Beyond the answers - interesting background to this quiz

A superpower's quiet ending

The Soviet Union was formally dissolved in December 1991, when the republics that made it up went their separate ways and the red flag came down over the Kremlin for the last time. What had been one of the world's two superpowers simply ceased to exist, reshaping borders, alliances and economies across Europe and Central Asia. The collapse is often treated as a single moment, but it was the culmination of years of political and economic strain.

Prague's river and its bridges

The Vltava runs through the heart of Prague, and the Czech capital has grown up around its bends rather than turning its back on them. Charles Bridge, begun in the 14th century under Charles IV, is the most famous crossing, lined with baroque statues and packed with visitors at dawn. The river also inspired one of the country's best-known pieces of music, Bedrich Smetana's symphonic poem "Vltava" from Ma Vlast.

Kafka's most famous opening

Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" begins with one of literature's most arresting sentences: Gregor Samsa wakes to find himself transformed into a monstrous insect. Kafka, who wrote in German while living in Prague, published the story in 1915. It is short enough to read in a sitting, yet it has generated a century of interpretation about family, work and alienation.

Niacin and the B vitamins

Niacin is another name for vitamin B3, one of the eight B vitamins that help the body turn food into usable energy. A severe deficiency causes pellagra, a disease once common in populations that relied heavily on untreated corn. The B vitamins are water-soluble, which is why the body needs a steady supply rather than storing them for long.

A language family with deep roots

Slovenian belongs to the Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family, spoken by around two million people in Slovenia and beyond. The Slavic languages split long ago into three broad groups: West (such as Polish and Czech), East (Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian) and South (Slovenian, Croatian, Serbian, Bulgarian). Swedish, by contrast, is a North Germanic language, and Vietnamese belongs to the Austroasiatic family.