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QUIZ: Do you know France well enough to be Miss France?

Did you know that as well as being able to smile nicely and look slinky in a frock, candidates for Miss France also need to take a test on the history and culture of France? See how well you do on these sample questions.

Published: 5 January 2020 13:00 CET
Updated: 19 October 2021 10:17 CEST

The Miss France contestants face a general knowledge quiz

Miss France 2019 Vaimalama Chaves, centre, with fellow contestants. Photo: AFP

As the long-standing but rather archaic competition sails into another controversy – this time it is being sued in the Labour Court over its selection criteria – we have selected a quick sample from the 40-question test paper that the women had to sit last year.

So test your knowledge and see if you could one day qualify to represent France on the world stage while wearing a swimsuit.

READ ALSO Do you know France well enough to get French citizenship?

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French soldiers in Mali as part of Operation Barkhane.

French soldiers in Mali as part of Operation Barkhane. Photo: Florent Vergnes/AFP

Why is France . . . in Mali?

You might not immediately associate the west African country with France, but in fact France has had a major military presence there since 2013 and ‘why is France in Mali’ is the third most popular suggestion from Google when we asked ‘why is France’.

Commonly referred to in the French media by its army name of Opération Barkhane, the French military operations in Mali have been the source of some controversy and political tension for several years, and in February 2022 president Emmanuel Macron announced the end of operations in Mali and the withdrawal of French troops.

Mali, in West Africa, is one of the 25 poorest countries in the world and also forms part of the region known as Sahel, the region of North Africa which includes countries such as Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad.

Since 2012 Sahel has been at the centre of armed conflict with jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaida and Islamic State and since 2013 French troops have been taking part in an international operation against the extremists. It is centred in Mali because of the estimated 2,000 fighters in the region, more than 1,000 are from Mali.

France has historic links with Mali – until 1960 is was a French colony – but the French military, the largest in the EU, takes part in many international operations – it has been engaged in nine countries since 2011.

Since the beginning of the operation, 52 French soldiers have died, about 8,000 civilians have been killed in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso and 2 million were displaced by the fighting.

In June 2021, the French government decided that the army would progressively leave the country, a withdrawal that was accelerated in 2022 after a breakdown in relations with the ruling junta in Mali.

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