The biggest countries in Africa

Which are the biggest countries in Africa by area?

Algeria is the biggest country in Africa by area, with 2,381,741 km². That is 7.9% of the land of all 54 countries in Africa.

Algeria became Africa's largest country in 2011, when South Sudan separated from Sudan and Sudan dropped from first to third. DR Congo is second, 36,883 km² behind Algeria. Eight of the twelve largest countries are in or on the edge of the Sahara: Algeria, Sudan, Libya, Chad, Niger, Mali, Mauritania and Egypt. Their size is mostly desert.

Nigeria, with the most people on the continent, is only 14th by area. Ethiopia, second by population, is tenth. Africa's 54 countries add up to 30.0 million km², which is more than the United States, China, India and all of Western Europe together. See the true size of Africa for that comparison drawn to scale.

Which are the biggest countries in Africa by population?

Nigeria has the most people in Africa: 237.50 million in the UN's 2025 estimate, or 15.4% of the 1.55 billion people who live in these 54 countries.

Nigeria has 15 percent of Africa's 1.55 billion people and is the sixth most populous country in the world. Ethiopia is second and Egypt third; about 95 percent of Egyptians live on the 5 percent of the country along the Nile. DR Congo is fourth with 112.8 million people spread over an area 2.5 times the size of Nigeria.

The gap after the top four is wide: Tanzania, in fifth place, has less than a third of Nigeria's population. Algeria, first by area, is tenth by population. Libya, fourth by area, has 7.5 million people and is 35th.

Which are the biggest countries in Africa by GDP?

South Africa has the biggest economy in Africa. The IMF projects its GDP at $480.0 billion for 2026, which is 13.4% of the total for Africa.

South Africa, Egypt and Nigeria are the three economies above $350 billion, and together they make 36 percent of Africa's GDP. Nigeria was first by GDP until 2023, when the naira lost more than half its value against the dollar after the exchange rate was floated. In dollar terms the economy shrank, and in the IMF's 2026 projection it is third.

The whole continent, with 19 percent of the world's people, produces 2.8 percent of world GDP. Africa's 54 economies added together ($3.57 trillion) are about the size of France. Ethiopia, second by population, is 9th by GDP, and DR Congo, fourth by population, is 8th.

How does the ranking change with the measure?

The top five under each measure, side by side:

Algeria is first by area, tenth by population and fourth by GDP. Nigeria is 14th, first and third. South Africa is ninth, sixth and first. Egypt is the most consistent, at 12th, third and second. Eight countries, three ranks each:

How do we count?

Africa is the 54 member states of the United Nations on the continent and its islands, including Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, Comoros, Cabo Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe. Western Sahara is not included because its status is disputed. Egypt counts as African even though the Sinai peninsula lies in Asia.

Area is total area including lakes and rivers, from the UN Statistics Division and the CIA World Factbook. Population is the UN World Population Prospects estimate for 2025, taken from the World Bank. GDP is the IMF World Economic Outlook (April 2026) projection for 2026, in current US dollars. We use the same figures on the map, so the boxes there and the tables here agree. More on the data.