Geography of the African Union

Life in the African Union

Member states of the African Union (AU) cover almost the entirety of continental Africa and several off-shore islands. Consequently, the geography of the African Union is wildly diverse, including the world's largest hot desert (the Sahara), huge jungles and savannas, and the world's longest river (the Nile).

Contents

Overview

The AU presently has an area of 29,922,059 km² (18,592,705 mi²), with 24,165 km² (15,015 mi²) of coastline. The vast majority of this area is on continental Africa, while the only significant territory off the mainland is the island of Madagascar (the world's fourth largest), accounting for slightly less than 2% of the total.

Extreme points

African Union at large

Continental Africa

Countries bordering the African Union

The AU has two land borders: Algeria and Western Sahara[2] border Morocco on its east for 1,559 km (68 mi) and south for 443 km (275 mi) respectively, and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula borders the Gaza Strip for 11 km (6.8 mi) and Israel for 400 km (248 mi) on its western frontier. Since it is Asian, the Sinai is the only territorial region of the AU on another geopolitical continent.

Previous borders

The AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity, an international organization that gradually included sovereign African states as the continent was decolonized. The membership of the African Union, and consequently its borders, have not changed since its founding.

Founding of the OAU: May 25, 1963 - December 13, 1963

December 13, 1963-July 13, 1964

July 13, 1964-December 16, 1964

December 16, 1964-October, 1965

October, 1965-October 31, 1965

October 31, 1966-July 13, 1964

August, 1968-September 24, 1968

September 24, 1968-October 12, 1968

October 12, 1968-November 19, 1973

November 19, 1973-February 11, 1975

February 11, 1975-July 18, 1975

July 18, 1975-February 27, 1976

Cape Verde, Comoros, Mozambique, and São Tomé and Príncipe join the OAU.

February 27, 1976-June 29, 1976

June 29, 1976-June 27, 1977

June 27, 1977-June, 1980

June, 1980-February 22, 1982

Zimbabwe joins the OAU.

February 22, 1982-November 12, 1984

November 12, 1984-March 21, 1990

March 21, 1990-June, 1990

June, 1990-May 24, 1993

May 24, 1993-June 6, 1994

June 6, 1994-Present

References

  1. ^ If the Prince Edward Islands are included in Africa, then Marion Island is the southernmost point at 46°54'S.
  2. ^ The majority of Western Sahara is currently under military occupation by Morocco, with the rest administered by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR.) The AU recognizes the SADR as the sole legitimate government of Western Sahara.

Most geographic data comes from the CIA World Factbook, 2006 edition.