Countries of Africa

Lyrics

Verse I
(East) Uganda, Rwanda, Mozambique
Eritrea, Sudan, Burundi
Tanzania, Somalia, Ethiopia
Kenya, and Djibouti
(x2)

(South) Let's go to Lesotho and Swaziland,
and South Africa near Zimbabwe
Botswana, Namibia, Zambia
Angola, and Malawi
(x2)

Chorus
East, South, North, West
The continent of Africa, you don't gotta stress
East, South, North, West
We're naming all the countries, prepare to be impressed
(x2)

Verse II
(North) Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Mauritania
Libya and Morocco
(West) Ghana, Guinea, Chad, Togo, Senegal, The Gambia
Mali, and Burkina Faso

Nigeria, Liberia, Guinea (Equatorial)
Niger, and Sierra Leone
Benin, Cameroon, and Guinea-Bissau
The Ivory Coast and Gabon
(x2)

Chorus

Verse III
Central Africa is composed of three republics:
the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo,
and the Democratic Republic of Congo,formerly Zaire

If you think we're missing islands, don't get suspicious
There's Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius
We've got Seychelles, and Cape Verde
Sao Tome and Principe
(x2)

Chorus

PRONUNCIATIONS
Uganda / "yoo-GAN-duh"
Lesotho / "Leh-SOO-too"
Benin / "Beh-NEEN"
Seychelles / "say-SHELLZ"
Comoros / "CAH-muh-roze" (like "comma rose")
Sao Tome & Principe / "sow tuh-May and PRIN-si-puh"

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Description

This song teaches all the names of the countries in Africa, using rhymes to help memorize each country according to its region. The song breaks the continent of Africa into east, south, north, west, central, and island regions.

Note: We pronounce the countries as an english-speaker familiar with the African continent would. So, we do not say "oo-GAN-da" or "say-SHELL" even though that's how citizens of those countries might pronounce them.

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Related Reading and Activities

For Older Students
Sporcle.com
“The Countries of Africa” is an incredibly helpful game. It contains a map on which all the countries will be automatically located as you type them in the box at the top. All countries must be spelled correctly to appear in the map and the game is timed at 10:00 minutes! Great for spelling, memory, and class participation. (This is also fun for faculty to play!)

For Younger Students
Afroam.org
The Countries of Africa has good information on a number of African countries featured, complete with a map of the country, flag, location, and other interesting facts. The map is disappointingly small, but the facts are relevant. The main problem is that the background makes it difficult to read the information unless you print it to hard copy, which shows only text on a plain white background. The map is also incomplete and outdated: only 16 countries appear in detail on this site, and Zaire is still considered a country.

For All Students
Sheppard Software
Africa Geography Maps is a great website for students who have their own computer or for a classroom where computers or smartboards can involve all the students. You can work with the African continent as a whole or as individual countries. We advise teachers to play with it a bit to find out how it works. There are a lot of things to do on this site! Below is an overview of the most obvious. If you want to assign countries to students, or let someone earn a little extra credit, this is a good website to start with.

Level L is the tutorial/beginning Level. You can click on the map to learn the names of the countries (which are pronounced for you in a voiceover), or you can learn the names by clicking on the countries in the menu to learn their location on the map. An information box pops up as the country is entered and you have time to read all the information. You can move at your own pace in this game. This is a great tool to learn where the countries are located! No one should feel embarrassed to start here.

Level One has a map game that requires some knowledge of the Africa's geography in order to score well on the game. You can select which region you want to choose your countries from and don’t need to spell them correctly to find the answer. You can see your score as you advance.

Level Two has a map that requires you to drag and drop the geographical outline of a country onto the map of the continent. The distance is short and the map is large enough that it shouldn’t slow anyone down. It will correct you if you get it wrong, and give you a score at the end. It is a lot of fun, particularly for anyone who enjoys jigsaw puzzles! No spelling is required, and the names of countries are no longer pronounced for you.

Wikipedia.org
Wikipedia's resources on the territories and regions of Africa include pictures of flags, names of the capitols, the currency, official languages, etc. in a chart-like form that is easy to read and print out. You can click on each countries, region, and territory to read more about each one individually.

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State Standards

State standards listed here are representative of school standards across the United States.

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