From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The African Union in location to the rest of the world.
The
African Union
covers almost the entirety of continental
Africa
and several off-shore islands. Consequently, it is wildly diverse, including the world's largest hot
desert
(the
Sahara
), huge
jungles
and
savannas
, and the world's longest river (the
Nile
).
Overview
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The AU presently has an area of 29,922,059 square kilometres (11,552,972 sq mi), with 24,165 square kilometres (9,330 sq mi) of coastline. The vast majority of this area is on
continental
Africa, while the only significant territory off the mainland is the island of
Madagascar
(
the world's fourth largest
), accounting for slightly less than 2% of the total.
Extreme points
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African Union at large
Northernmost
|
Ras ben Sakka
|
Tunisia
|
(37°21′ N)
|
Southernmost
|
Cape Agulhas
|
South Africa
|
(34°51'15"S)
[1]
|
Westernmost
|
Santo Antao
|
Cape Verde
|
(25°25'W)
|
Easternmost
|
Rodrigues
|
Mauritius
|
(63°30'E)
|
Most distant point from the coastline
|
African pole of inaccessibility
|
![South Sudan](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/Flag_of_South_Sudan.svg/23px-Flag_of_South_Sudan.svg.png) |
near the town
Obo
.
|
Highest point above land
|
Mount Kilimanjaro
|
Tanzania
|
5,895 m (6,447 yd)
|
Lowest point below sea level
|
Lake Asal
|
Djibouti
|
?156 m (?171 yd)
|
Longest River
|
Nile
|
|
6,650 km (4,130 miles) long
|
Deepest Lake
|
Lake Tanganyika
|
![Zambia](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/06/Flag_of_Zambia.svg/23px-Flag_of_Zambia.svg.png) |
1,470 m (4,820 ft) deep
|
Largest lake by area
|
Lake Victoria
|
![Kenya](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/49/Flag_of_Kenya.svg/23px-Flag_of_Kenya.svg.png) |
68,800 km
2
(26,600 sq mi)
|
Highest waterfall
|
Tugela Falls
|
South Africa
|
948 m (3,110 feet)
|
Largest Island
|
Madagascar Island
|
Madagascar
|
587,040 km2 (226,657 sq mi)
|
Countries bordering the African Union
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The AU has two land borders:
Morocco
borders the Spanish semi-enclaves of
Ceuta
,
Melilla
, and
Penon de Velez de la Gomera
and
Egypt
's
Sinai Peninsula
borders the
Gaza Strip
for 11 km (6.8 mi) and
Israel
for 400 km (248 mi) on its western frontier. Since it is
Asian
, the Sinai is the only territorial region of the AU on another geopolitical
continent
.
Previous borders
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OAU member states by the decade they joined.
The AU is the successor to the
Organisation of African Unity
, an
international organization
that gradually included
sovereign
African
states
as the continent was
decolonized
. The membership of the African Union, and consequently its borders, have not changed since its founding.
Founding of the OAU: May 25 ? December 13, 1963
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- The Gambia
? Surrounded by
Senegal
.
- Guinea-Bissau
? A dependent area of
Portugal
, joined on November 19, 1973, prior to internationally recognized independence, bordering
Guinea
to the east and south, and Senegal to the north.
- Kenya
? A
colony
of the
United Kingdom
at the time, Kenya joined on December 13, 1963, the day after its independence. It is bordered by
Ethiopia
to the north,
Somalia
to the east,
Tanzania
to the south,
Uganda
to the west, and
Sudan
to the northwest.
- Malawi
? A colony of the United Kingdom at the time, Malawi joined on July 13, 1964, one week after independence.
- Portugal
? At the time,
Angola
was a
province
, with the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
to its north; the
Cabinda
enclave
is surrounded by the
Republic of the Congo
to its north and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on its east and south. Angola joined on February 11, 1975, prior to its internationally recognized independence.
- Spain
? Enclaves of
Ceuta
and
Melilla
are surrounded by Morocco;
Spanish Sahara
was a
province
at the time, to the south.
Equatorial Guinea
was also a province, bordering
Cameroon
to the north and
Gabon
to the east and south.
- Zambia
? A colony of the United Kingdom at the time, Zambia joined the AU in October, 1965, after gaining independence on October 24, the year prior. The Democratic Republic of the Congo and
Tanzania
lie to the north.
December 13, 1963 ? July 13, 1964
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]
July 13 ? December 16, 1964
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]
December 16, 1964 ? October 1965
[
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]
- Zambia joins the OAU. It bordered the following territories to the south:
- Botswana
? A
colony
of the United Kingdom at the time, Botswana joined the OAU on October 31, 1966; it achieved independence the September 30 prior.
- South West Africa
? A colony of the United Kingdom under the mandate of
South Africa
, the territory wouldn't become independent until March 21, 1990, as
Namibia
. It joined the OAU in June of that year.
- Zimbabwe
? A colony of the United Kingdom at the time, Zimbabwe joined the OAU in June, 1980; it achieved independence as
Rhodesia
on November 11, 1965.
October 31, 1965
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- The Gambia joins the OAU.
October 31, 1966 ? July 13, 1964
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- Botswana and Lesotho join the OAU. The bordered:
- South Africa ? While independent, South Africa was ruled under the system of
apartheid
, and was ineligible and uninterested in membership. Following a democratic revolution in 1994, it joined the OAU that June 6; becoming the most recent member. It bordered Botswana to the south and is perforated by Lesotho.
August 1968 ? September 24, 1968
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September 24, 1968 ? October 12, 1968
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October 12, 1968 ? November 19, 1973
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November 19, 1973 ? February 11, 1975
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- Guinea-Bissau
joins the OAU. At the time, it was still considered a dependency of Portugal. It gained independence on September 10, 1974.
February 11 ? July 18, 1975
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]
- Angola
joins the OAU. At the time, it was still considered a dependency of Portugal. It gained independence on November 11, 1975.
July 18 ? February 27, 1976
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]
Cape Verde
,
Comoros
,
Mozambique
, and
Sao Tome and Principe
join the OAU.
February 27 ? June 29, 1976
[
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]
June 29, 1976 ? June 27, 1977
[
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]
June 27, 1977 ? June 1980
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- Djibouti
becomes independent of France and joins the OAU.
June 1980 ? February 22, 1982
[
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]
Zimbabwe
joins the OAU.
February 22, 1982 ? November 12, 1984
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]
- The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic joins the OAU. It does not participate in the next two summits, due to pressure from Morocco.
November 12, 1984 ? March 21, 1990
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- Morocco leaves the OAU; leaving no border with Spain.
March 21 ? June 1990
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]
- Namibia
becomes independent of the South African mandate.
June 1990 ? May 24, 1993
[
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]
May 24, 1993 ? June 6, 1994
[
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]
- Eritrea
becomes independent from Ethiopia and joins the OAU.
June 6, 1994 ? 2011
[
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]
- South Africa joins the OAU after the fall of
apartheid
.
2011 ? January 30, 2017
[
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]
January 30, 2017 ? present
[
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]
- Morocco
readmitted, moving the border to Spain.
References
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Sovereign states
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States with limited
recognition
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Dependencies and
other territories
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