Beyond the answers - interesting background to this quiz

The island that is mostly ice

Greenland is the world's largest island that is not itself a continent, which is why Australia, though bigger, is usually counted as one. Its ice sheet covers roughly 80 percent of the landmass and holds a substantial share of the planet's fresh water. Despite the name, the island's southern fjords are greener than the ice cap suggests - a bit of branding attributed to Norse settlers hoping to attract colonists.

A disease that reshaped diets

Beriberi results from a lack of vitamin B1, also called thiamine, and it became widespread in parts of Asia where polished white rice had replaced unhusked rice as a staple. The husk and bran removed during milling are exactly where much of the thiamine sits. The discovery that diet, not infection, caused the illness was a milestone in the history of nutrition science.

Quinine, the original bitter

Quinine, the compound that gives tonic water its distinctive bitterness, comes from the bark of the cinchona tree, native to South America. For centuries it was the main treatment for malaria, and British colonial officers famously mixed it with gin, sugar and lime to make the medicine palatable - the origin story of the modern gin and tonic. Today's tonic contains far less quinine and is drunk for pleasure rather than prevention.

Chekhov's provincial sisters

In Chekhov's play, the three sisters are Olga, Masha and Irina, and their longing to return to Moscow drives the drama. The work premiered in 1901 at the Moscow Art Theatre, staged by Konstantin Stanislavski, whose approach to acting would go on to influence theatre worldwide. Chekhov wrote it while in poor health, and the play's blend of everyday comedy and quiet despair became a hallmark of his late style.

Eight countries, one mountain range

The Alps stretch across eight countries: France, Monaco, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany and Slovenia. The range formed as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided, and it remains geologically young and slowly rising. Its peaks and passes have shaped trade routes, languages and cuisines, which is why Alpine culture looks different from valley to valley.