Beyond the answers - interesting background to this quiz

A river that crosses six countries

The Mekong begins on the Tibetan Plateau in China, where it is known as the Lancang, and then flows south through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam before emptying into the South China Sea. It is one of Asia's great waterways, supporting fisheries and farmland for millions of people. Its Chinese stretch is mountainous and fast, quite different from the wide, slow delta it forms near the sea.

Three capitals, three very different cities

Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, sits in the Caucasus on the Kura River and is known for its hot sulphur springs, which gave the city its name. Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the region. Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, lies on the Caspian Sea and is famous for its oil history. The three capitals are often confused because the countries sit side by side.

Why Africa earns the heat record

Africa holds the record as the hottest continent, largely because most of its land lies between the tropics, where the sun is high overhead for much of the year. The Sahara, the world's largest hot desert, covers a huge portion of northern Africa and regularly records some of the highest temperatures on Earth. Europe and South America sit further from the equator on average, which keeps their overall temperatures lower.

Two landlocked capitals worth remembering

Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan, is one of the few capitals in the world with no airport of its own; visitors usually fly into Paro and drive over mountain roads. Vientiane, the capital of Laos, sits on the Mekong River, right across from Thailand. Both cities are capitals of small, landlocked countries in Asia, which is part of why their names so often get swapped in quizzes.

Arabic in Egypt and beyond

Egypt's official language is Standard Arabic, the formal register used in government, education and the media across the Arab world. Day to day, most Egyptians speak Egyptian Arabic, a distinct dialect that differs noticeably from the standard form. Egypt has also long been a centre of Arabic publishing, film and music, giving its dialect wide reach across the region.