National Geographic Bee contestant wins big on Paraguay

Which South American country has a population most similar to Lebanon’s?

The answer — Paraguay — determined the winner of the annual National Geographic Bee on Wednesday.

Venkat Ranjan, 13, of San Ramon, California, emerged victorious among the 54 state and U.S. territory winners who came to the District this week to compete in the four-day competition at National Geographic Headquarters.

Bee moderator Mo Rocca asked Venkat after the competition what was going through his mind on the last question.

“Uh, I don’t know this, so I’m going to have to guess something,” the precocious seventh-grader said.

As bee champion, Venkat has won $50,000 for college tuition, a lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society and an all expenses-paid trip to the Galapagos Islands.

Second-place finisher Anoushka Buddhikot, 13, of Bridgewater, New Jersey, received $25,000 for college tuition, and third-place winner Vishal Sareddy, 13, of Suwanee, Georgia, took home a $10,000 college scholarship.

All of the top 10 contestants, who competed Wednesday in the bee’s final round, received $500.

The top three winners told The Washington Times they don’t know where they want to go to college, but Vishal said he would like to major in geography. He said it was “a dream come true” to stand on stage at the bee.

Asked how their friends would react when they return to class next week, Anoushka said, “Nothing is going to change.”

“I have to take my math finals,” Venkat said.

The 30-year-old bee marks the culmination of months of practice and competition for 2.6 million students competing at local, regional and state contests to prove who has the best head for obscure geography facts.

Ultimate victory came after several hours of tough questions, ranging from rapid-fire factoids — Which species of cactus do Mexican long-nosed bats pollinate in Arizona? (Answer: Organ pipe cactus) — to justifications — Which river would be ideal for a plastic waste management site? (Answer: The Yangtze River).

“You’ve heard of math geeks, but we like to consider ourselves ’map’ geeks,” quipped Jean Case, chair of the National Geographic Society. “But we understand geography is about so much more than just memorizing places on a map.”

Mr. Rocca tried to break the tension on stage by asking the middle-schoolers about their hobbies outside of the bee — only to learn they are just as competitive in their free time.

Sean Cheng of Exeter, New Hampshire, said he competes in “speed cubing,” in which he solves a Rubik’s cube in 9.2 seconds. Jonathan Song of Apex, North Carolina, said he is part of competitive robotics team. Nihar Janga of Austin, Texas, won first place in the National Spelling Bee two years ago.

Anoushka told Mr. Rocca she relaxes from bee studying by practicing the violin. She had been a favorite among some to win the contest — a longtime competitor who has been preparing for five years. She also was the only contestant who held a perfect score during the competition among the 54 state and territory champions earlier this week.

If she had won, she would have only been the third girl to take first place in the bee’s 30-year history.