I really like the quiz, but I think it's too short and simplified. For having been to Malawi last summer (a really interesting country), you could have added informations such as "kwacha" for the currency or "David Livingstone" who was the first European to reach the territory, as well as the city of Blantyre that was named after Livingstone's hometown. Last, but not least "nsimah", the national dish made from corn flour.
Thank-you for your comments. As I mentioned above, the quizmaster simplified this quiz. I have a number of other country quizes that I made for Southern Africa where you can see the kinds of questions that I ask, including the currency. I think that the reason for the simplification is for most of the people who come to Jetpunk, Malawi is an unknown quantity, so this quiz would be quite difficult, but reasonable. For a Southern African, I can name the first female President, the fact that bellbottom pants were banned under Kamuzu Hastings Banda and other fun things. That being said, these facts are not such common knowledge outside Southern Africa (unless, like you, someone had travelled there), so its a question of balance. I'll be happy to make a more challenging quiz for you when I have a little time (maybe in the summer once I have finished my research proposal for my thesis).
I think Swisso made good suggestion, they aren't farfetched question you would only get if you are from there.
I am all for the currency and Livingston (the dish might be a nice addition, but in that case you might indeed venture a bit into the more obscure knowledge, but still, better than local sportshero's ;) much more interesting to learn about.)
alberici is right, it was because unlike the rest of the "front-line states" which had shut down relations with South Africa because of Apartheid, Malawi, under Kamuzu Hastings Banda decided to maintain relations with the country.
Curious, I looked at the list of countries ordered by population and no country higher on the list is comparable or even close in size, and it will be two weeks before we have a quiz on another country as small or smaller (Rwanda, day 76), but after that point it starts to become more common.
nah. There are a bunch with higher density. Even Italy. Monaco is #1. And now that I look more closely at the list of countries I was wrong before. I think I assumed some countries were larger that really were not, like Taiwan and South Korea. I suppose I was fooled by common map projections, or Malawi's irregular shape. Some other countries like Bangladesh and North Korea are just barely larger.
The shape makes it hard to gauge.. you can walk completely across the country in a 3 mile hike in some places. But it's much bigger than I originally thought.
Yeah, I didn't even think of the microstates, which have to be at the top. I probably heard that Rwanda is most densely-populated country in Africa. That would make a lot more sense, although one of the little island countries by Madagascar might have it beat.
Malawi is only 58th on the list of countries with the highest population density, behind South Korea, Japan, India, the UK, Germany, and others. Even in Africa, the larger countries of Nigeria and Uganda are above Malawi.
It used to be that men could get free (forced) haircuts at the border - part of Hastings Banda's no-hippie policy. Malawi was also perhaps the last country to get national television service. That would require some checking.
No, Britain declared a protectorate over the country before Germany tried to claim it. Rwanda and Burundi, as far as I know, were part of German East Africa.
I am all for the currency and Livingston (the dish might be a nice addition, but in that case you might indeed venture a bit into the more obscure knowledge, but still, better than local sportshero's ;) much more interesting to learn about.)