Q 01/05

What is the capital and largest city of Burkina Faso?

A) Bobo-Dioulasso

B) Niamey

C) Ouagadougou

D) Bamako

Answer · why

C) Ouagadougou

Locals shorten it to Ouaga; it hosts FESPACO, the largest African film festival.

Q 02/05

Under what name was Burkina Faso known until 1984?

A) Upper Volta

B) Dahomey

C) Middle Congo

D) French Sudan

Answer · why

A) Upper Volta

It was named for the upper courses of three rivers that cross the country.

Q 03/05

The name Burkina Faso combines words from two languages, Mooré and Dyula. What does it mean?

A) Land of upright (honest) people

B) Land of the three rivers

C) Country of the setting sun

D) Home of the horsemen

Answer · why

A) Land of upright (honest) people

Burkina means "upright" in Mooré and Faso "fatherland" in Dyula; citizens are Burkinabè.

Q 04/05

Which revolutionary leader renamed the country in 1984 and was assassinated in a 1987 coup?

A) Blaise Compaoré

B) Maurice Yaméogo

C) Sangoulé Lamizana

D) Thomas Sankara

Answer · why

D) Thomas Sankara

Often called "Africa's Che Guevara", he was 33 when he took power and had played guitar in a band called Tout-à-Coup Jazz.

Q 05/05

Sankara's government planted more than how many trees to fight the advance of the Sahara?

A) 100,000

B) 1 million

C) 10 million

D) 100 million

Answer · why

C) 10 million

He also vaccinated 2.5 million children and declared bush fires a crime.