Mexico trivia: 46 questions and answers

Lake Texcoco. Tenochtitlan stood on an island in Lake Texcoco, in the Valley of Mexico. Mexico City now covers the old lake bed. Chapala and Pátzcuaro are lakes in western Mexico, and Titicaca is in the Andes.

16 September. Independence Day is 16 September, the day in 1810 when Miguel Hidalgo gave the Cry of Dolores. 5 May recalls the Battle of Puebla, 20 November the start of the Revolution, and 12 December is the feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

False. False. Cinco de Mayo remembers the Mexican victory over French troops at the Battle of Puebla on 5 May 1862. Independence Day is 16 September.

The Habsburgs. Maximilian belonged to the Habsburgs, the ruling family of Austria: he was an archduke and the younger brother of Emperor Franz Joseph. France's Napoleon III helped put him on the throne, but Maximilian was not a Bonaparte.

True. True. Vicente Fox of the National Action Party won in July 2000, ending 71 years in which the PRI had won every presidential election.

August and September. Chiles en nogada are eaten in August and September, when pomegranates are in season and Mexico celebrates its independence.

Puebla. Poblano means 'from Puebla'. Mole poblano, a dark sauce of chillies, spices, nuts and a little chocolate, is the city's most famous dish.

Avocado sauce. Guacamole comes from the Nahuatl āhuacamōlli, which means avocado sauce: āhuacatl is avocado and mōlli is sauce.

Blue agave. By law, tequila is made from blue agave grown in a protected area centred on the state of Jalisco. Agave is a succulent, not a cactus.

Lime (calcium hydroxide). Corn is cooked with lime (calcium hydroxide, not the fruit), a process called nixtamalisation. It softens the grain and makes it more nutritious.

False. False. Tacos are eaten with your hands. Tilt your head, not the taco, so the filling stays inside.

True. True. La comida is the biggest meal of the day and is eaten in the early afternoon. Supper in the evening is usually light.

The Day of the Dead. Pan de muerto is baked in the weeks before the Day of the Dead, on 1 and 2 November, and placed on family altars called ofrendas.

Veracruz. Cortés founded Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz in 1519. Veracruz became Mexico's oldest and most important port. Acapulco and Mazatlán are on the Pacific, and Cancún is a modern Caribbean resort.

Guanajuato. In Guanajuato, old flood tunnels and the former course of the river were turned into underground roads.

The Maya. Chichén Itzá was built by The Maya, on the Yucatán Peninsula. The Aztecs lived in central Mexico, the Olmecs much earlier on the Gulf Coast, and the Incas in South America.

The Pyramid of the Sun. The Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon are Teotihuacan's great pyramids. El Castillo is at Chichén Itzá, the Temple of the Inscriptions at Palenque and the Pyramid of the Magician at Uxmal.

False. False. Teotihuacan was built and abandoned centuries before the Aztecs. They found its ruins and gave it the Nahuatl name we use today.

It is the largest pyramid in the world by volume. It is the largest pyramid in the world by volume, but only about 25 m high, much lower than the Great Pyramid of Giza. It was built of adobe bricks and now looks like a hill with a church on top.

Frida Kahlo. The Blue House was Frida Kahlo's home. It became a museum in 1958. Octavio Paz was a poet, Pancho Villa a revolutionary general and Benito Juárez a president.

The Sun Stone. The Sun Stone, often called the Aztec calendar, is the museum's most famous piece. The Rosetta Stone is in London, the Terracotta Army in China and the Mask of Agamemnon in Athens.

False. False. They were painted by José Clemente Orozco in the late 1930s, including his famous Man of Fire.

Tijuana. The Caesar salad is credited to Caesar Cardini, an Italian-born restaurateur, who created it at his restaurant in Tijuana in 1924.

The Yucatán Peninsula. The Chicxulub crater, about 200 km across, lies buried under the Yucatán Peninsula. The impact happened about 66 million years ago. Florida and Iberia are not in Mexico.

True. True. The city stands on the soft clay of an old lake bed, and pumping water from underground has made some areas sink as much as 9 m.

A snake. The eagle is eating a snake. It recalls the Aztec legend of the sign that showed them where to build Tenochtitlan.

Mexico's largest state. The dog shares its name with Mexico's largest state, Chihuahua, in the north on the US border. Mexico's highest volcano is Pico de Orizaba.

Monarch butterflies. Millions of migrating monarch butterflies spend the winter in these forests. Their reserve became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008.

True. True. Indigenous peoples in southern Mexico domesticated maize from a wild grass called teosinte about 9,000 years ago.

False. False. Mexico, with about 134 million people, has the largest Spanish-speaking population in the world. Spain has about 50 million people.

A bus. In Mexico, camión is the everyday word for a bus as well as a truck. In Spain it only means a truck.

A tip. La propina is a tip. About 10 to 15 percent is normal for good service.

A thin, flat round bread of corn or wheat. A Mexican tortilla is a thin, flat round bread of corn or wheat. In Spain, the same word means a potato omelette.

The main square. The zócalo is the main square.

True. True. Ahorita literally means 'right now', but Mexicans often use it for 'soon' or 'in a moment', so do not be surprised if you wait a little.

To ask you to repeat what you said. People say ¿Mande? to ask you to repeat what you said: it is a very Mexican, polite way to say 'Pardon?'.

¡Provecho!. ¡Provecho! means 'enjoy your meal'. ¡Salud! is 'cheers', mucho gusto is 'nice to meet you' and ¿mande? is 'pardon?'.

Is it spicy?. ¿Pica? means 'Is it spicy?'. A very useful question in Mexico.

False. False. In the morning you say 'Buenos días'. 'Buenas noches' is for after dark or for saying goodnight.

True. True. Padre means father, but in everyday Mexican Spanish it also means great or cool, so '¡Qué padre!' is 'How great!'.

Bottled or boiled water. Travel advice says to drink only bottled or boiled water in Mexico and to be careful with ice in drinks.

About 2,240 m. Mexico City is about 2,240 m above sea level, so take it easy on your first day or two.

About 10 to 15 percent. About 10 to 15 percent is normal. Check the bill first in case the tip has already been added.

True. True. It opens Tuesday to Sunday. The Frida Kahlo Museum is also closed on Mondays.

False. False. Use the authorised, prepaid airport taxis, bought at the official desk. In town, take taxis from an official rank or ask your hotel to call one.

False. False. The Mexican peso uses the same sign as the US dollar, so prices in Mexico are normally in pesos.