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Africa

Africa (GB)
Africa (I)
África (ES)
Afrique (F)
África (PO)
Afrika (N)

The continent of Africa, with 54 countries, covers 30,221,532 km², which corresponds to around 20% of the world's total land area and has a population of around 1.4 billion. Viticulture is also practised in around a dozen countries. In ancient times, the Phoenicians brought viticulture to Carthage near Tunis in present-day Tunisia. There were already flourishing vineyards around the capital of the Carthaginian Empire in 500 BC. Due to the prevailing tropical and subtropical climate, viticulture is only possible in large parts of Africa in the climatically milder peripheral zones in the north and south, with vineyards often located at altitudes of over 1,000 metres above sea level. The grapevine produces astonishing yields in tropical climates, with several harvests a year, although these are mostly used for the production of sultanas or table grapes.

Afrika - Landkarte

The oldest African wine-growing country is Egypt, which, along with the ancient landscape of Mesopotamia, is considered one of the cradles of viticulture. The most important wine-growing country today is South Africa. Other countries with smaller wine-growing areas are Algeria, Ethiopia, Cape Verde, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Morocco, Namibia, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Tunisia and Uganda.

Vineyards and wine production

In 2022, the area under vines worldwide totalled 7,254,512 hectares, which at around 73,000 km² is relatively close to the size of Austria (84,000 km²). This refers to all uses such as wine, grape juice, table grapes and sultanas, including young vines that are not yet in production.

A total of around 80 million tonnes of grapes were harvested worldwide. Around 47% were wine grapes (table grapes 45%, sultanas 8%), of which 258 million hectolitres of wine were produced. This corresponds to 34.4 billion 0.75-litre bottles.

African countries accounted for 375,000 hectares of vineyards (5%) and 13 million hectolitres of wine (4%).

Vine belt

The geographical areas where quality viticulture is possible under optimal conditions and vines can thrive are known as the vine belt. This is where 95% of the most important areas are located. They lie from 40 to 50 degrees north and from 30 to 40 degrees south. However, there are also vineyards in between, mostly in higher areas. The criteria for the suitability of a region for viticulture are referred to as viticultural suitability.

Rebengürtel - Weltkarte mit Weinbaugebieten

Further information

See further country lists under America, Equator, Asia, Europe, European Union, New World, Oceania, South America, Tropics and USA, as well as a table of all countries under Wine production volumes (vineyard areas and wine volumes).

Vine belt: Der Winzer 1 - Viticulture, Ulmer Verlag 2019, 4th edition
Map: by TUBS - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

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Dr. Christa Hanten

For my many years of work as an editor with a wine and culinary focus, I always like to inform myself about special questions at Wine lexicon. Spontaneous reading and following links often leads to exciting discoveries in the wide world of wine.

Dr. Christa Hanten
Fachjournalistin, Lektorin und Verkosterin, Wien

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