Largest Countries in Africa by Area
The fifteen biggest African countries ranked by total land area in square kilometres.
| Rank | Country | Area | Region |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Algeria | 2,381,741 km² | North Africa |
| 2 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 2,344,858 km² | Central Africa |
| 3 | Sudan | 1,861,484 km² | North Africa |
| 4 | Libya | 1,759,540 km² | North Africa |
| 5 | Chad | 1,284,000 km² | Central Africa |
| 6 | Niger | 1,267,000 km² | West Africa |
| 7 | Angola | 1,246,700 km² | Central Africa |
| 8 | Mali | 1,240,192 km² | West Africa |
| 9 | South Africa | 1,221,037 km² | Southern Africa |
| 10 | Ethiopia | 1,104,300 km² | East Africa |
| 11 | Mauritania | 1,030,700 km² | West Africa |
| 12 | Egypt | 1,001,449 km² | North Africa |
| 13 | Tanzania | 945,087 km² | East Africa |
| 14 | Nigeria | 923,768 km² | West Africa |
| 15 | Namibia | 825,615 km² | Southern Africa |
Africa's Geography in Context
Africa is the world's second-largest continent, and its largest countries are continental in scale. Algeria alone is larger than Greenland; the Democratic Republic of the Congo is nearly as large as Western Europe. Yet many of Africa's largest countries by area have relatively modest populations because vast tracts are desert (Sahara) or rainforest (Congo Basin).
The list below ranks African countries by total land area, from largest to fifteenth-largest.