↗ Africa is both a continent and a geopolitical grouping of 54 countries. Its main regional organisation– the African Union (AU) – is headquartered in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. The AU includes all the countries on the African continent, as well the island states in the Atlantic (São Tomé and Príncipe, Cabo Verde) and the western Indian Ocean (Mauritius, Seychelles, Comoros and Madagascar).

Africa is diverse. Hundreds of languages are spoken across the region – Hausa, Bambara, Arabic, Twi, Amharic and more. Languages of former colonial powers, including English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and German, are also amongst the official languages for most African countries.