Missing Vowels: African Countries Quiz

Answer: Botswana

Prior to gaining its independence from Britain in 1966, Botswana was known as Bechuanaland. Its capital city is Gaborone, which is located in the south-east of the country, only a few miles from the border with South Africa. Although only the south-west corner of the country falls within the Kalahari Desert, the general climate of the whole area is arid or semi-arid and most of its smaller rivers tend to disappear during the dry season that lasts from April to October or November each year.

Answer: Equatorial Guinea

The majority of Equatorial Guinea's territory is located on the west coast of the African mainland between Cameroon to the north and Gabon to the south. The country also includes several large islands, including Bioko - the largest island in the Gulf of Guinea and the location of the capital city, Malabo. No part of Equatorial Guinea's land actually sits on the equator; the continental territory and Bioko Island lie to the north of the equator, while the small island of Annobón lies about 160 kilometres (100 miles) south of it.

Answer: Tanzania

Tanzania stretches from Lake Victoria in the north to Mozambique in the south and from Lake Tanganyika in the west to the Indian Ocean in the east. The majority of the country was formerly known as Tanganyika, but changed its name when it merged with the island nation of Zanzibar in 1964 (after both areas had gained independence from Britain). Tanzania's climate is largely tropical and the country is noted for its vast expanses of savanna and grassland that are home to the wide variety of the animals that inhabit the Serengeti and other National Parks, including the 'Big Five': buffalo, elephants, leopards, lions and rhinos.

The other key geographical feature for which Tanzania is famous is Mount Kilimanjaro - the highest point in Africa.

Answer: South Sudan

South Sudan separated from Sudan in 2011 following a lengthy civil war that lasted from 1983 to 2005. The war broke out after the Sudanese government led by President Gaafar Nimeiry declared the country an Islamic state, despite the fact that the majority of people in the southern region were not Muslims.

A referendum held six years after the end of the war resulted in 99% of voters opting for South Sudan to become a separate country. The country is landlocked but is bisected by the White Nile, which flows through the capital city of Juba and then north to its confluence with the Blue Nile in Khartoum - the capital of the remaining portion of the Sudan.

Answer: Uganda

The Great Lakes region of Africa is the name given to the countries that surround the various lakes in the north-east of the continent that includes Lake Victoria (the largest), Lake Tanganyika (the deepest) and Lake Malawi (which has the most different types of fish).

In addition to Uganda, the countries included in this region are Kenya, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi and Rwanda. Uganda's capital city, Kampala, is located approximately 10 kilometres (6 miles) north of Lake Victoria; its name comes from the term "Hills of the Impala", which was coined by the British when they first arrived there in the late 19th century to find rolling hills, grassland and plenty of antelopes.

Answer: Lesotho

The most famous fact about Lesotho that usually pops up in quizzes is its status as an enclave, being completely surrounded by its larger neighbour South Africa. However, it is also the only country in the world to have all of its territory located over 1,000 metres above sea level - in fact Lesotho's lowest point, at 1,400 metres (4,600 feet), is the confluence of the Orange and Makhaleng rivers on its border with the South African province of Free State.

Despite its location in southern Africa, Lesotho can get quite cold; temperatures below freezing and snow are common occurrences each winter.

Answer: Angola

The area of Africa that is now known as Angola was colonised by Portugal in the 15th century. Its independence in 1975 came in the aftermath of the Portuguese Colonial War, also known as the Overseas War or the War of Liberation (depending on your viewpoint), which raged from 1961 to 1974.

Historically this war is also taken to include the similar struggles that took place in Portugal's other African territories of Portuguese Guinea (now known as Guinea-Bissau) and Mozambique during the same time period. Angola has a lengthy coastline on the Atlantic Ocean between Namibia to the south and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north.

The exception to this is Angola's Cabinda province, which is an exclave sandwiched between the two Congos (the Democratic Republic and the Republic).

Answer: Liberia

Liberia in western Africa has a coastline on the Atlantic Ocean and has a name that translates into English as "Land of the Free". The name comes from the fact that the area was settled in the early 19th century by free African-Americans and former slaves.

The resettlement programme began in 1822 during the presidency of James Monroe - hence the reason for the country's capital being named Monrovia. Liberia has a predominantly equatorial or monsoon climate and a generally hilly terrain with some rainforests. Like many other countries on the west coast of Africa, Liberia is affected by the regular Harmattan wind that blows in from the Sahara and fills the air with sandy dust.

Answer: Comoros

The three main islands that form the nation of the Comoros are commonly known as Grande Comore (where the capital, Moroni, can be found), Mohéli and Anjouan. There are also a large number of small islands and islets included in the archipelago. The nearby island of Mayotte is an overseas department of France.

The country gained its independence from France in 1975 and has since officially renamed its major islands with Swahili names - Ngazidja (Grand Comore), Mwali (Mohéli) and Nzwani (Anjouan). The islands are volcanic and Grande Comore is home to two major volcanoes, Mount Karthala and La Grille.

Answer: Benin

Benin has a total area of around 115,000 square kilometres (44,000 square miles) but a coastline on the Gulf of Guinea that is just 120 kilometres (75 miles) in length. However, the inland area of the country is considerably wider than the strip that runs down to the coast. Benin's neighbours are Togo (a similarly long, thin country), Burkina Faso, Niger and Nigeria.

It gained its independence from France in 1960 and its economy is largely driven by subsistence farming along with the production of cotton - a commodity that accounts for a large proportion of the country's Gross Domestic Product. French remains the country's official language and the title of its national anthem translates as 'The Dawn of a New Day'.