Beyond the answers - interesting background to this quiz

The lake that sits higher than most mountains

Lake Titicaca, straddling the border between Peru and Bolivia, is the highest large navigable lake in the world, sitting at roughly 3,800 metres above sea level. It is also the largest lake in South America by volume. The Uros people have long lived on floating islands built from layers of totora reeds, a tradition that continues today. The lake holds cultural significance for both Peru and Bolivia, who share its waters.

A play that ruffled feathers when it premiered

Anton Chekhov wrote The Seagull in the 1890s, and its first performance in St Petersburg in 1896 was a disaster, with audiences booing and the production collapsing. The experience reportedly left Chekhov vowing never to write for the theatre again. Two years later, a new production by Konstantin Stanislavsky at the Moscow Art Theatre turned the play into a triumph, and it became a cornerstone of modern drama. The seagull itself became the theatre's emblem.

Iron and its Latin roots

The chemical symbol Fe for iron comes from ferrum, the Latin word for the metal. Iron has been smelted by humans for thousands of years and remains central to steel production. Its symbol is one of several on the periodic table that derives from a Latin or older name rather than the modern English word, alongside examples like Au for gold (aurum) and Pb for lead (plumbum).

A statue with a view

Christ the Redeemer stands atop the Corcovado mountain in Rio de Janeiro, overlooking the city and Guanabara Bay. Completed in the 1930s, the Art Deco statue is around 30 metres tall, not counting its pedestal, and is struck by lightning several times a year. It has become one of the most recognisable landmarks in the world and a symbol of Brazil.

The museum built around a collection

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam houses the largest collection of Vincent van Gogh's works anywhere, including paintings, drawings and letters. It opened in 1973 and draws well over a million visitors annually. Many of the works come from the collection of the artist's family, which was transferred to a foundation before the museum was built.