NewsTracker Answers for week of Apr 21, 2014

Q: Miners who dug uranium ore in Namibia that supplied the United States and Britain in 1970s with the raw material for bombs and nuclear power are dying of cancers and unexplained illnesses, according to a worker survey. Where is Namibia?

Circle the area on this map

Q: When the Rossing uranium mine started operations in 1976, Namibia was ruled by its southern neighbor . . .

A. Angola

B. Botswana

C. South Africa

D. Zambia

C. Namibia shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. Namibia gained independence from South Africa in 1990, following the Namibian War of Independence.

Q: The Rossing mine opened under South Africa's government system known as . . .

A. Apartheid

B. Oligarchy

C. Fascism

D. Plutocracy

A. Apartheid was a system of racial segregation that curtailed the rights of the majority black population until it ended in 1994. During the first years of operation, black migrant workers lived at the Rossing mine and were exposed to dust and radiation 24 hours a day.

Q: Namibia's name is derived from what?

A. Namib people

B. Namib Desert

C. Mount Namibia

D. Namibia River

B. Uranium was discovered in the Namib Desert in 1928 but explorations began only at the end of the 1950. Rössing is the largest of three mines exploiting uranium in the Namib, and it produces around 7 percent of the world's uranium.

Q: Mining provides 25 percent of Namibia's revenue. What mineral discovery in 1908 prompted an influx of Europeans into the country?

A. Gold

B. Platinum

C. Copper

D. Diamonds

D. Namibia was the German colony of South-West Africa when the diamonds were discovered. South Africa seized the territory from Germany seven years later during World War I.