Latin Africa refers to the linguistic and cultural region of African countries that speak a Romance Language. The languages spoken are primarily French and Portuguese. These countries either have a Romance language as an official language, or an administrative language. Increasingly, the Romance languages are being spoken as native languages in large metropolitan areas. Latin Africa has various sub-divisions, including the largest sections that are Francophone African and Lusophone Africa.
The term was first used by Andre Fribourg in 1922, with his book "L'Afrique latine". In this book, this term only referred to Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.
The term was later used by Barthélémy Boganda in the 1950s. His idea of a united group of Romance speaking nations was called the United States of Latin Africa. While the term was not widely used after his death, in the early 2020's, the term has been picked up by YouTubers and online commentators. This was in response to social media backlash regarding who is and who isn't 'Latino".
The name Latin Africa was also used by Fidel Castro, in an attempt to draw similarities between Cuba and Angola.
The terminology has also been used in comparison to Latin America by academics.
Other international organizations, such as the Latin Union, have given support for this term as they included Romance Language speaking countries in Africa in the organization.
Francophone Africa +CountryTotal PopulationRomance Language Speaking PopulationTotal PercentageYearAlgeria47,435,00015,589,00032.86%2025Benin14,814,0004,992,00033.7%2025Burkina Faso24,075,0005,499,00022.84%2025Burundi14,390,0001,250,0008.68%2025 Cabo Verde527,00052,00010.83%2025Cameroon29,879,00012,267,00041.06%2025Central African Republic5,513,0001,345,00024.39%2025Chad21,004,0002,693,00012.82%2025Comoros883,000333,00037.73%2025Congo6,484,0003,981,00061.4%2025Côte d'Ivoire32,712,00011,913,00036.42%2025Djibouti1,184,000592,00050%2025DR Congo112,832,00057,196,00050.69%2025 Egypt118,366,0003,573,0003.02%2025 Equatorial Guinea1,938,000560,00028.91%2025Gabon2,593,0001,719,00066.3%2025 Gambia2,822,000564,00020.00%2025 Ghana35,064,000645,0001.84%2025Guinea15,100,0004,202,00027.83%2025 Guinea-BissauMadagascar32,741,0008,705,00026.59%2025Mali25,199,0005,028,00019.95%2025Mauritania5,315,000689,00012.96%2025Mauritius1,268,000921,00072.65%2025Morocco38,431,00013,912,00036.2%2025Niger27,918,0003,754,00013.45%2025Rwanda14,569,000748,0005.14%2025 São Tomé and PríncipeSenegal18,932,0005,250,00027.73%2025Seychelles133,00070,00053.00%2025Togo9,722,0003,998,00041.12%2025Tunisia12,349,0006,558,00053.11%2025
Lusophone Africa +CountryPopulationArea (km2)GDP (nominal) per capitaPercentage of Lusophones Angola35,678,5721.247.0001.953,5371% Cape Verde587,9254.0333.293,2387% Equatorial Guinea1,468,77728.05014.637,01Unknown Guinea-Bissau2,095,88736.126795,1257% Mozambique20,069,738801.590466,55760% São Tomé and Príncipe204,454963.5526,791%Total60,105,3532,117,76221,672,147
Hispanophone Africa CountryPopulationSize (km2)CapitalPercentage of Spanish speaking populationGDPHDIEquatorial Guinea1.468.77728.051Malabo87%25.988145Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic513.000266.000El Aaiún25.98820
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