Where to look first.
A small, hand-picked set of destinations and data stories that we think best represent the continent right now. Refreshed periodically.
Featured destinations
All tourism →
Maasai Mara National Reserve
1,510 km² of open savanna in south-west Kenya — the northern half of the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem and the stage for the world's largest land migration.
Lake Nakuru National Park
Soda-water lake whose alkaline shallows draw flocks of pink flamingos, framed by yellow-fever acacias and cliffs of black-and-white colobus.
Mount Kenya
Africa's second-highest peak — 5,199 m of glacier ice on the equator. Trekking circuits ring three summits and pass alpine tarns above the moorland.
Lamu Fort
Heart of the UNESCO-listed Lamu Old Town. Coral-stone fort and library, with a sea-front of dhow boats and Swahili courtyards a thousand years old.
Fort Jesus
Sixteenth-century Portuguese fort on the Mombasa harbour, UNESCO-listed. The bastions trace four centuries of trade, conquest, and Swahili resistance.
Diani Beach
Seventeen kilometres of powder-white sand on the south coast, kitesurfing season Jun–Sep, and reef snorkelling year-round at Kisite-Mpunguti.
Featured indicators
All data →Maternal mortality rate
Number of women who die from pregnancy-related causes per 100,000 live births. The most-cited indicator of maternal health.
Under-5 mortality rate
Probability of a child born in a specified year dying before reaching the age of five, expressed per 1,000 live births.
Life expectancy at birth
Average number of years a newborn would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of birth stayed the same throughout life.
Total population
Total population — counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.
GDP
Gross domestic product at current US dollar market prices — the total value of all final goods and services produced in a country in a year.
Literacy rate
Percentage of people aged 15 and over who can both read and write a short, simple statement on their everyday life.
GDP per capita
Gross domestic product divided by mid-year population, expressed in current US dollars.
Fertility rate
Average number of children that would be born to a woman if she were to live to the end of her childbearing years.
Gender parity, primary & secondary
Ratio of female to male gross enrollment in primary and secondary education combined. 1.0 indicates parity.
Access to electricity
Share of the population with access to electricity, on-grid or off-grid.
Individuals using the internet
Share of population that has used the internet (from any device) in the last 3 months.
Malaria incidence
Estimated number of new malaria cases per 1,000 population at risk in a calendar year.
HIV prevalence (15-49)
Estimated percentage of adults aged 15-49 living with HIV.
Child stunting under 5
Percentage of children under 5 whose height-for-age is more than 2 standard deviations below the WHO Child Growth Standards median.
The whole continent, both halves.
Featured is a starting point. Tourism and Data each have hundreds of pages waiting after.