International Geography Bee

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International Geography Bee
Genre	Geography competition
Ends	1969
Frequency	Annual
Location(s)	various
Inaugurated	2017
Patron(s)	Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Website	www.internationalgeographybee.com

The International Geography Bee (IGB) is a geography quiz competition for students across the world. Overseen by , IGB is distinct from the International Geography Olympiad (iGeo) and National Geographic World Championship. The United States Geography Championships are also organized by IAC and focus on more "applied geographic knowledge" as compared to IGB.^[1][2] IGB currently hosts tournaments in five regions: Asia, Australia & New Zealand, Canada, Europe, and the United States.^[3] The highest level of competition is the IGB World Championships, which are hosted biennially in conjunction with the complementary International History Olympiad. The 2018 IGB Worlds were held in Berlin, Germany, and the 2020 IGB Worlds were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Regional Bees[]

United States[]

Varsity & JV[]

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 IGB World Championships. The top 3 students at Nationals receive discounted admission at the next IGB Worlds.^[4]

Middle School & Elementary[]

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. As of 2020–2021, the Regionals pathway consists of an Online Regional Qualifying Exam (ORQE), Regional Finals, and then the National Championships.^[5]

US National Champions^[6][]

Year	Division	Champion	School	State
2017	Varsity	Jakob Myers	Naperville North High School	Illinois
2017	Junior Varsity	Rohil Bhinge	Frost Middle School	Virginia
2017	Middle School	Saket Pochiraju	Olentangy Orange Middle School	Ohio
2017	Elementary	Satvik Pochiraju	Olentangy Meadows Elementary School	Ohio
2018	Varsity	Alex Schmidt	Lehigh Valley Academy	Pennsylvania
2018	Junior Varsity	Samanyu Dixit	Metrolina Regional School	North Carolina
2018	Middle School	Samik Bhinge	Frost Middle School	Virginia
2018	Elementary	Rohan Ganeshan	Homeschool	Illinois
2019	Varsity	Karan Menon	J.P. Stevens High School	New Jersey
2019	Junior Varsity	Samvrit Rao	Stone Hill Middle School	Virginia
2019	8th Grade	Rishabh Wuppalapati	Daniel Wright Junior High School	Illinois
2019	7th Grade	Kaylan Patel[7]	Windermere Preparatory School	Florida
2019	6th Grade	Vaibhav Hariram	Olentangy Orange Middle School	Ohio
2019	Elementary	Pranavkrishna Bharanidharan	California Montessori Project	California
2020	Varsity	Toby Goldberg	Walt Whitman High School	Maryland
2020	Junior Varsity	Max Yang	Ladue Horton Watkins High School	Missouri
2020	8th Grade	Aadi Gadekar	Brooklawn Middle School	New Jersey
2020	7th Grade	Aarush Zarabi	Bret Harte Middle School	California
2020	6th Grade	Shubham Kumar	Monroe Township Middle School	New Jersey
2020	Elementary	Anish Raja	Brookwood Elementary School	Georgia
2021	Varsity	Dylan Rem	Southampton High School	New York
2021	Junior Varsity	Prithvi Narayanan	State College Area High School	Pennsylvania
2021	8th Grade	Srinidhaya Vempati	David Owens Middle School	New Jersey
2021	7th Grade	Roman Gagliardi	Middlesex Middle School	Connecticut
2021	6th Grade	Nirmal Melam	Bergman Academy	Iowa
2021	Elementary	Malcolm Mclntyre	Hearst Elementary School	District of Columbia

Asia, Canada, & Europe[]

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 IGB Worlds.

Asian Champions^[11][]

Year	Division	Champion	School	Affiliation
2017	Varsity	Alfred Chan	Creative Secondary School	Hong Kong
2017	Junior Varsity	Vijay Siddharth	NPS International School	Singapore
2017	Middle School	Pierre-Adam Caudal	Lycée Francais de Singapour	Singapore
2018	Varsity	Seonoo Kim	Hankuk Academy of Foreign Studies	South Korea
2018	Junior Varsity	Anshul Jingan	NPS International School	Singapore
2018	Middle School	Bullu Bhai Sabh	NPS International School	Singapore
2019	Varsity	Cheuk Wun Sherwood Cheung	Diocesan Boys' School	Hong Kong
2019	Junior Varsity	Bullu Bhai Sabh	NPS International School	Singapore
2019	Middle School	Yashas Ramakrishnan	NPS International School	Singapore

Canadian National Champions^[12][]

Year	Division	Champion	School	Province
2017	Varsity	Grace Thorlakson	University of Toronto Schools	Ontario
2017	Junior Varsity	Marcel Maitinsky	Westmount Secondary School	Ontario
2017	Middle School	Rory Krnjevic	Selwyn House School	Quebec
2018	Varsity	Ian Chow	University of Toronto Schools	Ontario
2018	Junior Varsity	Ryan Sharpe	Abbey Park High School	Ontario
2018	Middle School	Alastair Thornburn-Vitols	University of Toronto Schools	Ontario
2019	Varsity	Marcel Maitinsky	Westmount Secondary School	Ontario
2019	Junior Varsity	Ryan Sharpe	Abbey Park High School	Ontario
2019	Middle School	Matthew Stasiw	University of Toronto Schools	Ontario

European Champions^[13][]

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	Anabelle Mellinger	Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz	Switzerland
2018	Varsity	Chris Thorn	Eton College	UK
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	UK
2019	Junior Varsity	Artus Wolfensberger	College du Leman	Switzerland
2019	Middle School	Nathan Nicholas	Zurich International School	Switzerland

Other Regions[]

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]

IGB World Championships[]

Qualification^[16][]

Students within the United States can qualify for IGB Worlds 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 IGB Worlds 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 IGB Worlds is automatically eligible for all subsequent competitions.

Events[]

The majority of the competition events at the IGB World 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 Scramble, in which the topic is announced only a week before the competition (hence the name); U Pick-We Write, in which students can nominate topics for a buzzer-based quiz tournament; and a geography-themed Crossword Tournament.^[19]

Affiliation and Medals[]

All students at the IGB World 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 IGB Worlds 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.

Champions^[20][]

Varsity[]

Year	Champion	Second place	Third place
2018	Seth Buikema  Illinois	Malhaar Moharir  Canada	Dylan Tynes  Louisiana

Junior Varsity[]

Year	Champion	Second place	Third place (tie)	Third place (Tie)
2018	Avi Goel[21]  California	Wesley Zhang  California	John Phipps  Argentina	Arjun Nathan  Washington

Middle School[]

Year	Champion	Second place	Third place
2018	Saket Pochiraju  Ohio	Srikrishna Darbha  Texas	Ved Muthusamy  Michigan [22]

References[]