National Geography 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) 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 reigning titleholder is Rishi Nair of Williams Magnet Middle School in Tampa, Florida.

The competition begins at the elementary school level (4th grade - 8th grade) and usually commences in November, December, or January. This competition requires at least 6 people to enter. Private, public, and homeschooled students are allowed to enter. Typically, between five and six million students are entered each year (any number of competitors may enter this competition). The two major stages in this competition are called the preliminary and the final stages. Often, the preliminary competition is further split into preliminary rounds and a semi-final. In the event of a tie, a tiebreaker round is held at the end of the preliminary rounds.

...
Wikipedia