North Africa

American  

[nawrth af-ri-kuh] / ˈnɔrθ ˈæf rɪ kə /

noun

1. the northern part of Africa, especially the region north of the tropical rainforest and comprised of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and that part of Egypt west of the Gulf of Suez.

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North Africa British  

noun

1. the part of Africa between the Mediterranean and the Sahara: consists chiefly of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and N Egypt

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Other Word Forms

• North African adjective

Etymology

Origin of North Africa

First recorded in 1840–45

Example Sentences

Twenty-two migrants hoping to reach Europe from North Africa have died off the coast of Greece after six days at sea in a rubber boat, survivors told the Greek coastguard Saturday.

From Barron's • Mar. 28, 2026

Temperatures are warming up quickly across North Africa and the Mediterranean and with any southerly wind in the UK, that air is drawn up from the south, boosting our temperatures.

From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026

Asia drove the rise in vinyls and CDs, while these formats were almost non-existent in the North Africa and Middle East market, where streaming accounts for 97.5 percent of revenue.

From Barron's • Mar. 18, 2026

Using Helium-3 data from six K/Pg boundary locations in Europe, North Africa, and the Gulf of Mexico, the team calculated improved sedimentation rates.

From Science Daily • Mar. 15, 2026

Most went to the Caribbean, but a few ended up as far away as North Africa.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann