International Geography Bee

IGB Introduction

The International Geography Bee (IGB) is an academic geography challenge sponsored by the International Academic Competitions Committee. As one of the most prestigious integrated academic competitions in the US, IGB has been used to select the US national team for the International Geography Olympiads. The purpose of the event is to provide a platform for primary and secondary school students around the world to test their knowledge about world geography, stimulate their interest in the study of geography, and help them enhance their geographic literacy. The top participants will be invited to the Global Round of the International Geography Championship and compete with other outstanding peers from all over the world! Featuring fun, multidisciplinary challenges, and education activities backed by cutting-edge research, IGB has been increasingly popular around the world, attracting over 50,000 students from more than 50 countries to take part every year.

The mission of the IGB is to reward academic achievement by bringing innovative, stimulating, fair, and intellectually competitive opportunities to students worldwide. The Committee firmly believes that academic competitions play a unique role in education by encouraging students to explore new areas of knowledge while rewarding achievement in the classroom. Academic competitions not only help students gain self-confidence, make new friends, enhance memory, and give students an edge on future college applications, but most importantly, ignite a passion for lifelong learning! We would like to offer this unique opportunity to children around the world!

The content covers (but is not limited to) hydrology, atmosphere, rocks, soils, population, cities, transportation, mountains, rivers, islands, landmarks and other topics in physical geography and human geography.

Qualifier Round

Date: March 3rd (online), and March 31st (online/ host schools), 2024
Location: Online/Host Schools
Rules: The IGB qualification round will be an individual written test in which students are required to complete a total of 50 multiple-choice questions about geography within 30 minutes. Two points will be awarded for a correct answer, and one point will be deducted for a wrong answer. No points will be earned or deducted for a blank answer.
Eligibility: All primary and secondary school students who are interested in the activity can register to participate. Students can only choose one of the three dates to participate.
Age Divisions: Students should register for the following divisions according to their age.
- Elementary Division: born on or after September 1, 2011
- Middle School Division: born between September 1, 2009, and August 31, 2011
- Junior Varsity Division: born between September 1, 2007, and August 31, 2009
- Varsity Division: born on or before August 31, 2007
Language Settings:
- - Elementary Division: Chinese / English
  - Middle School Division: Chinese / English
  - Junior Varsity Division: English
  - Varsity Division: English
  * Language settings above are only for the Qualier Round and the National Round. The Global Round will all be held in English.
  * Participant registrated for Chinese division in Qualifier Round can only advance to Chinese division in National Round, and participant registrated for English division in Qualifier Round can only advance to English division in National Round. Language Division is not allowed to change after registration.
  * Only participants from English Division are allowed to enter the Global Rounds.
Advancement Criteria: In each division of the Qualifier Round, students who score above the minimum score line set by the organizing committee can advance to the National Round. (The advancement rate is around 60%.)
Awards:
- - Advancement Award: All students who qualify for advancement will receive a qualifier certificate (electronic version).
  - Participation Certificate: All participating students will receive a participation certificate (electronic version).
* The organizing committee will provide academic materials in English and Chinese (some materials will be in English only).
* Academic materials: The organizing committee will provide academic materials in English and Chinese (some materials will be in English only).

National Round

Qualified students from the Qualifier Round will be invited to participate in the National Round to enjoy a feast of geography with other geography lovers from all over the country! The National Round will have a variety of geography-themed activities and a community of excellent peers sharing a passion for geography, which will surely be an unforgettable academic experience for all participating students!

National Round

Date：May 1st-4th, 2024
Location：Hangzhou

	Morning	Afternoon	Evening
Day 1	Arrival	Registration Opening Ceremony	Ice-breaking
Day 2	Geography Task Force (Individual Challenge) GeoGuesser (Team Challenge)	World Geography Fair (Team Challenge)	Blitz (Individual Challenge)
Day 3	Quiz Bee (Individual Challenge)	Scavenger Hunt (Team Challenge)	Closing and Awards Ceremony
Day 4	Departure

* The agenda is subject to change.

Awards
- Participants with the top three scores in each division of the IGB Quiz Bee will be granted the first, second and third place awards.
- The top 50% of participants in each division of the IGB Quiz Bee will be awarded as winners, and the top 50% of participants competing in English will advance to the Global Round.
- Champion, Runner-up, Second Runner-up, and winners of each challenge
- Best Individual Award
- Best Team Award
- All participating students will receive a certificate of participation (electronic version).
- Winners have the opportunity to receive DK-published books as prizes.

2022 National Round Review

Previous event highlights

Global Round

Qualified Students of English Divisions from 2022-2023 National Round can only register for the European round.
Qualified Students of English Divisions from 2023-2024 National Round may register for both World Championships and Asia Championships.

Asian Championships

Qualified students of English Divisions from 2023-2024 National Round will be invited to the Asian Championships. It is a 3-day global geography carnival, a perfect stage for students to showcase their geography academic prowess, make friends with global geography enthusiasts, reap the rewards of honor and growth, and reach out to the world.

Date：June 13th-16th, 2024
Location：Phuket, Thailand

World Championships

Qualified students of English Dvisions from 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 National Rounds will be invited to the World Championships. It is held every 2 years lasting for one week. With rich geography events incorporating theory with practice and featuring academic challenge and entertainment, gathering students interested in Geography around the world!

Date：July 13th-21st, 2024
Location：Vienna, Austria

1. IGB Quiz Bee

The Quiz Bee/Bowl is a buzzer-based academic quiz activity and is popular with students around the world for its exciting format and the way it encourages independent inquiry! The IGB Quiz Bee is an individual quiz competition in which participants buzz in to answer questions and score points for correct answers. The competition is divided into three preliminary rounds and one final round. All registered students will participate in three preliminary rounds, and the winners of the preliminaries will move to the final round.
* Academic materials will be provided by the organizing committee
** Top 50% of participants in each division of the IGB Quiz Bee (in English) will advance to the Global Round.