International Geography Bee

The first stage of competition for Varsity and Junior Varsity competitors is the National Qualifying Exam (NQE), which can also qualify a student for the US Geography Championships. The NQE is administered at regional sites of the National History Bee and Bowl; students can take the exam up to three times, on Set A, Set B, and/or Set C. Students who finish in the top 50% of test-takers at their regional site or who finish at or above the National Median Score for their version of the test are eligible for Nationals.

Competitors who finish in the top 50% of their age division at Nationals or who score 75 points or more on the NQE qualify for the International Geography Championships. The top 3 students at Nationals receive discounted admission at the next IGB Worlds.[4]

Students in 8th grade and younger are permitted to compete in the Junior Varsity Division, but most compete in the 8th Grade, 7th Grade, 6th Grade, or Elementary Divisions, depending on their respective age. These four divisions all use the same qualifying exams for the US National Championships, but the minimum score required to advance varies—8th graders must score 50; 7th graders must score 45; 6th graders must score 40; and elementary students must score 35.

Middle and elementary school students also have the opportunity to compete in Regional Quiz Tournaments, offered at middle school History Bowl sites. These are not required for Nationals qualification and are not available to JV and Varsity competitors. The Middle and Elementary School pathway consists of an Online Regional Qualifying Exam (ORQE), Regional Finals, and then the National Championships.[5]

The International Geography Bees in Asia,[8] Canada,[9] and Europe[10] have three levels: Regionals, the Asian/Canadian/European Championships, and the World Championships. At the Regional stage, students can compete in buzzer-based Regional Quiz Tournaments (similar to Regionals of the National History Bee and Bowl) or take the Championships Qualifying Exam. Students finishing in the top 50% on either the Alpha or Beta version of this exam qualify for Nationals; those finishing in the top 25% qualify for IGB Worlds.

Hosted in conjunction with the region's International History Bee and Bowl, the Asian/Canadian/European Championships consist of 3 preliminary rounds with 30 buzzer-based questions each. The top 50% in each age division—Varsity, JV, Middle School—at Nationals also qualify for the International Geography Championships.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the International Geography Bee European Championships were not held in 2020.

Year	Division	Champion	School	Country
2017	Varsity	Brychan Hall	Abu Dhabi Homeschool Association	UAE
2017	Junior Varsity	Harper Christian	American International School of Budapest	Hungary
2017	Middle School	Anabel Mellinger	Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz	Switzerland
2018	Varsity	Chris Thorn	Eton College	England
2018	Junior Varsity	Yannick Neuffer	SIS Basel	Switzerland
2018	Middle School	Maxim Zakhapetian	Zurich International School	Switzerland
2019	Varsity	Adam Wilson	Hockerill Anglo-European College	England
2019	Junior Varsity	Artus Wolfensberger	College du Leman	Switzerland
2019	Middle School	Nathan Nicholas	Zurich International School	Switzerland
2021	Varsity	Kevin Zheng	Harrow School	England
2021	Junior Varsity	Filip Firlej	Collège Saint Jean Bosco	France
2021	Middle School	Theofilos Charalampidis	Anatolia College	Greece
2022	Varsity	Eli Bertuccioli	International School of Geneva	Switzerland
2022	Junior Varsity	Gabriel Unglert	Swiss International School Basel	Switzerland
2022	Middle School	Huzair Khan	Collège les Hauts Grillets	France

Qualifying exams and tournaments have also been offered in Australia & New Zealand and Africa. Australia & New Zealand do not currently have their own Championships for IGB, but interested students can compete in the IGB Asian Championships if they desire.[14] Students in Latin American, the Caribbean, and Africa can take the IGB Championships Qualifying Exam, but there are not yet any tournaments hosted in these regions.[15]

Students within the United States can qualify for the International Geography Championships by finishing in the top 50% of competitors at the US National Championships of IGB; by finishing in the top 25% of competitors at Regional Quiz Tournaments; or by earning a score of at least 75 on the IGB National Qualifying Exam.

International students can qualify for IGC by finishing in the top 50% of competitors at their respective regional championships (i.e. IGB Asian Championships, IGB Canadian Championships, etc.). Prospective participants are also eligible if they finish in the top 25% of their age division on the IGB Championships Qualifying Exam; attain a certain score on that qualifying exam (75 for Varsity; 65 for JV; 55 for Middle/Elementary); or finish in the top 50% at a Regional Quiz Tournament.

Any student who medals at a previous International Geography Championships is automatically eligible for all subsequent IGC competitions.

The majority of the competition events at the International Geography Championships follow a quiz bowl style format (utilizing a lock-out device buzzer system) with students competing individually in the Varsity, Junior Varsity, or Middle School Divisions. Students answer comprehensive, paragraph-length questions about specific topics in geography, depending on the type of competition. The three required events that contribute towards the overall IGB World Championship title are: the Intl. Geo. Quiz Tournament; the Intl. Geography Bowl (which will debut in 2022); and the 400-question Battery Exam.[17]

Some of the events are themed depending on the location of the competition. For instance, in 2018, students participated in a Simulation of the Berlin Conference. Though the location of IGB Worlds has not yet been announced for 2022, events in the lineup include the East Asian Geography Bee and South Asian Geography Bee.[18]

Other unique events include the Scramble, in which the topic is announced only a week before the competition (hence the name).[19]

All students at the International Geography Championships, like in the International History Olympiad, compete for a US state (if they attend school in the USA or are an American citizen) or for their country of citizenship or residence. Students who would be eligible to compete for two affiliations must select one. Medals are awarded solely to the top three competitors in each event, but they are awarded for every event. A medals table is maintained as well - the ranking is first done by total number of golds, then total number of silvers, then total number of bronzes. Students are also assigned to teams for the team events at the International Geography Championships based on a number of factors, though every effort is made to keep students from the same country or state together. Teams consist of either 2 or 3 students. For team events, if a "mixed" team wins a medal, the medals are credited fractionally on the medals table depending on how many students from a state or country were on the team.