North Africa consists of several countries. There is no universal agreement on which countries make up North Africa. The countries usually included on the list are Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia. Are North Africa list, see below, includes those countries along with South Sudan, Sudan, and Western Sahara; which is classified as a territory. On this page, besides the list of countries that make up North Africa, you will find lists of interesting facts about this region and the countries found there. This information, written for both kids and adults, includes what the main geographic features are of this region, what cultures can be found there, and how the Sahara Desert effected the history of Africa.
List of Countries in North Africa
Algeria
Egypt
Libya
Morocco
Tunisia
South Sudan
Sudan
Western Sahara (Territory)
Interesting North Africa Region Facts
The huge Sahara Desert, the largest desert in the world, has acted as a cultural barrier between North Africa and the rest of Africa. The people living in North Africa encountered, and were influenced by, numerous civilizations that inhabited areas around the Mediterranean Sea; such as the Greeks, Romans, and Arabs. The Sahara generally blocked this contact from spreading further south.
Stretching approximately 1,600 miles (2,500 kilometers) across Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia in northwestern Africa are the Atlas Mountains. These mountains separate the coastlines of the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea from the Sahara Desert.
The Nile River, the longest river in the world, stretches for approximately 4,160 miles (6,670 km), it flows through North Africa emptying into the Mediterranean Sea.
The world's first great civilization, ancient Egypt, was in North Africa. This civilization's origins are from around the Nile River Delta in modern day Egypt.
The dominant religion in North Africa is Islam.
Interesting North African Countries Facts
Algeria is the largest country in Africa and the 10th largest country in the world. This country covers approximately 919,595 square miles (2,381,740 square kilometers).
Algeria, despite being Africa's largest country, is mostly uninhabited. This is due to 90 percent of its territory being in the mostly uninhabitable Sahara Desert.
Libya's Mediterranean Sea coastline stretches for 1,099 miles (1,770 kilometers); the longest of any of the countries in North Africa.
Libya has the largest oil reserves in all of Africa.
Dating back to around 2,950 BC, ancient Egypt was the world's first great civilization. This civilization, located in northern Africa, lasted for more than 3,000 years.
Morocco is one of only three countries to have coastlines on both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea; France and Spain are the other two.
Casablanca, made famous by the Humphrey Bogart movie of the same name, is Morocco's largest city.
South Sudan, a severely poverty-stricken country, has the highest illiteracy rate in the entire world.
In July of 2011 South Sudan gained its independence from Sudan.
Although included on our North Africa countries list Western Sahara is really a territory and non-self-governing. This former Spanish colony has been at the center of a long-running territorial dispute between the indigenous people of this region and Morocco.
Cape Angela in Tunisia is the northernmost point in Africa.
The ongoing Sudan-Darfur conflict is considered the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Rebel groups in Darfur, a region in western Sudan, have been fighting with the government of Sudan since 2003. The Sudan government has been carrying out a campaign of genocide against Darfur's non-Arab population which has resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians.
