Demographics of Africa

The population of Africa has grown quickly over the last hundred years. Because of this fast growth, many countries in Africa have a lot of young people. In some places, people don’t live as long as they do in other parts of the world. As of 2017, more than 1.25 billion people lived in Africa. The country with the most people is Nigeria, where about 191 million people lived in 2017. Nigeria’s population was also growing very fast.

Population growth

Further information: Projections of population growth and Human overpopulation

Further information: List of African countries by population

As of 2016, Africa’s population was about 1.225 billion people, which is 17% of all people in the world. Experts think that by 2050, Africa’s population could grow to 2.5 billion, and by 2100, it could reach nearly 4.5 billion.

Africa’s population grew quickly after the year 2000 because fewer babies died and people lived longer, but families still had many children. This fast growth can make it hard to build enough schools, hospitals, and homes. Some countries like Kenya and Zambia are working to help families plan how many children to have.

The biggest growth is happening in East Africa, Middle Africa, and West Africa. In Middle Africa, the number of people could grow by almost 7 times between 2000 and 2100. Southern Africa and North Africa will also grow, but not as fast.

Population estimates by region (in billions):

Health

Further information: HIV/AIDS in Africa

History of health care development in sub-Saharan Africa

In 1987, groups like UNICEF and the World Health Organization started the Bamako Initiative. This was a plan to help people get medicine more easily by letting communities help each other. The meeting happened in Bamako, the capital of Mali, and many African Ministers of Health attended. They talked about making healthcare better for everyone. This led to changes that made healthcare more available and fair for people in sub-Saharan Africa.

Source: World Population Prospects

Major health challenges

Sub-Saharan Africa has more health problems than many other places in the world.

Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is a big problem in the area. Not enough information is known about diabetes in these countries, which makes it hard to treat.

HIV/AIDS

In 2011, most people living with HIV/AIDS were in sub-Saharan Africa. Many programs have started to teach people about HIV/AIDS and help those who are sick. By 2012, many more people were getting treatment than in 2005, and fewer people were dying from AIDS.

Malaria

Malaria is a common illness in sub-Saharan Africa and causes many deaths.

Maternal and infant mortality

Many mothers and babies die during birth in sub-Saharan Africa, but things are getting better. More mothers are living longer, and fewer babies are dying. The African Union agreed to stop a harmful practice called female genital mutilation in 2003.

Babies in sub-Saharan Africa are more likely to die than babies in other parts of the world. Having educated mothers helps babies stay healthy. Babies living in rural areas are less likely to survive than babies living in cities.

Measles

Vaccines have been given to children in sub-Saharan Africa to stop measles from spreading.

Neglected tropical diseases

Neglected tropical diseases like hookworm infection make many people sick.

Non-communicable diseases

Some diseases that are not caught from others, like hypertension, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and obesity, are also causing problems in some countries such as South Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, and Ethiopia.

Onchocerciasis

Onchocerciasis ("river blindness") makes people lose their sight. Most people with this disease live in sub-Saharan Africa. A program started in 1995 to help control this disease.

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis makes many people sick, especially where HIV/AIDS is common.

National healthcare systems

Healthcare in Africa is different in each country. In Ghana, the government provides most healthcare through the Ministry of Health and Ghana Health Services. There are health posts, clinics, and hospitals to help people stay healthy.

Many doctors and nurses from Africa move to other countries, which makes it hard to provide good healthcare. Most people in Africa use traditional medicine because it can be more affordable than other treatments. Leaders in Africa are trying to decide how to best use both traditional and modern medicine to help everyone stay healthy.

Ethnicity

Main article: List of ethnic groups of Africa

Further information: Languages of Africa

Many people in Africa speak languages from the Niger–Congo family, especially the Bantu languages, which are common in southern, central, and southeast Africa. There are also Nilotic groups in South Sudan and East Africa, and the Swahili people live along the Swahili Coast. In southern and central Africa, you can find the San and Khoikhoi peoples, and in Central Africa, the Pygmy peoples.

In West Africa, people mainly speak Niger–Congo languages, with large groups like the Yoruba, Igbo, Fulani, Akan, and Wolof. In the central Sahara, the Mandinka or Mande groups are important. In North Africa, there are Berbers, Egyptians, Libyans, and Nilo-Saharan-speaking peoples. The Arabic language and culture came to the region with Muslim settlers in the 7th century.

In the Horn of Africa, Afro-Asiatic-speaking groups are common. Ethiopian and Eritrean groups such as the Amhara and Tigrayans speak Semitic languages, while the Oromo and Somali speak Cushitic languages. There are also Nilotic peoples in southern Ethiopia and Eritrea, and Bantu and Khoisan minorities in parts of southern Somalia.

Before decolonization, Europeans lived in many parts of Africa. After decolonization in the 1960s and 1970s, many European settlers left, especially from Algeria, Morocco, Kenya, Congo, Rhodesia, Mozambique, and Angola. Today, White Africans are a small minority in countries like South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Réunion. South Africa has the largest native European population in Africa.

During European colonization, many people from the Indian subcontinent came to British colonies in Africa. Large Indian communities are found in South Africa, with smaller groups in Kenya, Tanzania, and other countries. In Uganda, an Indian community was expelled in 1972 but many have returned. The islands in the Indian Ocean have many people of Asian origin mixed with Africans and Europeans. In Madagascar, the Malagasy people are a mix of Austronesian and native African groups, with coastal populations also having Bantu, Arab, Indian, and European ancestry. In South Africa, the Cape Coloureds are people with mixed origins from many races and continents. In recent years, many people from Hispanic countries like Mexico, Central America, Chile, Peru, and Colombia have moved to Africa, mostly living in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, and Ghana. Small but important communities of Lebanese and Chinese people have also developed in large coastal cities in West and East Africa.

Languages

Main article: Languages of Africa

Africa is home to many different languages. There are three big groups of languages that started in Africa: Niger–Congo languages in West, Central, Southeast and Southern Africa; Nilo-Saharan languages from Tanzania to Sudan and from Chad to Mali; and Khoisan languages mainly in the Kalahari Desert of Namibia and Botswana. There are also many smaller language groups and some languages that experts are still trying to figure out.

Other languages such as Afroasiatic languages are spoken in places like North Africa and the Horn of Africa. Languages from far away, like Austronesian languages in Madagascar and Indo-European languages in South Africa and Namibia, were brought to Africa by people from other parts of the world.

Africa has between 1,250 and 2,100 languages, with Nigeria alone having over 500. Some languages, like Swahili and Arabic, are used by many people to talk to each other across different groups.