Beyond the answers - interesting background to this quiz

The island capital that keeps its French flavour

Castries, the answer to our Saint Lucia question, sits on a natural harbour that has been fought over by the French and British many times. That back-and-forth left the island with English as its official language, yet a large share of residents still speak Saint Lucian Creole, a French-based patois. The city is also the birthplace of two Nobel laureates, which is remarkable for a country of well under 200,000 people.

Russia's very long list of neighbours

Sixteen is the figure our quiz accepts, and it is easy to see why Russia tops the world for bordering countries. Its landmass spans eleven time zones, from the Baltic coast to the Pacific, so its frontiers run through Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia and East Asia. That sheer length means a single country shares borders with both Norway and North Korea.

A currency named after Columbus

The Costa Rican colón takes its name from Christopher Columbus, whose Spanish surname is Cristóbal Colón. Several Latin American currencies share the name, including those of El Salvador and, until recently, Venezuela. Costa Rica's version is subdivided into 100 céntimos, though those small coins have largely faded from everyday use.

Switzerland's quiet choice of capital

Zurich is the country's largest city and Geneva its most international, but the Swiss capital is Bern. The decision dates back to the founding of the modern federal state in 1848, when the federal assembly chose Bern as a compromise seat of government. It remains a modest city by European standards, its old town a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Quasimodo and the novel behind the legend

Victor Hugo's 1831 novel Notre-Dame de Paris gave the world Quasimodo, the deaf bell-ringer of the cathedral. The book was a huge success and helped fuel a Gothic revival in French architecture, with campaigns to restore medieval monuments. Hugo's tale has since been adapted into countless films, musicals and animations, which is why the name is so widely recognised today.