NewsTracker Answers for week of Oct. 04, 2010

Q: At least eight people were killed in explosions marring Nigeria's celebrations to mark 50 years of independence. Where is Nigeria?

Circle the area on this map

Q: Police said two blasts last week outside the justice ministry in the capital were caused by car bombs. What is the capital of Nigeria?

A. Abuja

B. Lagos

C. Nairobi

D. Pretoria

A. Nigeria's capital of Abuja has about one-tenth the population of the former capital of Lagos, the country's largest city with nearly 8 million people. Nairobi is the capital of Kenya, and Pretoria is the capital of South Africa.

Q: A militant group - Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta - had threatened to target the festivities. What resource are the militants fighting over?

A. Uranium

B. Gold

C. Oil

D. Diamonds

C. The militants say oil production has polluted the Niger Delta, while its impoverished residents have seen almost none of the oil profits. Nigeria is a major oil producer, yet most of the population live in poverty

Q: Nigeria gained its independence in 1960 from which country?

A. Niger

B. Britain

C. Germany

D. France

B. The area was a center of the 18th century slave trade, and many of the citizens of the former slave nations of the British Empire are descended from Nigerian ethnic groups. The territory formally came under British government control in 1900.

Q: on to regional and ethnic strife, many Nigerians battle over religion. Which is the largest religion in Nigeria?

A. Christianity

B. Hinduism

C. Islam

D. Chrislam

C. Nigeria is about 50 percent Muslim, mostly in the north, and 40 percent Christian, mostly in the south. Chrislam is a minor Nigerian religion that mixes elements of both Christianity and Islam.