Introduction

In geography, the study of human population is concerned with the total number of people occupying any unit area.  It is important to note that population characteristics are dynamic not static.
Population: 780,000,000 people; Population density: 25 per square kilometres; population structure: 65% rural and 35% urban; Life expectancy 42.1%
Africa has about a population of about 780 million. About 597 million people live south of the Sahara. About two-thirds of all Africa live in rural villages.  The rest live in cities and towns.  Africa has the highest yearly growth rate of 3.0 %, followed by south America, (1.9%) , Asia (1.8%), North America (1.2%), Australia(1.1%) and Europe(0.2%).
About 597 million people live south of the Sahara. About two-thirds of all Africa live in rural villages. The rest live in cities and towns
If all the people of Africa were evenly distributed throughout the continent, there would be only 25 people per square kilometre. But Africa’s population is far from evenly distributed. Large areas of the Sahara and other desert regions have no people at all. Some dry grassland and the tropical forests are also very thinly settled. On the other hand, certain areas are greatly overcrowded. The Nile River valley in Egypt is one of the most heavily populated regions on earth. It has an average of about 1550 people per square kilometre.
Other heavily populated areas include sections of Mediterranean Coast, parts of Nigeria and the west coast, the lake region of Eastern Africa and the South East Coast.
Africa’s population is increasing rapidly partly because improvements in medical care for children. Another reason for the rapid increase is a high birth rate-that is the number of births in a given year per 1000 people. Africa’s rate of 41 births per 1000 people is higher than the world average. But Africa’s death rate- that is the number of deaths in a given year per 1000 people- is also higher than the world rate. The rate in Africa is 13 deaths per 1000 people.
The average life expectancy- that is, the average number of years a group of expect to live-is about 53 years for Africa, compared with about 76 years for Americans. However, life expectancy is much lower than the average in the poorer countries of Africa. For example life expectancy in Malawi is 40 years and in Uganda is 39 years. In the more developed nations of Africa, life expectancy is higher than the average for the continent. For example in Libya, life expectancy is 64 years, and in Tunisia, 73 years.
Several reasons account for Africa’s high death rate. People in many parts of the continent suffer from malnutrition. Over the years, terrible famines have countless people especially in regions bordering the Sahara. In addition, poor sanitation and inadequate medical services contribute to wide spread disease.