List of African countries by area

Q: What is the largest African country by area?

The largest African country in terms of area is Algeria , in North Africa . Algeria has an area of 919,595 square miles (2,381,741 square km). The second-largest African country in terms of area is the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in Central Africa . The DRC has an area of 905,409 square miles (2,345,000 square km).

Q: What is the smallest African country by area?

The smallest African country in terms of area is Seychelles , a small island republic in the western Indian Ocean . Seychelles has an area of 172 square miles (446 square km). The smallest such country by area that is located on the African mainland is The Gambia , in western Africa . Except for a short coastline along the Atlantic Ocean , The Gambia is entirely surrounded by Senegal . The Gambia has an area of 4,127 square miles (10,689 square km).

Written by

Amy McKenna

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Nov. 1, 2026 •History

What is the largest African country by area?

What is the smallest African country by area?

List of African countries by area, Africa is the second largest continent (after Asia), covering about one-fifth of the total land surface of Earth. Across the continent and its islands, the areas of Africa’s countries vary significantly. Algeria sits at the top of the list with an area of 919,595 square miles (2,381,741 square km). In contrast, the area of the island country of Seychelles is a mere fraction of that, at 172 square miles (446 square km). Where do the areas of Africa’s other countries fall? Find out in the table below, which lists the countries of Africa by their area.

African country	total square miles	total square km
1. Algeria	919,595	2,381,741
2. Democratic Republic of the Congo	905,409	2,345,000
3. Sudan	710,693	1,840,687
4. Libya	647,183	1,676,198
5. Chad	495,755	1,284,000
6. Niger	489,191	1,267,000
7. Angola	481,353	1,246,700
8. Mali	479,245	1,241,238
9. South Africa	471,358	1,220,813
10. Ethiopia	432,434	1,120,000
11. Mauritania	397,955	1,030,700
12. Egypt	384,790	996,603
13. Tanzania	365,059	945,500
14. Nigeria	356,669	923,768
15. Namibia	318,261	824,292
16. Mozambique	308,642	799,380
17. Zambia	290,585	752,612
18. South Sudan	248,777	644,329
19. Somalia	246,201	637,657
20. Central African Republic	240,324	622,436
21. Madagascar	228,532	591,896
22. Kenya	224,961	582,646
23. Botswana	220,141	570,162
24. Cameroon	179,943	466,050
25. Morocco¹	160,835	415,560
26. Zimbabwe	150,872	390,757
27. Republic of the Congo	132,047	342,000
28. Côte d’Ivoire	128,364	322,462
29. Burkina Faso	104,543	270,764
30. Gabon	103,347	267,667
31. Guinea	94,926	245,857
32. Uganda	93,264	241,553
33. Ghana	92,098	238,533
34. Senegal	75,973	196,768
35. Tunisia	63,170	163,610
36. Eritrea	46,757	121,100
37. Malawi	45,854	118,760
38. Benin	44,310	114,763
39. Liberia	37,483	97,081
40. Sierra Leone	28,158	72,929
41. Togo	21,853	56,600
42. Guinea-Bissau	13,948	36,125
43. Lesotho	11,720	30,355
44. Equatorial Guinea	10,831	28,052
45. Burundi	10,747	27,834
46. Rwanda	10,169	26,338
47. Djibouti	8,958	23,200
48. Eswatini	6,704	17,364
49. The Gambia	4,127	10,689
50. Cabo Verde	1,557	4,033
51. Mauritius	775	2,007
52. Comoros	719	1,861
53. Sao Tome and Principe	387	1,001
54. Seychelles	172	446

¹ Excludes Western Sahara (105,020 square miles [272,000 square km), an annexure of Morocco.

Amy McKenna

List of African countries by area

What is the largest African country by area?

What is the smallest African country by area?

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