HI absorption toward HII regions at small galactic longitudes

We make a comprehensive study of H I absorption toward H II regions located within |l| < 10°. Structures in the extreme inner Galaxy are traced using the longitude-velocity space distribution of this absorption. We find significant H I absorption associated with the Near and Far 3 kpc Arms, the Connecting Arm, Bania's Clump 1, and the H I Tilted Disk. We also constrain the line-of-sight distances to H II regions, by using H I absorption spectra together with the H II region velocities measured by radio recombination lines.