World Geography - Africa Flashcards
Derived from the Portuguese for “white house” which is the largest city and chief port of Morocco?
CASABLANCA
Located in Tanzania which dormant volcano is the highest mountain in Africa?
KILIMANJARO
Which city in Mali best known in Western culture as an expression for a distant or outlandish place was established as a trading post for salt?
TIMBUKTU
Which secessionist state in south eastern Nigeria where over three million civilians died from starvation existed from 1967 to 1970?
BIAFRA
The Victoria Falls lie on which river which empties into the Indian Ocean in Mozambique?
ZAMBEZI
Situated in Egypt which is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and the only one to remain largely intact?
GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZA (OR KHUFU OR CHEOPS)
Which large semi-arid sandy savanna extending 900000 km2 covers much of Botswana parts of Namibia and regions of South Africa?
KALAHARI
Following the creation of South Sudan which is the largest country in Africa?
ALGERIA
Which ancient city in Tunisia was destroyed by the Roman Republic in the Third Punic War in 146 BC?
CARTHAGE
The capital city of which country is named in honour of a US president who was a prominent supporter of the colonization of the country?
LIBERIA
Named after a Queen what is Africa’s largest lake by area and the world’s second largest fresh water lake by surface area?
LAKE VICTORIA
Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland which country adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth in 1966?
BOTSWANA
In which country is Cap-Vert peninsula the most westerly point on the African mainland?
SENEGAL
Which is the most populous landlocked country in the world as well as the second-most populous nation on the African continent after Nigeria?
ETHIOPIA
Jebel Toukbal is the highest peak in which range of mountains which stretches around 2500km through Algeria Morocco and Tunisia?
ATLAS
Which archipelago of 10 volcanic islands in the central Atlantic Ocean gained independence from Portugal in 1975 and still uses the escudo as its currency?
CAPE VERDE
Which enclaved landlocked country in southern Africa has the highest natural lowest point in the world at 1400m?
LESOTHO
Which capital city was officially called Salisbury until 1982?
HARARE
Which country in northern Central Africa which takes its name from a lake is sometimes referred to as the “Dead Heart of Africa”?
CHAD
Rising in the Drakensberg mountains what is the longest river in South Africa?
ORANGE
Formerly known as Gold Coast which country declared independence from the UK in 1957 and became a republic in 1960?
GHANA
What is the judicial capital of South Africa?
BLOEMFONTEIN
Meaning “sunset” in Arabic what is usually defined as much or most of the region of north west Africa west of Egypt?
MAGHREB
Which country is surrounded by Senegal apart from a short strip of Atlantic coastline at its western end?
GAMBIA
What is the name of the narrow strip of land belonging to Namibia which stretches eastwards from the Okavango Region about 450km between Botswana to the south and Angola and Zambia to the north?
CAPRIVI STRIP
Which city in north east Egypt was established in 1859 during the building of the Suez Canal?
PORT SAID
Although the country is landlocked much of the south western border of Burundi is adjacent to which lake?
LAKE TANGANYIKA
Which UNESCO World Heritage Site in Libya was a prominent city of the Roman Empire and achieved its greatest prominence beginning in 193 AD when Septimius Severus became emperor?
LEPTIS MAGNA
The French Territory of Afars and the Issas was the name given to which present-day country between 1967 and 1977 while it was still a colony of France?
DJIBOUTI
What is the capital and largest city of Burkina Faso?
OUAGADOUGOU
Which ore accounts for approximately 50% of the exports from Mauritania?
IRON ORE
The Skeleton Coast where more than 1000 shipwrecks litter the area is part of which coastal desert in south west Africa?
NAMIB
Which rocky headland in Western Cape South Africa is the geographic southern tip of the African continent?
CAPE AGULHAS
The island nation of Comoros is located at the northern end of which channel off the eastern coast of Africa?
MOZAMBIQUE CHANNEL
Which country which gained independence from France in 1960 was renamed Benin in 1975?
(REPUBLIC OF) DAHOMEY
Louis and Mary Leakey are responsible for most of the excavations and discoveries of the hominin fossils in which steep-sided ravine in the Great Rift Valley in Tanzania?
OLDUVAI GORGE
What is the name of the crater lake in Cameroon which in 1986 emitted a large cloud of CO2 which suffocated 1700 people and 3500 livestock in nearby villages?
LAKE NYOS
Which city located in the Niger Delta is the chief oil-refining city in Nigeria?
PORT HARCOURT
The rock-hewn churches of which town in northern Ethiopia became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978?
LALIBELA
Which river which crosses the equator twice is the world’s deepest river with measured depths in excess of 220m?
CONGO
Named after the birthplace of David Livingstone what is the second-largest city in Malawi?
BLANTYRE
What is the name of the exclave and province of Angola which is separated from the rest of Angola by a narrow strip of territory belonging to the Democratic Republic of the Congo?
CABINDA
The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude) is in which gulf in the Atlantic Ocean?
GULF OF GUINEA
Which crater lake in Djibouti lies 155 m below sea level in the Afar Depression? Its shores comprise the lowest point on land in Africa and the second lowest land depression on Earth after the Dead Sea.
LAKE ASSAL
What is the name of the 2060km2 area along the border between Egypt and Sudan which is claimed by neither country?
BIR TAWIL
Malabo the capital of Equatorial Guinea is located on the northern coast of which Island traditionally called Fernando Po from the period of Portuguese colonization?
BIOKO
Zambia is Africa’s leading producer of which metal? The country suffered severe economic problems as a result of a crash in prices of the metal in 1973.
COPPER
Which densely forested mountainous plateau is the source of many of West Africa’s rivers including the Niger River and Senegal River?
GUINEA HIGHLANDS
Bosaso is the most populous city in which autonomous region of north eastern Somalia which became known as a haven for pirates in 2005?
PUNTLAND
Which volcano located inside Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo contains a crater with one of the largest lava lakes in the world?
MOUNT NYIRAGONGO
