Africa is a beautiful and varied continent, but going by what you see from the majority of photographs in the media, you’d be forgiven for thinking all that existed in each of its 54 countries was never ending savannahs and endless safaris.
This year a brilliant hashtag erupted on social media – #TheAfricaTheMediaNeverShowsYou – which aimed to break the perception that all African countries were the same – affected by poverty, war and hunger – and boy were the images powerful. Not only in their beauty and charm, but in their ability to say so much more about a subject than people were previously aware of.
It may be a cliché but sometimes an image really can speak a thousand words, and what was being said is this: Africa is a continent, like Europe or South America, and should be treated as such. In the same way that Iceland and Italy are seen as two entirely different European identities, Cameroon and Mozambique have their own customs, styles and ways of life too, which are often not shown!
That’s why this World Photography Day, we decided to trawl Instagram and gather the best citizen snaps we could from each country across the continent:
South Africa
Swaziland
Lesotho
Botswana
Namibia
Zimbabwe
Mozambique
Madagascar
Angola
Zambia
Tanzania
Malawi
Burundi
Rwanda
Democratic Republic of Congo
Congo
Gabon
Equatorial Guinea
Uganda
Kenya
Cameroon
Somalia
Ethiopia
Burkina Faso
Eritrea
Sudan
South Sudan
Egypt
Libya
Chad
Niger
Nigeria
Benin
Togo
Ghana
Cote d’Ivoire
Liberia
Sierra Leone
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Gambia
Senegal
A photo posted by National Geographic (@natgeo) on
Maurititana
The one-of-a-kind red sand deserts of Mauritania. Photo by @noor_info #mauritania #travel #traveling #vacation #visiting #instatravel #instago #instagood #trip #holiday #photooftheday #fun #love #travelling #tourism #tourist #instapassport #igers #landscape #instatraveling #mytravelgram #travelgram #beautiful #like #travelingram #igtravel #beautifuldestinations #wonderful_places A photo posted by An African Paradise (@an_african_paradise) on
Morocco
On the road to Huceima #trip #travel #morocco #hoceima #goodtimes A photo posted by Ramulus (@ramlaabi) on
Algeria
O dağlar hep Cezayir #elkef #lakasbah #tunisia #algeria #sansfrontieres #tunus #cezayir #magrib A photo posted by Görkem Duru (@kafamdakikurbaga) on
Tunisia
Mali
She’s gorgeous, yes? {Find out what I’m REALLY doing in #Mali, today on the blog. Link in the profile.♥️} #Africa A photo posted by Maryam Montague (@mmontagueliving) on
Djibouti
#djibouti A photo posted by @sailor_ck on
Cabo Verde
Bien arrivée… 🚤💦🐟 #tarrafal #caboverde #mbemdifora #mbemdiforatravel A photo posted by Mélocy Semedo (@mbem_di_fora) on
Central African Republic
Comoros
Mauritius
Nénuphars géants dans le jardin de Pamplemousses à l’île Maurice. Giant water lilies in the garden of Pamplemousses in Mauritius. #mer #sea #bateau #boat #view #vue #catamaran #beach #croisiere #cruise #ilemaurice #mauritius #îles #island #beautiful #nofilter #port #harbor #voilier #yacht #soleil #sun #voyage #Travel #holiday #paradis #paradise #vacation # A photo posted by travel_steph (@travel_steph) on
São Tomé and Príncipe
Pico Cão Grande, Sao Tomé et Principe w/ @welooveliife | #Visiterlafrique #Saotome #Voyage #Africa #Travel A photo posted by @visiterlafrique on
Seychelles
SO awesome, right?!