50 free Guinea-Bissau trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Guinea-Bissau trivia quiz covers the small Portuguese-speaking republic on the West African coast: the Mandinka federation of Kaabu, the slave trade and Portuguese Guinea, Amílcar Cabral's PAIGC and the war that helped topple Lisbon's dictatorship, the unilateral declaration of 1973, and the coups, civil war and cocaine trafficking that have followed. It also visits the Bijagós archipelago of saltwater hippos and matriarchal islanders, the cashew economy, the Kriol language of unity and the gumbe music. The first questions suit anyone who knows why the capital's name is attached to the country's; the last ones test people who know which US president settled a colonial dispute over Bolama and how many islands the Bijagós count. Every question is multiple choice with a short explanation after you answer. Every answer has been checked against a primary source, and each question links to the page that confirms it.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Why was the name of its capital added to the country's name at independence?
To avoid confusion with Guinea
The neighbour had been French Guinea; the capital, Bissau, has about 490,000 people.
Q 02Guinea-Bissau's official language is what?
Portuguese
Only about 2% speak it as a first language; the Portuguese-based Creole is the national language of unity.
Q 03Guinea-Bissau unilaterally declared independence on 24 September of which year?
1973
Portugal formally recognised it on 10 September 1974, after the Carnation Revolution.
Q 04Who founded the PAIGC independence movement in 1956 and led it until his assassination in January 1973?
Amílcar Cabral
The agricultural engineer used the nom de guerre Abel Djassi and was shot in Conakry eight months before independence.
Q 05The PAIGC fought for the independence of Guinea-Bissau and which other Lisbon-ruled territory?
Cape Verde
The party's full name is the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde.
Q 06The first president of Guinea-Bissau, Luís Cabral, was related to the PAIGC founder how?
Half-brother
The co-founder of the PAIGC was overthrown in 1980.
Q 07Who overthrew the first president in the coup of 14 November 1980?
João Bernardo 'Nino' Vieira
He was ousted in the 1998-99 civil war, returned as elected president in 2005 and was assassinated in 2009.
Q 08President Vieira was killed on 2 March 2009 by soldiers reportedly avenging whose death?
The head of the joint chiefs of staff
General Batista Tagme Na Wai had been killed in an explosion.
Q 09Around 2005 Guinea-Bissau became a transshipment point for which commodity, prompting 'narco-state' warnings?
Cocaine
Latin American traffickers exploited the country's weak institutions and many islands.
Q 10The Bijagós archipelago off Guinea-Bissau consists of roughly how many islands and islets?
88
Formed from the ancient delta of the Geba and Grande de Buba rivers, it became a World Heritage Site in 2025.
Q 11Bijagó island society is often described as tending toward what?
Matriarchy
Women manage the household, economy and law, and choose and dismiss their husbands.
Q 12The Bijagós Islands were declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in which year?
1996
World Heritage status followed in 2025.
Q 13Along with fish and groundnuts, which crop is one of Guinea-Bissau's major exports?
Cashew nuts
The economy depends mainly on agriculture and GDP per capita is among the world's lowest.
Q 14Guinea-Bissau joined which monetary system in 1997?
Q 21Guinea-Bissau's national football team made its Africa Cup of Nations debut in which year?
2017
The Djurtus have qualified four times but never for a World Cup.
Q 22Guinea-Bissau shares land borders with Guinea and which other country?
Senegal
The Casamance region of Senegal was ceded to it in 1886 before being handed to France.
Q 23Guinea-Bissau's highest point, Monte Torin, rises to only about what height?
262 m
The country covers 36,125 square kilometres of low coastal plain and islands.
Q 24The PAIGC launched its war of independence on 23 January 1963 from a base in which neighbouring capital?
The CFA franc
It brought some stability after years of downturn under the peso.
Q 15The Mandinka federation of Kaabu in Guinea-Bissau began as a province of which empire?
Mali
It was conquered in the 13th century by Tiramakhan Traore, a general of Sundiata Keita, and became independent as Mali declined.
Q 16Kaabu survived as an independent federation from 1537 until which year?
1867
The rise of the Imamate of Futa Jallon in the late 18th century posed a powerful challenge to the animist state.
Q 17The 1870 dispute between Portugal and Britain over Bolama island was settled in Portugal's favour through the mediation of which US president?
Ulysses S. Grant
The British had tried to gain a foothold on the island in the 1790s.
Q 18Guinea-Bissau's national language, spoken by 54% as a first language, is a creole based on what?
Portuguese
Kriol is considered the language of unity across the country's many ethnic groups.
Q 19According to the CIA's 2020 estimate, roughly what share of Bissau-Guineans are Muslim?
46%
About 31% follow folk religions and 19% are Christian.
Q 20The country's primary musical export is which polyrhythmic genre?
Gumbe
Civil unrest has kept it from reaching mainstream audiences even in Africa.
Conakry
Unlike guerrillas in Angola and Mozambique, it rapidly took control of large parts of the territory.
Q 25PAIGC leader Aristides Pereira later became the first president of which country?
Cape Verde
The two countries were meant to unite but went their separate ways after the 1980 coup.
Q 26The black star on Guinea-Bissau's flag symbolises what?
The leadership of the PAIGC
The party adopted its red, yellow and green flag in 1961, echoing Ghana and Guinea.
Q 27Guinea-Bissau's first multi-party elections were held in which year?
1994
An army uprising four years later plunged the country into civil war.
Q 28The 1998-99 civil war began with what event in May 1998?
An army uprising
The president was ousted in June 1999, and a further military coup followed in September 2003.
Q 29Umaro Sissoco Embaló, president from 2020, was the first elected without the backing of what?
The PAIGC
A coup in November 2025 led ECOWAS and the African Union to suspend the country.
Q 30Why did ECOWAS and the African Union suspend Guinea-Bissau in November 2025?
A coup d'état
The country has a long history of political instability.