The Geo Bee: A 30 Year History | National Geographic

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the first National Geography Bee! Finally, [Applause] anniversaries are important; they are an invitation, in many ways, to look back and celebrate where we've been.

To have started out as one of over five million means that you're already winners, and in our mind, you are already champions. It's young people like these who give me hope for a long time. It's just kind of interesting how you can take the real world and put it onto a piece of paper. It's fun to go new places; the people—this is going to be fun, isn't it, folks?

You can tell already this is the flag of what East African country? Kenya! Yes, the Okavango Delta feeds into what lake to the south? Lake Ngami! You are right; you can breathe a big sigh of relief on that one.

Llama, but Lithuania, Ho Chi Minh Trail, South Africa, the Crimean Peninsula, Montana—yes, you got that in the nick of time!

Hi everybody, before I give you my answer, I want to congratulate all the students who are participating in this year's competition. The study of geography is about more than just memorizing places on the map; it's about understanding the complexity of our world and appreciating the diversity of cultures that exists across continents.

You have the honor of being the first girl in the national final, so congratulations for your just fine! You being here today, you will be an inspiration to young girls all over the country. I bet you next year we're gonna see a lot more competing.

Thanks for being here. Hello everyone, what a pleasure it is to be back here in our nation's capital! You're now down to our two finalists; congratulations and best wishes to all three! And I've got news for you—you’re right! [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]