how many countries make up the africa continent
Africa Africa is the world's second largest and second most-populous continent (behind Asia in both categories). At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million squareÂ miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area and 20% of its land area.[3] With 1.2 billion people[1] as of 2016, it accounts for about 16% of the world's human population. The continent is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The continent includes Madagascar and various archipelagos. It contains 54 fully recognised sovereign states (countries), nine territories and two de facto independent states with limited or no recognition.[4] The majority of the continent and its countries are in the Northern Hemisphere, with a substantial portion and number of countries in the Southern Hemisphere.
Sub-Saharan Africa According to the 2017 revision of the World Population Prospects[60], the population of sub-Saharan Africa was 995,694,907 in 2016. The current growth rate is 2.3%. The UN predicts for the region a population between 1.5 and 2 billion by 2050[61] with a population density of 80 per km2 compared to 170 for Western Europe, 140 for Asia and 30 for the Americas.