República da Guiné-Bissau Trivia Quiz

Answer: Atlantic Ocean

Located on Africa's west coast, Guinea-Bissau is sandwiched between Senegal to the north and Guinea to the east and south. To its west is the Atlantic Ocean.

Answer: This is Our Beloved Country

The Guinea-Bissau national anthem is "Esta É a Nossa Pátria Bem Amada" which translates to "This is Our Beloved Country". Written by Guinea-Bissau-born anti-colonial leader Amílcar Cabral, it was adopted as the country's anthem when independence was achieved in 1974. This same song was also the national anthem of the Cape Verde Islands until 1996.

Of the alternatives are three more African anthems: the wonderfully-titled "Everyone Strum Your Koras, Strike the Balafons" is the national anthem of neighboring Senegal; the very patriotic-sounding "My Country, My Country, My Country" is the Egyptian anthem; and "Arise, O Compatriots" belongs to Nigeria.

Answer: Mali Empire

The Mali Empire, also known as Manden Kurufaba, was the empire of the Mandinka that stretched across West Africa for four centuries up until about 1600. Guinea-Bissau was part of the Kingdom of Gabu, which was part of the Mali Empire.
The Jolof Empire covered northern Senegal and lasted from 1360 until 1890. The Oyo Empire was centered in Nigeria from 1400-1900. The Massina Empire was as 19th-century empire centered in modern-day Niger and Mali.

Answer: Geba

Founded in 1687, the city of Bissau is home to about 400,000 people (2012 data), which is about a quarter of the country's population. The city's name was added to the county name when independence was achieved to avoid confusion with neighboring Guinea.

The city is near the mouth of the Geba, a 340-mile long river that rises in Senegal and flows through Guinea-Bissau to the Atlantic Ocean.

Answer: 1,000 feet

Guinea-Bissau consists mostly of low, coastal mangrove swamps rising to forested savannah as you move inland. The highest point rises to just less than 1,000 feet above sea level (around 300 meters), at an unnamed location in the northeast of the country.

Answer: Taiwan

Guinea-Bissau has a total area of 13,948 square miles, although more than 20% of that area is water. By comparison, the Asian island of Taiwan has a very similar total area of 13,974 square miles, although almost 90% of that country is on dry land.

Of the alternatives, Sri Lanka is almost twice the size of Guinea-Bissau, with an area of 25,330 square miles. Iceland is even larger -- with an area of 40,000 square miles, Guinea-Bissau would fit almost three times into Iceland. Jamaica (4,244 square miles), on the other hand, would comfortably fit three times into Guinea-Bissau.

Answer: Midnight

Guinea-Bissau lies approximately 15 degrees west of the Greenwich Meridian but it and the surrounding countries all set their clocks to GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) or Western European Time. During the winter months in the northern hemisphere, therefore, the time is the same in London as it is in Guinea-Bissau. (London would be one hour ahead of Guinea-Bissau between late March and mid-October because of the switch to British Summer Time.)

Answer: Conakry

Conakry is the odd one out -- it is the capital and largest city in neighboring Guinea. Located in the central region, Bafatá is the capital of the region of the same name. It is also the birthplace of the writer of the country's national anthem, Amílcar Cabral.

The market town of Gabú is the capital and largest population centre in the Gabú region which is in the far east of the country. Bissorã is the largest town in the Oio region to the north of the country.

Answer: Bijagós Archipelago

The Bijagós Archipelago consists of 88 islands stretching out into the Atlantic Ocean. Covering 1,184 square miles, the archipelago is slightly larger than Luxembourg. Only 20 of the islands are inhabited, of which Bubaque has the largest population and is also the site of the region's administrative capital. The alternatives are three more island groups in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Abrolhos Archipelago is a group of five small islands and reefs off the southern coast of Brazil. The Lucayan Archipelago lies off the coast of North America and includes the Bahamas and the Turks & Caicos Islands.

The Chinijo Archipelago lies off the coast of Morocco and forms part of the Canary Islands.

Answer: 26.3

Guinea-Bissau is warm year-round with little fluctuation in temperature from month to month. The hottest month is usually May, with an average temperature of 27.4, and the coldest is January with a 24.4 average. The yearly average is 26.3 Centigrade (or 79.3 Fahrenheit).

The average rainfall annual rainfall in the capital is around 80 inches annually, and virtually all of that falls during the wet season, between June and October. From December through April, rainfall is very rare and nationwide droughts are the norm.