Beyond the answers - interesting background to this quiz

Why the Bastille still matters today

Although the Bastille held only a handful of prisoners in 1789, its storming became the symbolic starting point of the French Revolution. The event was less about freeing captives and more about seizing gunpowder and rejecting royal authority. France has celebrated 14 July as a national holiday since 1880, known in English as Bastille Day.

Two Congos, two capitals

The Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are often confused, and their capitals sit almost directly across the Congo River from one another. Brazzaville and Kinshasa are the world's closest pair of capital cities. The name Brazzaville honours the Italian-born explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, who founded the settlement in 1880.

The Ob River and Siberia's frozen highway

The Ob is one of the longest rivers in the world and a defining feature of western Siberia. For much of the year it is frozen, and in winter sections of it have historically been used as ice roads. It flows northward into the Arctic Ocean, together with the Yenisei and Lena forming the great northward drainage system of Russia.

How heavy is an African elephant really?

African bush elephants, the larger of the two African species, typically weigh between 5 and 7 tonnes, with males heavier than females. Their size makes them the largest living land animals. Forest elephants, by contrast, are smaller and were only widely recognised as a distinct species in the 21st century.