Small African Nations Trivia Quiz

The small island nation of Comoros is found in the north end of the Mozambique Channel offshore from Mainland Africa and Madagascar. Comprised of three islands (Ngazidja, Ndzwani, and Mwali), they make up one of the smallest countries in the world and one of the most volcanically-active.

The archipelago, made by years of eruptions, is known for being very hilly with most of its citizens living in well-established coastal towns. For many years, the nation was overseen by France; it obtained independence in 1975, subsequently falling into decades of political instability.

An enclave surrounded entirely by the nation of South Africa, the country of Lesotho takes up an area of land that spreads across the Maloti Mountains, part of the Drakensbergs. It means that Lesotho is much higher above sea level than most of Southern Africa.

Originally known as Basutoland when it was occupied by the British, Lesotho would gain independence in 1966. Its capital, Maseru, is located in the nation's southern foothills near the South African border. Heading north from this urban centre you'd mostly find rural agricultural towns and mountain villages.

Formerly Swaziland, Eswatini is a small, landlocked country stuck between the eastern border of South Africa and the southwestern edge of Mozambique. Because of its location, Eswatini's terrain is wildly variable; the far west is comprised of the peaks and canyons of the Lebombo Mountains while the far east is hot lowland brought on by the rain shadow of said western reach.

Its capital, Mbabane, is in the higher region.

While Equatorial Guinea is named for its location, this small Central African nation doesn't actually land directly on the Equator; it's about a hundred kilometres north. With a long history of Spanish, Portuguese, British, and even French affiliation, Equatorial Guinea has generally had a rough go with authoritarian rule, significant stake placed in oil (making it a prime spot for the rich), and poor human rights.

It might come as no surprise that the locations of the country-- both on the mainland and as the island of Bioko-- were used as ports of call for the slave trade.

Though there is a long tribal history in Rwanda, this small central nation was ruled by both Germany and Belgium at points in its history, and these influences contributed to a much more tumultuous political standing that culminated in a civil war in the early 1990s.

A high altitude nation, Rwanda is known for its mountains, savannah, and lakes, many of which contain diverse and plentiful animal life in protected ecosystems. The capital city, Kigali, sits close to its geographic center.

Sitting on the northern shores of Lake Tanganyika, the nation of Burundi is found in the Great Rift Valley of Africa and most of its citizens live off its lands. Like nearby Rwanda, Burundi has a recent history with both German and Belgian colonizers, civil war, and attempts at political restructuring.

Its ongoing restoration and the intervention of the U.N. would lead it to be a slow rebuild, making it one of the world's poorest nations going into the twenty-first century.

Located in Northeast Africa with a coast on the Gulf of Aden, the small country of Djibouti marks the entryway for seafarers heading into the Red Sea. Further along this coast you would come across Eritrea, Sudan, and Egypt on the African side and Yemen and Saudi Arabia on the Middle Eastern shore. With one of mainland Africa's smallest populations, the majority of which follows the Islamic faith, Djibouti is an important port of call for shipping and trading and most of its people live by the coast. Djibouti, because of its location, does have highlands but is also one of the lowest countries on Earth.

The French-speaking Togolese Republic is a narrow country that's been occupied by local tribes for more than a thousand years, eventually receiving European colonizers halfway through that history though mostly for nefarious means. Heavily forested, Togo is heavily rural throughout and most of its commerce is based on goods grown in the fields there, like coffee and peanuts.

Its capital, Lomé, sits on the coast and on the border with Ghana to the west.

Found along the West African coast, the nation of Guinea-Bissau is another of those nations with a long history, but its spot on the edge of the continent made it a perfect trading post for explorers and traders making their way around the continent. Built up by the Portuguese starting in the sixteenth century, it would eventually gain independence in 1973.

Much of Guinea-Bissau is covered in what mangrove forests and plains, so most of its urban build-up is near the Atlantic and the outlying Bissagos Islands.

Africa's smallest mainland nation, The Gambia is squeezed between different regions of Senegal along the Gambia River and was part of British oversight until the mid-1960s, eventually gaining status as a member of the Commonwealth in 2018. Geographically, the nation is quite interesting as its narrow size means that, at its widest, it's only fifty kilometres across.

At the far west, the capital city of Banjul straddles the mouth of the Gambia River where it discharges into the Atlantic.