Beyond the answers - interesting background to this quiz

The doctor who made surgery safer

Before Joseph Lister, operations were often followed by infection, and many patients died not from the surgery itself but from what came afterwards. Working in Britain in the 1860s, Lister applied the idea that germs caused infection and used carbolic acid to clean wounds, instruments and dressings. His methods helped turn surgery from a last resort into something far less deadly, and he is remembered as a pioneer of antiseptic practice.

A war fought far from home

The Crimean War, which ran from 1853 to 1856, pitted Russia against an alliance that included Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire. Most of the fighting took place on the Crimean Peninsula on the Black Sea. The conflict is remembered for the siege of Sevastopol and for the appalling conditions soldiers endured, which were exposed in reporting back home and helped push forward the reform of military hospitals and nursing.

The mountain range with a scattered population

The Atlas Mountains stretch across Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia in North Africa, separating the Mediterranean coast from the Sahara. Rather than a single crowded region, they are home to scattered communities, including Berber peoples with their own languages and traditions. The area's population is modest compared with the lowlands, which is why the correct figure here is the smallest of the three options.

A capital that is not the biggest city

Podgorica is the capital of Montenegro, a small country on the Adriatic coast of southeastern Europe. Belgrade, one of the other options, is the capital of neighbouring Serbia, which is an easy mix-up. Montenegro became independent in 2006, and Podgorica sits in the country's central plain, while the historic coastal town of Cetinje holds a special cultural status.