑ Susan M. Hassig, Zawiah Abdul Latif, Somalia, (Marshall Cavendish: 2007), p.10.
↑ "The Transitional Federal Charter of the Somali Republic"(PDF). University of Pretoria. 1 February 2004. Archived from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 2 February 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) "The Somali Republic shall have the following boundaries. (a) North; Gulf of Aden. (b) North West; Djibouti. (c) West; Ethiopia. (d) South south-west; Kenya. (e) East; Indian Ocean."
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
