Detailing more than 2,500 African placenames of all types, each entry identifies the country and, in most cases, geographical location. The name's origin and meaning follows, along with historical, topographical, and biological references. Cross references provide former names, alternate spellings, and alternate forms of current names.

In this extensively revised and enlarged edition of a work first published in 1994, many of the entries have been expanded or entirely rewritten, and the entries have increased in number from 2,000 to more than 2,500. Each placename's entry identifies the country and, in most cases, geographical location within the country. An account of the name's origin and meaning follows, along with appropriate historical, topographical, and biological references.