Africa contains the most countries that are members of the United Nations.
The continent is generally counted as having 54 UN member states, more than any other continent. These countries range from Egypt in the northeast to South Africa in the south and include island states such as Madagascar, Mauritius, and Cabo Verde. The exact count can vary in geographic discussions depending on how territories and disputed areas are treated.
Africa’s modern political borders were heavily shaped by European colonial rule, especially during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Most African states achieved independence during the twentieth century, with a major wave occurring in the 1950s and 1960s.
The African Union, founded in 2002, has 55 member states because it includes the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, whose status is disputed and which is not a UN member state. That difference explains why sources sometimes give 54 or 55 when discussing the continent’s countries. The UN count is the clearer basis for this question and avoids treating disputed membership as settled.