The Republic of Mozambique Trivia Quiz

Answer: Lourenço Marques

Previously named Lourenço Marques after a Portuguese navigator, Maputo is nicknamed "The City of Acacias" and "The Pearl of the Indian Ocean". Located 90 miles north of the border with South Africa, it is Mozambique's major Indian Ocean port.
Of the alternatives, Khoekhoe is the traditional name for the Namibian capital of Windhoek; Mzizima is the former name of Dar es Salaam, the largest city in Tanzania; and Tananarive is the former name for the Madagascar capital Antananarivo.

Answer: Malawi

Mozambique has land borders with six other countries stretching a total of 2,855 miles. The longest of these, at 980 miles is with Malawi to the northwest. Also to the northwest is the 260-mile border with Zambia. To the west is Zimbabwe, with whom Mozambique has a shared border of 770 miles. To the southwest are South Africa (a 306-mile border) and Swaziland (65 miles). To the north is Tanzania and a shared border stretching 470 miles.

Answer: Second, smaller only than Alaska

With an area of just over 660,000 sq miles, Alaska is more than twice the size of Mozambique. The second-largest U.S. state, Texas, covers just under 270,000 miles, so Mozambique would therefore rank as the second largest state, behind only Alaska. California, the third-largest state, has a land area of just below 156,000 square miles, so it would fit almost twice into Mozambique. The smallest U.S. state, Rhode Island, area 1,550 sq miles, would remarkably fit into Mozambique almost 200 times.

Answer: Earthquakes

Mozambique has a sub-tropical climate of two extreme seasons. During the dry season (April to September), droughts are the norm rather than the exception. The wet season often brings cyclones in from the Indian Ocean, and an annual rainfall as high as 35 inches in the coastal regions frequently leads to flooding, particularly in the central and southern provinces. Earthquakes, though, are not something that Mozambique regularly experiences.

Answer: Madagascar

The 1,000-mile long Mozambique Channel separates Mozambique from Madagascar. It is almost 600 miles across at its widest point. It is 286 miles across at its narrowest, between Angoche in Mozambique and Tambohorano on the Madagascar side.

Answer: Lilongwe

Lilongwe is the odd one out - it is the capital of neighbouring Malawi. Matola is a port located just 10 miles west of Mozambique's capital, Maputo, at the southern end of the country. Nampula is a city of in central Mozambique. Famous natives include the Portuguese footballer Abel Xavier and former Real Madrid manage Carlos Queiroz. Beira is a major port, located on the Pungue River midway between Mozambique's northern and southern borders.

The actress and model Tasha de Vasconcelos was born here.

Answer: Rifle

The emblem on both the flag and the coat of arms of Mozambique includes an AK-47 rifle with bayonet attached, and it is the only national flag that features such a modern weapon. The emblem is a yellow star (representing Marxism and internationalism), an open book (highlighting the importance of education), a hoe (representing agriculture) and the AK-47 which stands for defense and vigilance.

Answer: Zambezi

With a length of 1,600 miles (about half that of the Nile), the Zambezi is the fourth-longest river in Africa. It rises in in Zambia and flows through eastern Angola before forming the border between Namibia and Botswana. It then creates a border between Zambia and Zimbabwe (going down Victoria Falls in the process) before flowing into and across Mozambique before draining into the Indian Ocean.

Answer: Kalanga

Kalanga is spoken by around one million people in Botswana and Zimbabwe, but not in Mozambique. Swahili (or Kiswahili) is a Bantu language that is widely-spoken throughout East Africa, including Mozambique. Makhuwa is another Bantu language. It is spoken by around four million people in northern Mozambique and is the most populous indigenous language in the country. Sena is the native language of around one million people living in the four provinces around the Zambezi valley in central Mozambique.

Answer: mz

Mozambique uses the TLD "mz". "mo" is used by Macau, "mm" by Myanmar and "mb" is an unassigned code.