Skip to footer

A fabled city of the Sahara: How much do you know about Timbuktu?

Timbuktu has a reputation in Western society as a distant, mysterious city. But it is a real place, and is back in the news after Tuareg rebels seized the city and implemented sharia. Can you separate Timbuktu's myth from reality?

  • By Arthur Bright Correspondent

1. Where is Timbuktu?

Scott Baldauf/File
Timbuktu's famous universities mark the city as a center of learning and sharing of ideas.

In South America's Amazon basin.

In Mali, at the edge of the Sahara desert.

In Tibet, high in the Kunlun mountain range.

Timbuktu is a myth – it doesn't really exist.
Javascript is disabled. Quiz scoring requires Javascript.
You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.