list > geography 

Africa

The countries in boldface are the ones our kids have decided are optimal for quickly getting bearings on a map. Think of a famous (European) example: Italy. It’s shaped like a boot, it juts out into the Mediterranean Sea, and it’s easy to find on a map. If you can locate Italy, then you can begin to easily locate many other countries to the north and south. Same thing with these regions. The boldface countries are ones we’ve found easiest to locate on a map, within each region, and thereby more easy to locate other countries in proximity.

Note : these are taken from the United Nations geoschemes for Africa

Northern Africa

Algeria
Egypt
Libya
Morocco
Sudan
Tunisia
Western Sahara

Western Africa

Benin
Burkina Faso
Cape Verde
The Gambia
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Ivory Coast
Liberia
Mali
Mauritania
Niger
Nigeria
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Togo

Central (Middle) Africa

Angola
Cameroon
Central African Republic
Chad
Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Equatorial Guinea
Gabon
Sao Tome and Principe