International Geography Olympiad

The International Geography Olympiad (iGeo) is an annual competition for the best 16- to 19-year-old geography students from all over the world. Students chosen to represent their countries are the very best, chosen from thousands of students who participate enthusiastically in their own National Geography Olympiads. iGeo tests the abilities of every participants in spatial patterns and processes. The iGeo consists of three parts: a written test, a multimedia test and a substantial fieldwork exercise requiring observation, leading to cartographic representation and geographical analysis. The programme also includes poster presentations by teams, cultural exchanges, and time for students to get to know their fellow students and explore the host city.

The International Geography Olympiad is organised by the International Geographical Union (IGU) Olympiad Task Force, who produce tests with reference to the local organisers and the international board.

After the first iGeo in 1996, it was recommended that the competition was held biennially. Due to the competition growing in popularity, since 2012 the competition has been held annually, rather than biennially, as is the case with the other large International Science Olympiads.

History of Competition and National Success

Group photo at the 12th International Geography Olympiad in Russia in August 2015.

Written Response Test at the 11th International Geography Olympiad in Poland in August 2014.

During the 1994 Congress of the International Geographical Union (IGU) in Prague, people from Poland and the Netherlands launched the idea of an International Geography Competition (iGeo) or Olympiad for students between 15 and 19 years of age. The first one was held in 1996 in The Hague, Netherlands, with five participating countries. The participant count grew to 24 countries with the 2008 competition in Carthage, Tunisia.

At the most recent iGeo, held in Tver and Moscow, Russia in August 2015, there were 40 participating countries. In addition, representatives from Canada, Iran and Switzerland were present as official observers, with an aim to participate in future Olympiads.

The next Olympiad is the 2016 iGeo, which will be held in Beijing, China in August 2016.

Best Nations by Podium Finishes (All time)

Place	National Team	1st, 2nd, 3rd	Years Champions (Teams Participating)	Years Runners Up (Teams)	Years 3rd Place (Teams)
1st	Poland	6, 1, 1	1996 (5), 1998 (5), 2000 (13), 2004 (12), 2006 (23), 2015 (40)	2002 (12)	2012 (31)
2nd	Romania	3, 2, 2	2002 (12), 2008 (24), 2013 (32)	2012 (31), 2015 (40)	2006 (23), 2014 (36)
3rd	Singapore	3, 0, 1	2010 (27), 2012 (31), 2014 (36)	-	2013 (32)
4th	Australia	0, 2, 1	-	2010 (27), 2014 (36)	2008 (24)
5th	Estonia	0, 2, 0	-	2006 (23), 2008 (24)	-
=6th	Croatia	0, 1, 0	-	2013 (32)	-
=6th	Netherlands	0, 1, 0	-	2000 (13)	-
=6th	Slovenia	0, 1, 0	-	1996 (5)	-
=9th	Chinese Taipei	0, 0, 1	-	-	2015 (40)
=9th	Belarus	0, 0, 1	-	-	2002 (12)
=9th	South Korea	0, 0, 1	-	-	2000 (13)
=9th	Belgium	0, 0, 1	-	-	1996 (5)

Most National Individual Victories (All time)

Place	Nation	Wins	World Champions Produced (Year)
1st	Poland	4	Jacek Próchniak (2006), Maciej Hermanowicz (2004), Adam Biliski (2000), Katarzyna Kwiecińska (1998)
2nd	Romania	3	Barbu Ion Alexandru (2010, 2008), Florin Olteanu (2002)
3rd	Singapore	2	Daniel Wong (2013), Samuel Chua (2012)
=4th	Chinese Taipei	1	Chang-Chin Wang (2015)
=4th	USA	1	James Mullen (2014)
=4th	Belgium	1	Steven Pattheeuws (1996)

Aims

Aims of the International Geography Olympiad:

• To promote geography.
• To stimulate understanding between young people.
• To stimulate a higher quality of school geography worldwide.

Process

iGeo is a competition between students. Every country or region that participates in iGeo should send a team composed of 4 students.

Contestants must be secondary school students, or has not yet begun higher education. Their ages must be under 20 before June 30 in the same year.

In addition to the students, there must be two adult representatives, one of whom is the team leader and the other is responsible for special tasks such as translation.

English is the official language of the Olympiad. All participants must present their answers in English. Participants whose first language is not English are provided with a printed multi-lingual dictionary minus geographical terms.

Testing

iGeo assessment consists of 3 parts. A written response test (40%), a fieldwork and decision making exercise (40%), and a multimedia test (20%). The champion has the highest combined total score from all tests. As iGeo participants are part of their own national teams, each nation will also have a combined score of their 4 team members. Both ranking tables from these categories are usually released on the webpages of the specific iGeo following the event's conclusion.

Geographical Analysis Component of the Fieldwork Exercise at 11th International Geography Olympiad in Poland in August 2014.

Cartographic Representation Component of the Fieldwork Exercise at 12th International Geography Olympiad in Russia in August 2015.

Topics tested

The tests are based around these 12 pre-defined topics:

1. Climate & climate change
2. Hazards & hazard management
3. Resources & resource management
4. Environmental geography & sustainable development
5. Landforms, landscapes & land use
6. Agricultural geography & food problems
7. Population & population change
8. Economic geography & globalisation
9. Development geography & spatial inequality
10. Urban geography, urban renewal & urban planning
11. Tourism & tourism management
12. Cultural geography & regional identities

Written Response Test (40%)

The written response test consists of 6 chosen topics from the defined 12 topics (students spend approx. 20 - 25 min. per topic in the exam), with issues that are geographically and socially relevant, that require topical and applied geographical knowledge and geographical skills and deal with physical and human geography, preferably integrated. Each topic has several resource materials such as maps, photos, graphs, statistics. Each topic consists of several questions which are based on the resource materials and range in length from short answer to paragraph length. They may involve completion of a matrix or a table, or the manipulation of data (eg from tabular to graphic form). The choice of the 6 topics from the list of 12 is made by the committee that designs the test. There is a balance between physical and human geography in the test.

Fieldwork Exercise Test (40%)

For the fieldwork exercise students are presented with a spatial problem situated in the area near to where the Olympiad is taking place. Students produce accurate cartography in an initial mapping exercise and then, on the basis of the mapping exercise and the analysis of all the information about the case, the participants have to design a spatial plan (in appropriately annotated cartographic form) that tackles the problem presented, and give an explanation of the choices they have made to solve the problem that was presented.

Multimedia Test (20%)

The Multimedia test is a digital multiple choice test containing 40 items, which tests all 12 defined topics of iGeo. Each item is a piece of multimedia, so consists of a map and/or digital photo, film or graph and a short question with 4 options. The test includes questions that require basic geographical thinking skills, where the contestants analyse information in maps, diagrams or photographs. Perhaps unlike other sections of the Olympiad, the Multimedia test is not intended to test the ability of the contestants to reproduce geographical facts but to test their skills in geographical analysis.

Awarding Medals

Awarding of an International Geography Olympiad Gold Medal at the Opening Ceremony of the International Geographical Union Conference in Moscow, Russia, in August 2015.

Gold Medal Winners from the 12th International Geography Olympiad at the Opening Ceremony of the International Geographical Union Conference in Moscow, Russia, in August 2015.

Participants qualify for the finals of the Olympiad by winning a place on their national team through their country's national geography olympiad, but the focus of the international competition is on individual performances, even though national team performances are calculated and ranked officially. Therefore, medals are awarded to individuals and not to teams.

There are no official honours for outstanding performances in individual tests, although competitors are made known of the breakdown of the scores so can see where they placed in each test.

Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals are awarded to successful students at iGeo, with the number of medals awarded growing proportionately to the number of participants. In 2014, 12 Gold, 24 Silver, and 36 Bronze medals were awarded, although this increased in 2015 to 13 Golds, 27 Silvers, and 40 Bronzes.

In 2015 the lowest score for the medal winners was 57/100, and the highest 80.7/100.

Host Countries and Champions

Year	No.	Host country	Host city	Individual Olympiad Champion	Best National Team	2nd National Team	3rd National Team	Nations	Participants
2020	XVII	Turkey	Istanbul	-	-	-	-	-	-
2019	XVI	TBD	TBD	-	-	-	-	-	-
2018	XV	Canada	Quebec City	-	-	-	-	-	-
2017	XIV	Serbia	Belgrade	-	-	-	-	-	-
2016	XIII	China	Beijing	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	=< 50	=< 200
2015	XII	Russia	Tver	Chinese Taipei Chang-Chin Wang	Poland	Romania	Chinese Taipei	40	159
2014	XI	Poland	Kraków	USA James Mullen	Singapore	Australia	Romania	36	144
2013	X	Japan	Kyoto	Singapore Daniel Wong	Romania	Croatia	Singapore	32	128
2012	IX	Germany	Cologne	Singapore Samuel Chua	Singapore	Romania	Poland	31	124
2010	VIII	Taiwan	Taipei	Romania Barbu Ion Alexandru	Singapore	Australia	(Unknown)	27	108
2008	VII	Tunisia	Carthage	Romania Barbu Ion Alexandru	Romania	Estonia	Australia	24	96
2006	VI	Australia	Brisbane	Poland Jacek Próchniak	Poland	Estonia	Romania	23	92
2004	V	Poland	Gdańsk	Poland Maciej Hermanowicz	Poland	(Unknown)	(Unknown)	16	64
2002	IV	South Africa	Durban	Romania Florin Olteanu	Romania	Poland	Belarus	12	48
2000	III	South Korea	Seoul	Poland Adam Biliski	Poland	Netherlands	South Korea	13	52
1998	II	Portugal	Lisbon	Poland Katarzyna Kwiecińska	Poland	(Unknown)	(Unknown)	5	20
1996	I	Netherlands	The Hague	Belgium Steven Pattheeuws	Poland	Slovenia	Belgium	5	20

References

• Official site of iGeO
• iGeo Test Guidelines
• 2016 iGeo China
• 2015 iGeo Russia
• 2014 iGeo Poland
• 2010 iGeo Taiwan