On the first floor of one of the main buildings that make up National Geographic's Headquarters is an impressive library whose primary purpose is to provide National Geographic staff with the resources and information they need to do their jobs. For example, the team that creates the annual Geography Bee questions uses this library frequently.

What many folks may not know, however, is that members of the public are welcome to make an appointment to visit the library with their own specific research needs. This service could be particularly useful for travel writers looking to access National Geographic's extensive archives. Or a traveler gearing up for a big trip might enjoy an hour or two of digging through the library's special guidebooks room. Take a look at this place, packed wall-to-wall with every guidebook imaginable:

During my visit to DC to see the Bee, I also had the opportunity to spend some time exploring other parts of National Geographic's headquarters. The complex is composed of several buildings, the tallest of which (pictured here) stands on the corner of 17th and M.

Of course some of our Gadling readers were quick to correctly answer today's winning geography bee question. But do you want to see if you really have what it takes to be a geography genius?

I've assembled a quiz, which includes all the official National Geographic questions Caitlin Snaring had to answer correctly to win the Bee earlier today.

Some of the questions were accompanied by visual aids, but smart Gadling readers should be able to make educated guesses without those. This selection of questions illustrates the broad range of topics and issues that the study of geography encompasses.

Have fun, and feel free to post your guesses or gripes in the comments below! (I'll post answers in the comments sometime later this week.)

Caitlin Snaring, an 8th-grader from Redmond, Washington, answered this question correctly, just a short while ago, to become only the second woman ever to win the National Geographic Bee:

A city that is divided by a river of the same name was the imperial capital of Vietman for more than a century. Name this city, which is still an important cultural center.

Do you know it? Take some guesses and I'll be back in a bit with more questions and news from today's final round.

The ten National Geographic Bee finalists range in age from 10 to 14, and I was able to chat with the youngest competitor, ten-year-old Benjamin Taylor, soon after he learned that he'd be moving on to tomorrow's championship round. Here he is just moments after the anouncement, smiling with his proud dad.

Ben is a vibrant and enthusiastic kid from West Virginia, who is proud of the fact that he is home-schooled. He's a 5th-grader representing the Monongalia Homeschoolers Association in Morgantown. He told me that he studied over 70 hours to prepare for the National Bee, and that it was definitely a different experience than the state competition back home in West Virginia. He answered eight questions correctly in this morning's preliminary round. The only one he missed was the analogy question.

When I arrived at the Doubletree Crystal City in Arlington, VA this morning, the place was buzzing with world chatter. I overheard conversations about official languages and state capitals as parents and Bee competitors fueled up over breakfast.

As mentioned yesterday, the 55 competitors (ages 10-14) have won school and state championships to qualify for this national final. They are a talented group of students with interests that reach far beyond geography -- they are musicians, athletes, Boy & Girl Scouts, artists, writers and video game champs. They admire the Dalai Lama, Jane Goodall, Al Gore, Ben Franklin and evolutionary biologist Jared Diamond.

According to their event bios, some of these savvy students have visited Istanbul, Paris, China, the Galapagos, Mexico, Bahamas, Nova Scotia, Pompeii, Japan, Iceland, Zion and Yellowstone National Parks. And they aspire to visit places like Dubai, Dublin, Polynesia, Belize, New Zealand and Egypt. But they were here today because they know a lot more about tons of places they have never been to.

Here's a photo recap from the morning's events:

For the first time in the 19 year history of the National Geographic Bee, there is no tie-breaker at the end of the preliminary rounds to determine the top ten finalists. Here is the list of winning finalists, mostly 7th and 8th graders:

Andrew Lee, Alaska
Antonio de la Pena, Colorado
Ben Geyer, D.C. (this is Ben's third time competing in the Bee)
Suneil Iyer, Kansas
Solly Mayer, Kentucky
Tyler Bowen, Oklahoma
Francisco Vargas, Puerto Rico
Mark Arildsen, Tennessee
Caitlin Snaring, Washington (the only girl to make the final)
Ben Taylor, West Virginia (Ben is a 10 year old 5th grader!)

A full recap with quiz questions and photos to follow later today.

Back to the Bee...

As travelers, we often become intimately connected to the places we visit. But what about the locations we only read about in stories or hear about on the news? How much do we know about these places? And maybe more importantly at times, do we even know where they ARE?

World Hum recently pointed to an essay by the always insightful Thomas Swick about this wonderful world of ours that we know so little about. With the world at our fingertips these days, it's easy to get by without actually knowing where places are physically located. The web keeps us all connected, educating us about different cultures and countries through a variety of interactive methods. But the context of physical location can often be overlooked as we build relationships across borders that we might not be able to identify on a map.