How Big is Africa?

Very big.

Scroll down to the political map of Africa on the right hand side of the page. The distance between the most western point of Senegal and the most eastern point of Somalia in the Horn of Africa is over 4,000 miles, about the distance from New York City to Berlin, Germany. From Tunis to Capetown is more than 5,000 miles, the distance from New York City to Santiago, Chile. Very big.

Here’s another way of thinking about it: you could fit four continental United States into Africa and still have room left over.

Or, you could fit the United States, China, Europe, the British Isles, and India into the continent of Africa.

Here’s a map from Boston University's African Studies Center that fits in the United States, China, Europe, and Alaska with room to spare:

East Africa is big, too. It includes Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda. The United States, east of the Mississippi River, could fit into East Africa with only Florida sticking out.

Tanzania itself is big. You could fit Ohio and Pennsylvania into Tanzania and still have room for Texas.

On the other hand, Morogoro is small. You could fit Morogoro into Harrisonburg, Virginia, or Lancaster, PA, and still have plenty of room left over for shoofly pies and the entire Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival every spring.