National Geographic Bee

National Geographic Bee
Genre	Geography bee
Frequency	Annual (late May)
Location(s)	Washington, D.C.
Inaugurated	1989
Previous event	28th National Geographic Bee
Next event	29th National Geographic Bee
Patron(s)	National Geographic Society
Website
www.nationalgeographic.org/bee

The National Geographic Bee (called the National Geography Bee until 2000, also referred to as the Nat Geo Bee) is an annual geography contest sponsored by the National Geographic Society. The bee, held every year since 1989, is open to students in the fourth through eighth grades in participating schools from the United States.

The entities represented at the national level come from all fifty States, the Atlantic Territories (Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands), the Pacific Territories (Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and American Samoa), the District of Columbia, and the Department of Defense Dependents Schools.

The National Geographic Bee Finals was moderated by Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek for its first 25 years (1989-2013). However, at the 2013 National Geographic Bee, Trebek announced that 2013 would be his last year hosting the Finals. Newscaster Soledad O'Brien took his place the following year, moderating the bee in 2014 and 2015. O'Brien was then replaced by Mo Rocca in 2016. The National Geographic Society announced at the 2017 State Bees that Rocca will be the moderator of the 2017 National Finals.

The reigning titleholder is Rishi Nair of Williams Magnet Middle School in Tampa, Florida.

...
Wikipedia