Largest Cities in Africa

Africa is the second largest and warmest continent on earth. Both the equator and the tropics are the only continent that runs through it. The great natural landscapes of Africa include tropical rainforests, grass-covered savannahs, deserts and steppes.

• Mayotte
• Reunion
• Western Sahara

Area	30,131,536 km2
Population	698,647,000
Population density	21 people per km2
Countries	54
Largest country	Sudan with 2,505,813 km2
Smallest Country	Seychelles with 452 km2
Languages	Arabic, Swahili, Haussa, Somali, Amharish
Highest mountain	Kilimanjaro, 5,895 meters
Longest river	Lake Assal (Djibouti), 156 meters below sea level
Highest temperature	58 0 C in Al’Azuzuyah (Libya)
Lowest temperature	-24 0 C in Ilfrane (Morocco)

Biggest Cities in Africa by Population

The largest city in Africa is Cairo, the capital of Egypt. Located on the banks of the River Nile, Cairo is home to over 20 million people and is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. It has been an important trading center for centuries, connecting people from different parts of Africa and beyond. Today, Cairo is a major cultural hub and economic center, with many museums, mosques, churches, and other attractions drawing millions of tourists each year.

The second largest city in Africa is Lagos, located in Nigeria. With a population of over 13 million people, Lagos serves as a major commercial hub for West Africa and has become one of the continent’s most important economic centers. The city has also developed a vibrant cultural scene with many popular music venues and art galleries attracting visitors from all corners of the globe.

The third largest city in Africa is Kinshasa, located in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). With a population of around 12 million people, Kinshasa serves as an important political center for DRC and Central Africa as well as an influential cultural hub for music and literature throughout the continent. The city also has some impressive monuments such as Grand Mosque which dates back to 1881 AD and remains one of the oldest standing mosques in all of Central Africa.

Ranking	City	Country	Continent	Population
1	Cairo	Egypt	Africa	20,900,715
2	Lagos	Nigeria	Africa	14,368,443
3	Kinshasa	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Africa	14,342,550
4	Luanda	Angola	Africa	8,329,909
5	Dar Es Salaam	Tanzania	Africa	6,701,761
6	Khartoum	Sudan	Africa	5,828,969
7	Johannesburg	South Africa	Africa	5,782,858
8	Alexandria	Egypt	Africa	5,280,775
9	Abidjan	Ivory Coast	Africa	5,202,873
10	Addis Ababa	Ethiopia	Africa	4,793,810
11	Nairobi	Kenya	Africa	4,734,992
12	Cape Town	South Africa	Africa	4,617,671
13	Kano	Nigeria	Africa	3,999,161
14	Yaounde	Cameroon	Africa	3,992,522
15	Ekurhuleni	South Africa	Africa	3,894,373
16	Casablanca	Morocco	Africa	3,752,468
17	Douala	Cameroon	Africa	3,663,338
18	Ibadan	Nigeria	Africa	3,552,072
19	Antananarivo	Madagascar	Africa	3,368,696
20	Kumasi	Ghana	Africa	3,348,173
21	Kampala	Uganda	Africa	3,298,475
22	Abuja	Nigeria	Africa	3,277,851
23	Durban	South Africa	Africa	3,158,424
24	Dakar	Senegal	Africa	3,140,553
25	Port Harcourt	Nigeria	Africa	3,020,343
26	Ouagadougou	Burkina Faso	Africa	2,780,442
27	Lusaka	Zambia	Africa	2,774,244
28	Algiers	Algeria	Africa	2,767,772
29	Bamako	Mali	Africa	2,617,797
30	Pretoria	South Africa	Africa	2,565,771
31	Mbuji Mayi	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Africa	2,525,374
32	Accra	Ghana	Africa	2,514,116
33	Lubumbashi	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Africa	2,478,373
34	Brazzaville	Republic of the Congo	Africa	2,388,201
35	Tunis	Tunisia	Africa	2,365,312
36	Mogadishu	Somalia	Africa	2,282,120
37	Conakry	Guinea	Africa	1,938,383
38	Rabat	Morocco	Africa	1,884,913
39	Lome	Togo	Africa	1,827,989
40	Benin City	Nigeria	Africa	1,727,280
41	Matola	Mozambique	Africa	1,705,997
42	Harare	Zimbabwe	Africa	1,530,031
43	Monrovia	Liberia	Africa	1,517,346
44	Kananga	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Africa	1,458,511
45	N Djamena	Chad	Africa	1,422,658
46	Onitsha	Nigeria	Africa	1,414,901
47	Nouakchott	Mauritania	Africa	1,314,747
48	Mombasa	Kenya	Africa	1,296,086
49	Niamey	Niger	Africa	1,291,959
50	Kisangani	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Africa	1,261,421
51	Port Elizabeth	South Africa	Africa	1,253,853
52	Fes	Morocco	Africa	1,224,191
53	Pointe Noire	Republic of the Congo	Africa	1,214,392
54	Freetown	Sierra Leone	Africa	1,202,011
55	Tanger	Morocco	Africa	1,198,034
56	Tripoli	Libya	Africa	1,165,196
57	Uyo	Nigeria	Africa	1,135,886
58	Kigali	Rwanda	Africa	1,132,212
59	Lilongwe	Malawi	Africa	1,121,831
60	Mwanza	Tanzania	Africa	1,120,541
61	Kaduna	Nigeria	Africa	1,113,321
62	Maputo	Mozambique	Africa	1,110,588
63	Aba	Nigeria	Africa	1,081,577
64	Bukavu	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Africa	1,078,113
65	Abomey Calavi	Benin	Africa	1,056,551
66	Nnewi	Nigeria	Africa	1,050,971
67	Bujumbura	Burundi	Africa	1,013,107
68	Marrakech	Morocco	Africa	1,002,820
69	Hargeysa	Somalia	Africa	988,827
70	Bobo Dioulasso	Burkina Faso	Africa	972,235
71	Asmara	Eritrea	Africa	963,096
72	Ilorin	Nigeria	Africa	949,977
73	Sekondi Takoradi	Ghana	Africa	945,630
74	Ikorodu	Nigeria	Africa	937,726
75	Blantyre Limbe	Malawi	Africa	932,374
76	Agadir	Morocco	Africa	923,663
77	Nyala	Sudan	Africa	922,643
78	Tshikapa	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Africa	919,303
79	Oran	Algeria	Africa	899,293
80	West Rand	South Africa	Africa	897,720
81	Jos	Nigeria	Africa	895,399
82	Bangui	Central African Republic	Africa	889,342
83	Misratah	Libya	Africa	881,430
84	Owerri	Nigeria	Africa	872,715
85	Warri	Nigeria	Africa	856,052
86	Soshanguve	South Africa	Africa	853,458
87	Nampula	Mozambique	Africa	848,207
88	Libreville	Gabon	Africa	834,315
89	Lubango	Angola	Africa	828,359
90	Banghazi	Libya	Africa	824,085
91	Maiduguri	Nigeria	Africa	786,596
92	Cabinda	Angola	Africa	777,808
93	Vereeniging	South Africa	Africa	774,142
94	Umuahia	Nigeria	Africa	773,933
95	Enugu	Nigeria	Africa	772,983
96	Bur Sa’id	Egypt	Africa	737,111
97	Zaria	Nigeria	Africa	726,283
98	Benguela	Angola	Africa	715,241
99	Oshogbo	Nigeria	Africa	713,788
100	Buffalo City	South Africa	Africa	708,670
101	Zanzibar	Tanzania	Africa	705,189
102	Lokoja	Nigeria	Africa	692,161
103	Cotonou	Benin	Africa	692,060
104	Kitwe	Zambia	Africa	686,019
105	Bunia	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Africa	679,529
106	Huambo	Angola	Africa	671,524
107	Merca	Somalia	Africa	666,481
108	Akure	Nigeria	Africa	665,635
109	Malanje	Angola	Africa	665,261
110	Tamale	Ghana	Africa	642,022
111	Sokoto	Nigeria	Africa	641,360
112	As Suways	Egypt	Africa	638,340
113	Bulawayo	Zimbabwe	Africa	638,299
114	Goma	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Africa	634,308
115	Safaqis	Tunisia	Africa	630,286
116	Bissau	Guinea Bissau	Africa	599,825
117	Bauchi	Nigeria	Africa	597,790
118	Uvira	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Africa	589,842
119	Calabar	Nigeria	Africa	579,384
120	Djibouti	Djibouti	Africa	576,268
121	Abakaliki	Nigeria	Africa	572,139
122	Bouake	Ivory Coast	Africa	571,987
123	Beira	Mozambique	Africa	570,022
124	Likasi	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Africa	567,950
125	Bloemfontein	South Africa	Africa	567,140
126	Mbeya	Tanzania	Africa	566,176
127	Oujda	Morocco	Africa	558,635
128	Al Mansurah	Egypt	Africa	555,732
129	Meknes	Morocco	Africa	553,866
130	Ogbomosho	Nigeria	Africa	551,585
131	Ndola	Zambia	Africa	542,606
132	Cuito	Angola	Africa	535,518
133	Bamenda	Cameroon	Africa	533,368
134	Abeokuta	Nigeria	Africa	532,967
135	Pietermaritzburg	South Africa	Africa	527,023
136	Mekele	Ethiopia	Africa	524,025
137	Al Mahallah Al Kubra	Egypt	Africa	517,660
138	Uige	Angola	Africa	510,742
139	Rustenburg	South Africa	Africa	509,479
140	Gombe	Nigeria	Africa	508,686
141	Kikwit	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Africa	507,573
142	El Djelfa	Algeria	Africa	503,508
143	Tanta	Egypt	Africa	501,534

Africa Climate

Due to its wide extent, the continent’s climate is strongly influenced by the tropics and the equator. On the mainland it is very hot, dry or desert climates combine with dry and humid tropical and equatorial climates. In the far north and south of Africa there is a Mediterranean climate.

Africa Languages

Over 2,000 languages ​​are spoken in Africa. Besides Arabic, the most widely used languages ​​are Swahili and Haussa, each spoken by more than 10 million people. The other languages ​​are spoken by a few thousand people and only about a dozen languages ​​reach the million mark.

Half of all Africans are younger than 15 years. This means that Africa has the highest proportion of young people in the world. However, only three in 100 people will live to be 65 or older.

The African Sahara is the largest desert in the world. With an area of ​​over 9 million square kilometers, it is larger than the entire Australian continent.

Africa is the continent with the most states: 54 in total.

In Western Sahara, the country in the west of the continent, only one person lives per km2. This makes it the country with the lowest population density in the world.

The oldest evidence of human life – footprints left in volcanic ash – were found near Laetoli near the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania.

Africa has a total of 54 countries – that is more countries than the other continents have! So that you always know which country is where in Africa, they have been divided into the following 5 different areas:

• North Africa
• East Africa
• West Africa
• Central Africa
• Southern Africa