The African Union (AU) is a continental union of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The bloc was founded on 26 May 2001 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and launched on 9 July 2002 in Durban, South Africa. The intention of the AU was to replace the Organization of African Unity (OAU), established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa by 32 signatory governments; the OAU was disbanded on 9 July 2002. The most important decisions of the AU are made by the Assembly of the African Union, a semi-annual meeting of the heads of state and government of its member states.
Muammar Gaddafi embracing Tanzanian President Kikwete after assuming the chairmanship
Billboard in Niamey (Niger) announcing the 33rd AU Summit (2019)
Inaugural India–Africa Forum Summit held in New Delhi, 2008
Azali Assoumani, Chair of the African Union, with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the 2023 Russia–Africa Summit in St. Petersburg
Africa is the world's second largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surface area. With 1.4 billion people as of 2021, it accounts for about 18% of the world's human population. Africa's population is the youngest amongst all the continents; the median age in 2012 was 19.7, when the worldwide median age was 30.4. Despite a wide range of natural resources, Africa is the least wealthy continent per capita and second-least wealthy by total wealth, ahead of Oceania. Scholars have attributed this to different factors including geography, climate, tribalism, colonialism, the Cold War, neocolonialism, lack of democracy, and corruption. Despite this low concentration of wealth, recent economic expansion and the large and young population make Africa an important economic market in the broader global context.
The totality of Africa seen by the Apollo 17 crew
Lucy, an Australopithecus afarensis skeleton discovered in 1974 in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia's Afar Triangle
Saharan rock art in the Fezzan, Libya
Colossal statues of Ramesses II at Abu Simbel, Egypt, date from around 1250 BC.