Sanitation and Wastewater Atlas of Africa

the Comoros, Seychelles, and the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe are among the most densely populated countries in Africa. On the mainland, Rwanda, Burundi, Nigeria, The Gambia, Uganda and Malawi have the highest population densities (PopulationPyramid.net 2019). In 2016, Africa’s urban population was estimated at 40 per cent, having increased from27 per cent nearly four decades prior (in 1980). The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) reports that the most urbanized countries on the continent are Algeria, Cabo Verde, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Gabon, Libya, Tunisia and South Africa (UNECA 2016). The proportion of the urban population in Africa’s most urbanized countries is shown in Figure 1.6.

Close to 60 per cent of Africa’s population live in rural areas

Population density

Tunisia

Morocco

Algeria

Libya

Egypt

Mauritania

Cabo Verde

Mali

Sudan

Niger

Chad

Eritrea

Senegal

Gambia

Burkina Faso

Djibouti

Guinea Guinea Bissau

Benin

Nigeria

Togo

Côte d’Ivoire

Ethiopia

Sierra Leone

South Sudan

Central African Rep.

Ghana

Liberia

Cameroon

Somalia

Equatorial Guinea

Uganda

Kenya

São Tomé e Príncipe

Gabon Congo

Burundi Rwanda

Seychelles

DR Congo

Inhabitants per km 2

Tanzania

> 600 350 - 500 100 - 350 50 - 100

Angola

Mozambique Malawi

Zambia

Zimbabwe

Mauritius

20 - 50 10 - 20 < 10

Madagascar

Namibia

Botswana

eSwatini

South Africa Lesotho

GRID-Arendal/Studio Atlantis 1 000 km

Source: UN DESA, 2017.

Figure 1.5 . Population density in 2017

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SANITATION AND WASTEWATER ATLAS OF AFRICA