How many countries are in Africa

Africa is the second biggest and most populous continent of the world. It is also one of the very popular and rich continents of the world. With about 30.2 million sq km, Africa covers about 20.4% of the earths land area and 6% of the earth’s total surface. There are many countries that are claiming to be independent and full fledged African states but the fact is that not all met the criteria that qualifies them to be recognized as an African country. Africa is made up of 54 fully recognized sovereign states (countries), ten (10) territories and two (2) de facto independent states with limited or no recognition. The 54 are referred to as “recognized states” because they are member states of the African Union (AU). The next 2 are called “de facto states” because by structure and government, they can be called a country but they are not recognized as they do not belong to the AU. The remaining 10 are just territories or regions that are either owned or governed by other non-African countries. Names of the 54 Independent African Countries in Alphabetical Order:
1. Algeria
2. Angola
3. Benin
4. Botswana
5. Burkina Faso
6. Burundi
7. Cameroon
8. Cape Verde
9. Central African Republic
10. Chad
11. Comoros
12. Democratic Republic of the Congo
13. Republic of the Congo
14. Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
15. Djibouti
16. Egypt
17. Equatorial Guinea
18. Eritrea
19. Ethiopia
20. Gabon
21. Gambia
22. Ghana
23. Guinea
24. Guinea-Bissau
25. Kenya
26. Lesotho
27. Liberia
28. Libya
29. Madagascar
30. Malawi
31. Mali
32. Mauritania
33. Mauritius
34. Morocco
35. Mozambique
36. Namibia
37. Niger
38. Nigeria
39. Rwanda
40. São Tomé and Principe
41. Senegal
42. Seychelles
43. Sierra Leone
44. Somalia
45. South Africa
46. Sudan (North)
47. South Sudan (Rep.)
48. Swaziland
49. Tanzania
50. Togo
51. Tunisia
52. Uganda
53. Zambia
54. Zimbabwe
The Sahwari Arab Democratic Republic and the Republic of Somaliland claim to be and are recognized in a few neighboring countries as sovereign states but they are actually de facto states. Territories politically administered as external dependencies or as incorporated parts of a primarily non-African state:
1. French Southern Antartica Land.
2. Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan de Cuhna, (governed by the UK).
3. Canary Islands.
4. Melila.
5. Autonomous city of Ceuta, (nos 3-5 owned by Spain).
6. Autonomous Region of Madeira, (owned by the Portuguese).
7. The Islands of Mayotte. 8. Réunion, (7&8 owned by the French).
9. Plaza de Soberanía.
10. Lampedusa and Lampione.
if you go by the criterion of being member states of the AU, Africa has 54 countries. If the De Facto states are included, our figure becomes 56, then if we are to include all the territories, we’ll say that the African continent is made up of 66 countries.