50 free Senegal trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Forty-five questions on Senegal, the westernmost country of mainland Africa and one of the continent's steadiest democracies. Geography covers Dakar on the Cap-Vert peninsula, the Pointe des Almadies, the Gambia wedged inside the country, Casamance, Saint-Louis, the pink Lake Retba and a highest point of just 648 metres. History runs from the Jolof Empire and Takrur, the Portuguese landing, Goree and the slave trade, Faidherbe's conquests and Lat-Dior's resistance, the Four Communes, the Battle of Dakar in 1940, the short-lived Mali Federation, Senghor's presidency and his seat in the Academie francaise, the Senegambia Confederation, the peaceful handovers to Diouf, Wade, Sall and Faye, and the French troops going home in 2025. Culture and sport cover Wolof and teranga, the Sufi brotherhoods and Touba, thieboudienne, mbalax and Youssou N'Dour, laamb wrestling, the Lions of Teranga beating France in 2002 and finally winning AFCON, Sadio Mane, the Dakar Rally, the African Renaissance Monument and the 2026 Youth Olympics. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the country, its cities, people and institutions, and the sentence that establishes it is quoted under each explanation. Suits a pub quiz, a West Africa lesson or a Dakar-bound traveller.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Senegal almost completely surrounds which small country?
The Gambia
The Gambia is a narrow strip along its river, cutting the south off from the rest of Senegal; the two briefly formed a nominal confederation in 1982-89.
Q 02Senegal is the westernmost country of which landmass?
Mainland Afro-Eurasia
The Pointe des Almadies on the Cap-Vert peninsula is the westernmost point of continental Africa; Cape Verde lies 560 km offshore.
Q 03What is the capital and largest city of Senegal?
Dakar
It sits on the Cap-Vert peninsula with over two million people; the second city, Touba, is legally a 'rural community'.
Q 04The country takes its name from which waterway?
The Senegal River
It forms the border with Mauritania; the name may come from the Zenaga Berbers or the Wolof phrase 'sunuu gaal', 'our canoe'.
Q 05Which language is Senegal's lingua franca, spoken by roughly four in five people?
Wolof
French is official but understood by only about a quarter of people; over 30 languages are spoken in all.
Q 06Which island near Dakar was a colonial base for buying slaves from 1677 and a UNESCO site since 1978?
Goree
It was among the first 12 World Heritage listings in 1978 and is Senegal's premier tourist site.
Q 07Which medieval state, founded by Ndiadiane Ndiaye, united Cayor, Baol, Sine, Saloum and Waalo?
The Jolof Empire
It was a voluntary confederacy rather than a conquest state and collapsed around 1549; eastern Senegal had earlier been part of Ghana.
Q 08Which colonial governor led the 1850s conquest of the Senegalese mainland kingdoms?
Louis Faidherbe
He took Waalo, Cayor, Baol and Jolof but never the Serer kingdoms of Sine and Saloum; the Serer king beat the French at Logandeme.
Q 09The 1940 Battle of Dakar was an unsuccessful Allied attempt to seize the port from whom?
Vichy French forces
De Gaulle's Free French and the Royal Navy were beaten off; Dakar stayed loyal to Vichy until 1942.
Q 10Senegal gained independence in 1960 as part of a short-lived federation with which neighbour?
French Sudan (Mali)
The Mali Federation broke up on 20 August 1960 after two months; Senegal's flag kept its colours, swapping a stick figure for a star.
Q 11Who was Senegal's first president, a poet later elected to the Académie française?
Leopold Sedar Senghor
He preached African socialism and negritude, retired voluntarily in 1980 and handed power to Abdou Diouf.
Q 12Who became the youngest president in Senegal's history in March 2024?
Bassirou Diomaye Faye
He soon announced that France would withdraw its troops and close its bases by the end of 2025.
Q 13Senegal's separatist conflict since 1982 has been centred on which southern region?
Casamance
The MFDC took up arms in the region cut off by the Gambia; ceasefires have never fully ended it.
Q 21Which Olympic event was Senegal awarded, making it the first African host when staged in Dakar in 2026?
The Summer Youth Olympics
The Dakar 2026 Youth Olympics were the first Olympic event awarded to Africa. Basketball is another strength: the women's team has won 19 medals at 20 African Championships.
Q 22The famous off-road race that finished in Dakar from 1979 to 2007 started in which city?
Paris
The 2008 edition was cancelled the day before the start over security fears in Mauritania, and the rally left Africa for good.
Q 23Lake Retba near Dakar is famous for what colour, caused by Dunaliella salina algae?
Pink
Q 14Which colonial city was capital of the whole West African federation from 1895 until 1902?
Saint-Louis
It had been capital of the colony of Senegal since 1673; the capital moved to Dakar in 1902.
Q 15Senegal's tricolour flag bears what symbol at its centre?
A green five-pointed star
Adopted in 1960 in place of the Mali Federation flag; the colonial power had banned the colony from flying its own flag beforehand.
Q 16Senegal's national football team is nicknamed the Lions of what?
Teranga
Teranga is the Wolof word for hospitality, a point of national pride.
Q 17At the 2002 World Cup Senegal shocked the holders in its opening game. Who did they beat?
France
They went on to the quarter-finals, only the second African side to do so after Cameroon in 1990.
Q 18Senegal won its first Africa Cup of Nations by beating which team in the 2021 edition's final?
Egypt
They had been runners-up in 2002 and 2019; the final went to penalties in Yaounde.
Q 19Which Senegalese forward became Africa's most expensive player when Liverpool signed him in 2016?
Sadio Mane
He later finished second in the 2022 Ballon d'Or and moved to Bayern Munich.
Q 20Which traditional sport is described as Senegal's national obsession?
Wrestling
Laamb bouts fill stadiums and offer young men a route out of poverty; it is called the one sport developed independently of the West.
Salt content reaches 40 percent in places, and salt is harvested by hand from the shallows.
Q 24What is Senegal's national dish?
Thieboudienne
Ceebu jen, fish and rice, is claimed as the ancestor of jollof rice across West Africa.
Q 25Which Senegalese musical style, rooted in Serer percussion, was popularised by Youssou N'Dour?
Mbalax
Sabar drumming drives it; Orchestra Baobab and Ismael Lo are other internationally known names.
Q 26Youssou N'Dour won his first Grammy in 2005 for which album?
Egypt
He briefly ran for president in 2012 and served as a government minister.
Q 27The African Renaissance Monument, unveiled in Dakar in 2010, holds what record?
Tallest statue in Africa
The bronze family group was built by a North Korean firm and stirred controversy over its cost.
Q 28Roughly what share of Senegal's population is Muslim?
About 95 percent
Most belong to Sufi brotherhoods led by marabouts; Christmas is nonetheless widely celebrated in Dakar.
Q 29Senegal's Muslims are largely organised in Sufi orders known by what Arabic term?
Tariqas
Each is headed by a khalif, usually descended from the founder; the Mouride holy city of Touba is the country's second-largest settlement.
Q 30What is Senegal's official language?
French
Only about 26 percent spoke it in 2022; a nationalist movement wants Wolof written into the constitution.