Q 01/05

Why did Guinea-Bissau add the name of its capital, Bissau, to its own name at independence?

A) To avoid confusion with Guinea

B) To honour the first president

C) Portugal insisted on it

D) To mark where independence was declared

Answer · why

A) To avoid confusion with Guinea

To avoid confusion with Guinea, the former French colony next door, which had become independent under the old regional name first.

Q 02/05

Which dry, dusty wind blows from the Sahara across Guinea-Bissau in the months after the rains?

A) Sirocco

B) Harmattan

C) Mistral

D) Chinook

Answer · why

B) Harmattan

Harmattan winds can carry enough Saharan dust to dim the sun for days; they mark the dry months that alternate with the country's monsoon-like rains.

Q 03/05

Which revolution in Lisbon led Portugal to recognise Guinea-Bissau's independence in 1974?

A) Velvet

B) Carnation

C) Jasmine

D) Saffron

Answer · why

B) Carnation

Carnation Revolution: officers worn down by the colonial wars toppled Portugal's dictatorship on 25 April 1974, and that September Lisbon recognised t...

Q 04/05

Who founded Guinea-Bissau's PAIGC independence movement in 1956 and led it until his assassination in January 1973?

A) Amílcar Cabral

B) Luís Cabral

C) João Bernardo Vieira

D) Aristides Pereira

Answer · why

A) Amílcar Cabral

Amílcar Cabral, the movement's chief theorist, was shot dead on 20 January 1973, eight months before the independence he had fought for was declared.

Q 05/05

Guinea-Bissau's independence war is often called Portugal's what?

A) Waterloo

B) Vietnam

C) Stalingrad

D) Dunkirk

Answer · why

B) Vietnam

Vietnam is the usual comparison: a drawn-out guerrilla war that a far larger Portuguese army could not win, and one that fed the unrest at home which ...