January 2023 Africa Trivia Quiz

Happy New Year! January 2023’s continental quiz is a continuation of the Africa GeoQuiz in December of last year. After testing your African trivia prowess, you can further test your geographic knowledge (↗) with other geography quizzes from GeoFact of the Day. The answers are listed below; enjoy and good luck!

1)      Fill in the blank: _________ from desert land in present-day MALI was once so highly prized that an ounce of this resource carried the same value as an ounce of gold!
A — sand
B — salt
C — pepper

2)      True or false: the Olduvai Gorge, Serengeti grassland region, and Mount Kilimanjaro are all notable landscape features of northern UGANDA.

3)      The naming (etymology) of BURKINA FASO translates in English to “land of the honest men” as well as “land of the _________.”
A — liars
B — incorruptible
C — brazen

4)      Fill in the blank: tucked in the northeast corner of EQUATORIAL GUINEA, Ebebiyín is a “corner city” of about 36,000 residents near _________ as well as GABON.
A — CAMEROON
B — DJIBOUTI
C — LESOTHO
D — MADAGASCAR

5)      MAURITIUS is one of the first countries around the globe to convert a relatively unconventional material to generate electricity. Steam turbines powered by this crop produce up to one fifth (1/5) of the island’s electricity during the annual harvest season! Which crop is especially used in Mauritius for energy needs?
A — broccoli
B — sugarcane
C — plantains
D — guava, mangoes, and papaya

6)      True or false: Lake Togo gave the country of TOGO its name. Togo is derived from the Ewe word togodo, meaning “behind the lake.”

7)      One provincial name in SOUTH AFRICA translates from the Sotho language into English as the “place of gold.” Which is the correct province?
A — Gauteng
B — Kwazulu-Natal
C — Western Cape



















ANSWERS

Question 1:
B . . . . . salt

Question 2:
False . . . . . northern Tanzania

Question 3:
B . . . . . incorruptible

Question 4:
A . . . . . Cameroon

Question 5:
B . . . . . sugarcane

Question 6:
True

Question 7:
A . . . . . Gauteng

Mauritius Independence Day

People all across MAURITIUS recently celebrated their country's Independence Day on Friday, March 12th. Mauritius achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1968. Happy belated Independence Day!

Mauritius is Known for...

●    Fluffy casuarina trees
●    Honeymoons
●    Its sugarcane industry
●    Sunday picnics
●    Smoked marlin
●    Environmental beauty
●    White-sand beaches

Most items were listed in The Africa Book; the MLA citation is below. What are other "trademarks" of this African country? Feel free to share your thoughts with a comment!

Phillips et al. The Africa Book: A Journey through Every
          Country in the Continent. Lonely Planet, 2007.

— #AfricaWeek —

Mauritius Exports

According to MIT's Observatory of Economic Complexity (atlas.media.mit.edu), the following items are major exports of MAURITIUS: aircraft parts, aluminum and iron structures, leather apparel, animal food, baked goods, bandages and other medical supplies, beverages, broadcasting equipment, brooms, cases and trunks, clocks and watches, computers, cut flowers, delivery trucks, diamonds, dried legumes, excavation machinery, fertilizer, fish and palm oil, fishing and hunting equipment, flour, furniture, horses, jewelry, pearls, leather footwear, malt grain, medical instruments, molasses, paper products, pasta, pesticides, plastic, refined petroleum, rice, scrap vessels, seafood, sugar, suits and tee shirts, sweaters, telephones, tobacco, tropical fruit, vanilla, watch straps, and wheat. According to the International Monetary Fund (data.imf.org), countries and territories buying and importing most of those exports (February 2017 statistics) include France (top importer), the United Kingdom, the United States, Madagascar, South Africa, Italy, Spain, Vietnam, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, China, Switzerland, Taiwan, Germany, Kenya, Japan, Singapore, Belgium, Seychelles, and Portugal.

Mauritius Quiz

See if you can answer these MAURITIUS-related quiz questions without the help of literary resources and the Internet. Answers are provided at the end...good luck!

1)      Which of the following is not a town or city in Mauritius?
A — Pamplemousses
B — Port Louis
C — Terre Haute

2)      According to 2012 data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (↗) website, what percentage of Research and Development (R&D) employees are women?
A — 10%
B — 25%
C — 40%
D — 74%

3)      According to 2015 data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (↗) website, what is Mauritius' literacy rate — percent of people who can read and write — among children and young adults who are 15 to 24 years old?
A — 98.72%
B — 55.47%
C — 77.51%
D — 68.98%

4)      "You gather the idea that Mauritius was made first and then heaven was copied after Mauritius." This quote can be attributed to which 19th-century American author and publisher?
A — Bernie Babcock
B — Mark Twain
C — Walt Whitman
D — James Grant Wilson

5)      Located on a peninsula in the southwestern part of Mauritius island, the UNESCO-inscribed Le Morne Cultural Landscape (↗) features rugged terrain, steep cliffs, and deep forests. What kinds of people favored this area to escape to a tranquil, sparsely-populated place?
A — artists and authors
B — escaped inmates
C — biologists
D — runaway slaves

















ANSWERS
Question 1:
C . . . . . Terre Haute

Question 2:
C . . . . . 40% (40 percent)

Question 3:
A . . . . . 98.72

Question 4:
B . . . . . Mark Twain

Question 5:
D . . . . . runaway slaves

Want more posts like this one? Let me know with a comment below — thanks!

Mauritius Endangered Species

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ for MAURITIUS in Southeast Africa and the Indian Ocean lists 81 critically endangered species and 54 endangered species. These are large numbers for a rather small country, although Mauritius is known to be a biodiverse hotspot with plenty of low-population species. Some critically endangered species include the Bojer's Skink, Bottle Palm, Madagascar Fish Eagle, Mauritius Olive White-eye bird, Réunion Petrel, Rodrigues Flying Fox, and Zanthoxylum heterophyllum tree. Endangered species include the Abbott's Booby bird, Barau's Petrel, Common Rorqual, Dark-mantled Sotty Albatross, Günther's Gecko, Mascarene (Echo) Parakeet (population is steadily increasing), and Wattle-necked Softshell Turtle. Living species named after Mauritius include the Blue Mauritius Angelfish, Mauritius Bulbul bird, Mauritius Cuckoo Shrike, Mauritius Fody, Mauritius Kestrel, and Mauritius Swiflet.

Mauritius Extinct Species

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ for MAURITIUS in Southeast Africa and the Indian Ocean lists 46 extinct species — the largest number I have so far encountered in compiling these extinct and endangered species posts. Despite Mauritius' relatively tiny land area, populations of many species living (or that once lived) in this biodiverse island country have been rigorously studied — hence why biologists have concluded that Mauritius has many extinct species that once lived on its land. As listed below, most extinct species are birds.

Last living on Earth in the 1600s, the flightless Dodo bird is arguably one of the most well-known extinct species in the world. These birds could not adequately adapt to settlers and their land misuse, including the introduction of "predatory" pigs. Other extinct species include the following: Dark Flying Fox, Mauritian Duck, Mauritian Shelduck, Mauritius Blue Pigeon, Mauritius Grey Parrot, Mauritius Night Heron, Mauritius Owl, Mauritius Parrot, Mauritius Turtle Dove, Mauritius Woodpigeon, Red Rail, Rodrigues Blue Pigeon, Rodrigues Parakeet, Rodrigues Solitaire (related to Dodo birds), and Round Island Burrowing Boa snake.

Independence Day in Mauritius

March 12th marks the 48th anniversary of MAURITIUS gaining its independence from the United Kingdom in 1968. Mauritians are celebrating National Day with festivities and feasts of local food. They might also be celebrating their country's growing economic prosperity, not to mention the picturesque island's beauty. Upon independence in 1968, Mauritius started flying the flag below. Happy Independence Day to the citizens of Mauritius!

5 Smallest African Countries

Each of the five smallest countries in Africa are island countries and are less than 1,000 square miles in area. The smallest African country is SEYCHELLES, which is located north of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The second smallest is SÃO TOMÉ AND PRÍNCIPE, an Atlantic Ocean island country located south of Nigeria and west of Gabon in Western Africa. The third smallest, MAURITIUS is found east of Madagascar and Réunion in the Indian Ocean. The fourth smallest is COMOROS, a Muslim country (98% of the people worship Islam) located in the Mozambique Channel between Mozambique and Madagascar. Lastly, the fifth smallest African country is CAPE VERDE, which you would find west of Northern Africa and countries like Mauritania and Senegal. Below are the area stats for the five smallest African countries & convenient links to their posts.

     1. SEYCHELLES - 176 sq. mi / 455 sq. km

     2. SÃO TOMÉ AND PRÍNCIPE - 371 sq. mi / 960 sq. km

     3. MAURITIUS - 788 sq. mi / 2,040 sq. km

     4. COMOROS - 838 sq. miles / 2,170 sq. km

     5. CAPE VERDE - 1556 sq. miles / 4,030 sq. km

Source for area stats: Hammond World Atlas. Sixth Edition. Hammond World Atlas Corporation, 2010.

Mauritius

Comprised of a couple dozen small islands and the main namesake island, MAURITIUS is an island country situated in Southeastern Africa in the Indian Ocean. The much larger island of Madagascar is west of Mauritius. Mauritius' capital is Port Louis, which is situated along the northwestern coast of Mauritius island. Other communities include Centre de Flacq, Grand Baie, Mahébourg, Pamplemousses, Phoenix, Rose Belle, Souillac, Tamarin, Triolet, and Vacoas. The currency is the Mauritian Rupee, and its ISO 4217 currency code is MUR.