Africa in the Rankings
Africa’s rankings on RList run from people to forests. Nigeria is its most populous country, the DR Congo has the most forest (and loses the most each year), Morocco leads in internet access, and Lake Tanganyika is its deepest lake, second only to Baikal worldwide.
Its world #1s come from speed: Kenyan runners hold both the men’s and the women’s marathon world records, and the cheetah, found mostly in Africa, is the fastest land animal. Facts here are as of October 2026.
Rankings about Africa
Each ranking and who leads it.
| Ranking | Leader | Figure | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Most Populous Countries in Africa | #1 Nigeria | 242.4MPopulation | Geography & Countries |
| Internet Access in Africa 2026: Countries Ranked | #1 Morocco | 92.2%Internet penetration | Tech & AI |
| The Big Tech Projects Connecting Africa in 2026 | First pick 2Africa | Tech & AI | |
| The Most Forested Countries in Africa | #1 DR Congo | 126.16Forest 2020 (million ha) | Geography & Countries |
| The African Countries Losing the Most Forest | #1 DR Congo | 1,101,400Net loss per year (ha) | Geography & Countries |
| African Countries That Drive on the Left | First pick Botswana | Geography & Countries | |
| The Deepest Lakes in Africa | #1 Lake Tanganyika | 1,470 mMax Depth | Geography & Countries |
No matching rows.
World #1s from Africa
Worldwide rankings whose #1 is in Africa.
| Ranking | #1 | Where | Figure |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Fastest Marathon Times in History | Sabastian Sawe | Kenya | 1:59:30Time (h:mm:ss) |
| The Fastest Land Animals on Earth | Cheetah | Africa (and Iran) | 104 km/hTop speed |
No matching rows.
All 7 rankings
The Deepest Lakes in Africa
Tanganyika plunges 1,470 m — and giant Lake Victoria misses the cut.
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African Countries That Drive on the Left
Fourteen African countries and two British island territories keep left. Here is every one, with the borders where drivers have to switch to the right.
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The African Countries Losing the Most Forest
Average annual net forest loss over 2010–2020 from FAO's Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020: DR Congo lost about 1.1 million hectares a year, twice as much as Angola.
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The Most Forested Countries in Africa
African countries ranked by total forest area in FAO's Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020, with each country's 1990 figure to show three decades of change. DR Congo holds 126.2 million hectares, almost twice as much as second-placed Angola.
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Internet Access in Africa 2026: Countries Ranked
Morocco, Libya and Seychelles lead a continent where most people are still offline — Africa's most connected countries, ranked by the share of their population using the internet.
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The Big Tech Projects Connecting Africa in 2026
Subsea cables, satellite constellations and cloud regions: a roundup of the projects Meta, Google, SpaceX, Amazon, Microsoft and others are using to bring the internet to Africa.
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The Most Populous Countries in Africa
54 nations, one continent, wildly different numbers.
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