Africa

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Surprisingly, in not so few countries on this continent, viticulture is also practised. In ancient times, the Phoenicians brought viticulture to Carthage near Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Around the capital of the Carthaginian Empire there were already 500 BC flourishing vineyards. In 2012, the area under vines covered 372,000 hectares, which is 5% of the world's surface area. Of these, 11.9 million hectolitres of wine were produced, which represents about 4% of the world production. Due to the predominant tropical and subtropical climate, viticulture is only possible in large parts of Africa in the climatically milder marginal zones in the north and south, with the vineyards often being located at altitudes above 1,000 metres above sea level. In tropical climates, the vine produces amazing yields, but these are mostly used as raisins or table grapes. The oldest African wine-growing country is Egypt, which is considered one of the cradles of viticulture, along with the ancient landscape of Mesopotamia. By far the most important winegrowing country today is South Africa. Other countries with less viticulture but at least table grape and raisin production are Algeria, Ethiopia, Cape Verde, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Morocco, Namibia, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Zimbabwe. See further country lists under the keywords Asia, Europe, New World and South America, as well as vineyards/hectolitres of all countries under Wine Production Quantities.

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Africa

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