Q 01/05

Which Spanish conquistador brought down the Aztec Empire, taking its capital Tenochtitlan in 1521?

A) Francisco Pizarro

B) Hernán Cortés

C) Vasco Núñez de Balboa

D) Pedro de Alvarado

Answer · why

B) Hernán Cortés

Hernán Cortés won over the Tlaxcalans, longtime rivals of the Aztecs, and their warriors far outnumbered his Spaniards in the final siege.

Q 02/05

Which food's English name comes from Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs?

A) Potato

B) Papaya

C) Avocado

D) Guava

Answer · why

C) Avocado

Avocado comes from the Nahuatl ahuacatl, which Spanish speakers muddled with their own word for 'lawyer' before English borrowed it.

Q 03/05

Which Central American country abolished its army after a brief civil war in 1948?

A) Honduras

B) Guatemala

C) Costa Rica

D) Nicaragua

Answer · why

C) Costa Rica

Costa Rica's leader José Figueres marked it by striking a barracks wall with a mallet, and the old barracks now houses the National Museum.

Q 04/05

Which papal name did Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Latin America's first pope, take in 2013?

A) Benedict

B) Pius

C) John Paul

D) Francis

Answer · why

D) Francis

Francis honours Saint Francis of Assisi: as the votes mounted, a cardinal friend hugged Bergoglio and whispered 'Don't forget the poor'.

Q 05/05

Which language of the Inca Empire is official in Peru alongside Spanish?

A) Nahuatl

B) Guaraní

C) Quechua

D) Mapudungun

Answer · why

C) Quechua

The Inca rulers made Quechua the official language of their many-language empire.