From Citizendium - Reading time: 2 min
Map of East African countries.
East Africa is the easterly region of that continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the United Nations scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute East Africa:
- Burundi [r]: A country of Central Africa, having borders with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Tanzania, as well as coast on Lake Tanganikya. [e]
- Djibouti [r]: Republic located along the north-east coast of Africa, adjacent to the Horn of Africa. [e]
- Eritrea [r]: Republic located along the north-east littoral of Africa, adjacent to the Horn of Africa and Red Sea. [e]
- Ethiopia [r]: Among the oldest countries of the world, from which Muslim-majority Eritrea split after a civil war; Coptic Christian-majority state in East Africa [e]
- Kenya [r]: A country of 38 million in East Africa. [e]
- Malawi [r]: Landlocked republic in Africa, located along the shores of Lake Malawi, and bounded north by Tanzania, south by Mozambique, and west by Zambia. [e]
- Rwanda [r]: A small landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of central Africa. [e]
- Somalia [r]: A country located in the Horn of Africa, bordering Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya on its southwest, the Gulf of Aden at its north, the Indian Ocean at its east, and Ethiopia to the west. [e]
- Tanzania [r]: A large coastal East African nation bordered by Kenya, Uganda, Congo and the Indian Ocean. [e]
- Uganda [r]: Landlocked republic in East Africa, located on the equator, bordering the northern and western shores of Lake Victoria. [e]
- Zambia [r]: Landlocked republic in southern part of Africa. Formerly North Rhodesia until independence from U.K. in 1964. [e]
- Zimbabwe [r]: A country located in Southern Africa bordering the countries of Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, and Zambia. [e]
Comoros, Mauritius, and Seychelles are small island nations in the Indian Ocean.