DCist: National Geographic Bee Winner Gets Perfect Score

May 22, 2008

National Geographic Bee Winner Gets Perfect Score

National Geographic Bee moderator Alex Trebek congratulates the 2008 National Geographic Bee champion, Akshay Rajagopal of Nebraska. Photo by Rebecca Hale, courtesy National Geographic

Yesterday evening here in Washington, 11-year-old Akshay Rajagopal of Nebraska won the 2008 National Geographic Bee without missing a single question -- only the second time that's ever happened in the Bee's 20-year history.

You can watch a video of the the final questions by following this link. The winning question was:

The urban area of Cochabamba has been in the news in recent years due to protests over the privatization of the municipal water supply and regional autonomy issues. Cochabamba is the third largest conurbation in what country?

A conurbation, as it turns out, is an urban area comprising a number of cities that have merged to form one continuous urban area. Did you know that? The answer, as you can see above, was Bolivia.

Rajagopal won a $25,000 college scholarship and lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society. Second-place winner and recipient of a $15,000 college scholarship was Hunter Bledsoe, 13, of Alabama, third place and a $10,000 college scholarship went to William Lee, 13, of Massachusetts. All three top placing contestants will no go on to compete in an international round of the National Geographic Bee, where they will go up against teams from other countries.

By Sommer Mathis in News | Link | Comments (16) | Recommend this! (3) |

Tags: National Geographic Bee, winner

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Comments (16) [rss]

By

[1] | 05/22/08 05:17PM

"William Lee? This is your ticket to Interzone. Tourist class, I'm afraid, but what can you expect these days...We'll contact you there..."

By

[2] | 05/22/08 05:26PM

Two things I will always remember from my failure in my 8th grade Geography Bee:

1: Northwest is not a cardinal direction
2: The Iberian pennisula is just a fancy way of saying Spain and Portugal.

By

[3] | 05/22/08 05:26PM

How can they go to the International round of the National Bee? Wouldn't it be the International Bee, by default?

By

[4] | 05/22/08 05:39PM

"I'll take the rapist for $100, Trebek"

By

[5] | 05/22/08 05:40PM

Home-schooled I presume?

By

[6] | 05/22/08 05:44PM

Nope, he's a product of the public schools.

By

[7] | 05/22/08 05:47PM

well, i feel like an idiot.

By

[8] | 05/22/08 05:55PM

DC was represented by Benjamin Geyer, 8th Grade, British School of Washington. If he was a ringer from the UK, we need better ringers.

By

[9] | 05/22/08 07:26PM

"Anal Bum Cover? That's a great idea. I wish I'd thought of it."

"I'll take The Penis Mightier. You're sitting on a goldmine Trebek!"

~EEE~

By

[10] | 05/22/08 09:49PM

ok, i have to brag here....who wrote the final question for this year's bee???

yeah, that's right, me.

(with very, very, important input from our researcher, ms. erikson...)

i.am.proud. it was fun.

By

[11] | 05/22/08 11:37PM

i love bees!

By

[12] | 05/23/08 08:26AM

that kid is not what i have in mind when i picture little kids from nebraska

By

[13] | 05/23/08 09:09AM

Too bad his "scholarship" will only cover 1/4 of one year of college.

By

[14] | 05/23/08 09:45AM

Good one, IMGoph! Did you get to meet the mighty Trebek?

If I had been asked this question, my answer would have been "chupacabra what?"

By

[15] | 05/23/08 02:28PM

bethesdaist: i've met and dealt with mr. trebek many, many times now. interesting guy, and i'll leave it at that for public consumption here :)

By

[16] | 05/23/08 02:36PM

good job IMGoph! you've made this GIS/Geography/Cartography nerd very jealous. :)

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