Sub-Saharan Africa, Subsahara, or Non-Mediterranean Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the African countries and territories that are situated fully in that specified region, the term may also include polities that only have part of their territory located in that region, per the definition of the United Nations . This is considered a non-standardized geographical region with the number of countries included varying from 46 to 48 depending on the organization describing the region . The African Union uses a different regional breakdown, recognizing all 55 member states on the continent—grouping them into five distinct and standard regions.