Largest country in Africa by size and population
Covering over 30 million square kilometers (over 20 percent of our planet’s land area), Africa is one of the biggest continents in the world. It is actually the second one after Asia. What is the largest country in Africa? It is always better to rank countries by the size of land they cover or by population. So let us look closer at this continent and the size of the countries in it.
When someone asks you what the largest country in Africa is, you should ask the person to clarify this question. Some countries in Africa are huge based on their territories. Others are large based on the number of citizens. Since there are over 50 sovereign and 10 non-sovereign regions here, you will have to provide two separate answers, and we will outline them below.
The biggest country in Africa by land size
The answer to the question ‘What is the largest country in Africa by territory’ used to be Sudan. This African country was occupying approximately two and a half (2.5) million square kilometers and was indeed the biggest land wise before 2011. Then, 7 years ago, Sudan split into two republics of South Sudan and Sudan.
Today Algeria boasts the biggest territory in Africa. It has nearly 2.4 million square kilometers with most of this huge area being the Sahara Desert. By most, we mean nearly 90 percent. Just like Sudan, Algeria is located in the Northern part of the continent.
Top 3 largest African territories:
- Algeria (2.38 sq.km)
- DR Congo (2.34 sq.km)
- Sudan (1.86 sq.km)
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Most populous country in Africa
Having the biggest territory, Algeria cannot be named the most populous nation on the continent. It only has about 40 million people and places the 9th place in the rank of the countries with the largest population in Africa.
So which is the largest country in Africa by population? It is Nigeria. This country is located in Western part of the continent and has a territory of less than 924,000 square kilometers placing it in the 14th place by land size and the 1st place by population size. Nigeria has a population of over 190 million people at the beginning of 2018. This is nearly 5 times more than Algeria.
Top 3 biggest African countries by population:
- Nigeria (over 190 million)
- Ethiopia (about 102 million)
- Egypt (over 95 million)
Now you know what the biggest countries in Africa are by size of the territory they cover and a there population.
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Source: Legit.ng