Have You Been In Benin? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Love

The flag of Benin has a vertical bar of green on the left side that covers about a third of the flag. The remaining portion of the flag is divided into two horizontal bars; the top being yellow and the bottom being red. The green bar represents hope, yellow represents wealth (gold), and red represents courage.

Answer: Door of No Return

Benin is also referred to as the "Slave Route", and for good reason. A 2.5 mile (4 km) long trail led chained, beaten, and branded slaves to ships that would take them to their new "lives" in the New World. A two-and-a-half-mile long journey is hard enough; but try being chained, beaten, and branded!

The route begins what is now the Ouidah Museum of History to the Door of No Return. This "door" symbolizes the end of a slave's life in Africa. Most slaves would never return to their homes after being shipped to the Americas.

Of course, nobody wanted to leave their homeland to become slaves in the Americas. Some reportedly ate sand from the beach so as not to forget their homeland. Others even chose death by strangling themselves with the chains they were tied with. This all happened near the site of the Door of No Return.

Answer: Body of water

A bight is a type of bay. The Bight of Benin is part of the Gulf of Guinea. The Bight of Benin also served as the hub of the slave market in Ouidah, Benin.

Answer: Tree of Forgetfulness

The Tree of Forgetful was a tree that was supposedly magical to many of the tribes of Africa. When the slave reached this tree, they would walk around it. The men circled the tree nine times and the women seven times. They would do this in hopes to erase their memory of their past lives and identities in Africa before being shipped to live lives as slaves in the New World. Today, the tree is gone, but a memorial stands in its place.

Answer: Zomachi

The Zomachi is a monument that was built in 1998 to ask forgiveness for ancestors who were involved in the slave trade. It symbolizes repentance and reconciliation. Ever year, on the third Sunday of January, people gather at the memorial site to pray to God for past sins to be forgiven. Both descendants of slaves and of slave merchants gather there to ask forgiveness for their ancestors.

The Zomai were huts where slaves were kept until they were shipped to the Americas. "Zomai" refers to the extreme darkness inside the huts.

Answer: Voodoo

Voodoo comes from the word "vodun", which means "god" or "spirit" in the Fon language of the people of Benin. Depending on the location of where this magic practicing religion is, it can be spelled different. It is spelled as "vodun", "vodon", "voodoun", "voodoo", "voodou", and many other variations.

Answer: False

Benin is a tropical country located in the western part of Africa. However, it is not north enough to be in the Sahara. In fact, it is actually a sub-Saharan country, which means it is located south of the Sahara Desert.

Answer: Leopard

Benin's coat of arms has a leopard on either side of a shield. The shield is split into four sections, each with a picture that represents a piece of Benin's history. At the bottom of the shield is Benin's motto, in French. The English translation of this motto is "Fellowship, Justice, Work".

Answer: Departments

Many places around the world use departments as their division. France, Benin, Haiti, Paraguay, Argentina, and Gabon use departments, to name a few. Until 1999, there were six departments in Benin. In 1999, however, each department was split into two, forming twelve departments.

The six new departments were not given capital cities. The twelve departments are further subdivided into 77 communes.

Answer: Niger

Benin shares its longest border with Nigeria to the east, and its next longest border is with Togo to the west. It also borders the Gulf of Guinea to the south. To the northwest it borders Burkina Faso, and it borders Niger to the north. The Niger River forms part of the border of Benin.