Africa Flashcards
What emperor, widely regarded as one of the wealthiest people in history with a fortune estimated at $400 billion in current dollars, is believed to have depressed the price of gold due to his abundant almsgiving during a pilgrimage to Mecca from his native Mali Empire around the year 1325?
Mansa Musa (Musa I)
Congolese dictator Mobutu Sese Seko’s trademark fashion accessory was a cap made from the skin of what animal?
Leopard
This South African township became the center of international attention in 1976 after mass protests erupted over the government’s policy to enforce education in Afrikaans. The police response resulted in the death of 23 people.
Soweto
Which African nation lost its coastline when Eritrea declared independence in 1993?
Ethiopia
Sam Nujoma, who entered politics in 1960 as a co-founder of the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO), was elected in 1990 as the first president of what nation?
Namibia
In 1792, this became the oldest current African capital to be founded by African-American slaves.
Freetown
In 1976 Operation Thunderbolt was the code name of the Israeli mission to free hostages held in this African country.
Uganda
Yoweri Museveni, in power in this East African land since 1986, says he planted bananas and has to stay to see them bear fruit.
Uganda
Identify the Anglican cleric—the Bishop of Johannesburg beginning in 1985 and then Archbishop of Cape Town from 1986 to 1996—who was named chair of South Africa’s post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1995.
Desmond Tutu
From 1936 to 1941 this city was the capital of Italian East Africa.
Addis Ababa
This Tunisian city - the northernmost in Africa - was the subject of a 1961 “crisis” when the Tunisian military blockaded a French naval base. It culminated in a three-day battle which, despite a French military victory, eventually led to ceding the city and base back to Tunisia.
Bizerte
South Africa was, of course, the last white-ruled country in Africa. What country was second to last?
Ian Smith, the prime minister of Rhodesia, agreed to a multiracial democracy in 1978 in hopes of ending the country’s long civil war, but it was too late and now it’s Mugabe’s Zimbabwe.
Possibly the most notable military conflict in history named after an automaker was what War fought in 1987, during which Chadian forces used outfitted HiLuxes and Land Cruisers to mobilize troops and expel Libyan occupiers?
Toyota War
Julius Nyerere served from 1962 to 1964 as president of what African nation, during which time he successfully negotiated a union with Zanzibar (and subsequently served in the same role in the new state of Tanzania until 1985)?
Tanganyika
South West Africa, which became the independent nation of Nambia in 1990, was arguably the world’s last surviving example of what kind of political entity, having outlived the organization that created it by 44 years?
League of Nations Mandate
Among the various West African empires that flourished during the early modern period (roughly 1500-1800 CE) are the Asante (in present-day Ghana), Mossi (present-day Burkina Faso), Oyo (western Nigeria), and Dahomey, which was located within what other present-day country in the region?
Benin
A hill in eastern South Africa known as Isandlwana was the site in January 1879 of a battle that saw British-led forces defeated by warriors from what other empire?
Zulu
