Since the first National Geographic Bee in 1989, millions of students have competed each year for a U.S. $25,000 college scholarship and the honor of being national champion.
The champions have come from diverse backgrounds–ranging from large cities to family farms. They have had varied interests and today are pursuing different educational paths. Among their shared characteristics are the desire to excel and an inherent curiosity about geography and the world around them.

On March 30, 2012 about 100 fourth to eighth graders in each of the 50 states, D.C., U.S. territories and Department of Defense Dependents Schools faced off during the National Geographic state level bees.

The 54 winners listed below will be competing at the May 22-24 championship in Washington, D.C. (Taken from the Geography Bee website)

ALABAMA
Daniel Picard, 7th Grade, Berry Middle School, Hoover
ALASKA
Andrew Hull, 6th Grade, Rogers Park Elementary School, Anchorage
ARIZONA
Raghav Ranga, 8th Grade, St. Gregory College Preparatory School, Tucson
ARKANSAS
Christian Boekhout, 6th Grade, Hot Springs Intermediate School, Hot Springs
ATLANTIC TERRITORIES
Gilberto Marxaach, 8th Grade, Academia del Perpetuo Socorro, San Juan
CALIFORNIA
Varun Mahadevan, 7th Grade, Prince of Peace Lutheran School, Fremont
COLORADO
Pranit Nanda, 6th Grade, Aurora Quest K-8 School, Aurora
CONNECTICUT
Michael Borecki, 7th Grade, Middlesex Middle School, Darien
DELAWARE
Tomasz Mroz, 5th Grade, North Star Elementary School, Hockesin
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE DEPENDENTS SCHOOLS
Dominik Muellerleile, 8th Grade, Wiesbaden Middle School, Wiesbaden, Germany
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Matthew Wilson, 7th Grade, Blessed Sacrament School
FLORIDA
Maya Patel, 8th Grade, Liberty Middle School, Tampa
GEORGIA
Sahr Singh, 7th Grade, Dodgen Middle School, Marietta
HAWAII
Mika Ishii, 4th Grade, John Wilson Elementary School, Honolulu
IDAHO
Matthew Miller, 5th Grade, Russell Elementary School, Moscow
ILLINOIS
Conrad Oberhaus, 6th Grade, Daniel Wright Junior High School, Lincolnshire
INDIANA
Caroline Peterson, 8th Grade, St. Joseph County Homeschoolers, South Bend
IOWA
John Mahoney, 7th Grade, Stillwell Junior High School, West Des Moines
KANSAS
Ganesh Aruna, 8th Grade, Overland Trail Middle School, Overland Park
KENTUCKY
Nikhil Krishna, 6th Grade, Corbin Intermediate School, Corbin
LOUISIANA
James Anthony Stoner, 8th Grade, Jesuit High School, New Orleans
MAINE
Benjamin MacLean, 8th Grade, York Middle School, York
MARYLAND
Adam Rusak, 8th Grade, Lakelands Park Middle School, Gaithersburg
MASSACHUSETTS
Karthik Karnik, 8th Grade, King Philip Regional Middle School, Norfolk
MICHIGAN
Philip Huang, 6th Grade, Wayne County Home Educators, Farmington Hills
MINNESOTA
Gopi Ramanathan, 8th Grade, Sartell Middle School, Sartell
MISSISSIPPI
Josh Waldbieser, 8th Grade, Margaret Green Junior High School, Cleveland
MISSOURI
Jack Langen, 8th Grade, West Junior High School, Columbia
MONTANA
Rosie McCormack, 8th Grade, St. Joseph Catholic School, Missoula
NEBRASKA
Jack Nussrallah, 6th Grade, Mary Our Queen School, Omaha
NEVADA
Nikolas Papameletiou, 8th Grade, St. Anne Catholic School, Las Vegas
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Neelam Sandhu, 7th Grade, Ross A. Lurgio Middle School, Bedford
NEW JERSEY
Siddharth Kurella, 8th Grade, Crossroads North Middle School, Monmouth Junction
NEW MEXICO
Gabriel Cuneo, 6th Grade, Shepherd Lutheran School,  Albuquerque
NEW YORK
Aparna Nair-Kanneganti, 8th Grade, Henry H. Wells Middle School, Brewster
NORTH CAROLINA
William (Frank) Kenny, 8th Grade, Charlotte Latin School, Charlotte
NORTH DAKOTA
Tanner Carlson, 7th Grade, Horizon Middle School, Bismarck
OHIO
Hayden Toftner, 6th Grade, Olentangy Berkshire Middle School, Galena
OKLAHOMA
Ari Papahronis, 7th Grade, Sequoyah Middle School, Edmond
OREGON
Pragyna Naik, 6th Grade, Franklin K-8 School of Choice, Corvallis
PACIFIC TERRITORIES
Leonard Calvo, 7th Grade, Bishop Baumgartner Memorial Catholic School, Guam
PENNSYLVANIA
Arnav Jagasia, 8th Grade, Radnor Middle School, Wayne
RHODE ISLAND
Maxwell Levine, 6th Grade, Wheeler School, Providence
SOUTH CAROLINA
Krish Patel, 6th Grade, Pinewood Preparatory School, Summerville
SOUTH DAKOTA
Adam Wiegert, 7th Grade, Patrick Henry Middle School, Sioux Falls
TENNESSEE
Alexander Wilaniskis, 7th Grade, East Ridge Middle School, Whitesburg
TEXAS
Rahul Nagveker, 8th Grade, Quail Valley Middle School, Missouri City
UTAH
Anthony Cheng, 8th Grade, Midvale Middle School, Midvale
VERMONT
Christopher Gish, 8th Grade, Sharon Academy, Sharon
VIRGINIA
Kevin Zhan, 8th Grade, George H. Moody Middle School, Henrico
WASHINGTON
Nicholas Helmer, 8th Grade, Discovery Middle School, Vancouver
WEST VIRGINIA
Andrew Christy, 6th Grade, St. Francis Central Catholic School, Morgantown
WISCONSIN
Vansh Jain, 8th Grade, MHLT Elementary School, Minocqua
WYOMING
August Prevedel, 8th Grade, Rock Springs Junior High School, Rock Springs