The African Union, formed on May 26th 2001, is a representation of the governments of Africa. It has the aim of greater unity between the African countries and the people who live on the continent.
55 African states are members of the African Union, although some are currently suspended. Morocco was a member of the OAU (the predecessor of the AU) but voluntarily left in 1984 in protest over its recognition of Western Sahara. It rejoined the AU in 2017.
This quiz is about the flags used in 10 of the countries which are represented by the African Union.
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The flag was adopted in 1994, following the suffrage of all races in the country. Black, gold and green are the colours of the African National Congress, who have governed South Africa since 1994, whilst red, white and blue found on both the Dutch tricolour and the British Union Jack. Holland and the UK both have historical links with South Africa
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Although Casablanca is the largest city in Morocco the capital is Rabat. Other cities of note in the country are Marrakesh and Tangiers, which was founded 2,500 years ago
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What is now Cameroon was divided between the British and the French after World War I. French Cameroon became an independent republic in 1960 and the southern part of British Cameroons (the 'S' is intentional) joined it one year later, forming the modern country
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In 1959 Senegal and French Sudan gained their independence and the two territories merged to become the Mali Federation. However, only two months later the federation split into the two nations of Senegal and Mali
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South Sudan became independent of the rest of Sudan following a referendum in 2011. The flag it adopted was that of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, the political wing of the Sudan People's Liberation Army who fought in the civil war which led to independence
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The capital, Freetown, was founded in 1792 by black slaves who had been freed by the British and had fought alongside them during the American Revolution. The abolitionist, John Clarkson, gathered over 1,000 former American slaves and returned them to Africa to settle Sierra Leone
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Despite its small size Gabon is well off for African countries. It has a large reserve of oil which it exports. This makes Gabon one of the most prosperous countries in the southern part of Africa
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Guinea-Bissau was formerly known as Portuguese Guinea. Following its independence in 1974 it adopted the official title Guinea-Bissau, utilising the name of its capital city to distinguish it from Guinea and Equatorial Guinea
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The territory was governed by Spain until 1975 when authority was given to a joint administration formed by Morocco and Mauritania. War broke out between the two nations which ended in 1991 with Morocco controlling two thirds of the land. The ownership of Western Sahara is still disputed and the pictured flag is that of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic who claim sovereignty of the land
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The greens on the Nigerian flag represent the forests and the natural wealth of the land, whilst the white symbolises peace
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