The International Geography Olympiad (iGeo) is an annual geography competition for secondary school students, organized by the International Geographical Union (IGU). It is one of the International Olympiads. The first iGeo was held in 1996. The competition was held biennially until 2012, when it switched to an annual format.

Students are chosen to represent their countries from national geography olympiads. The iGeo consists of three parts: a written test, a multimedia test, and a fieldwork exercise.

History The idea of an international geography competition was proposed by Polish and Dutch geographers during the 1994 Congress of the International Geographical Union (IGU) in Prague. The first International Geography Olympiad (iGeo) was held in 1996 in The Hague, Netherlands, with five countries participating. Similarly to other Olympiads, in early years most participants in the iGeo were from Europe (especially Eastern Europe), but the competition has seen steadily increasing attendance from around the world.

Before 2012, the International Science Olympiads were held every two years, and some regional geography Olympiads were held during intervening years. Since 2012, the International Geography Olympiad, like other Olympiads, has been held on a yearly basis.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 iGeo in Istanbul, Turkey was postponed. The Olympiad was held in Istanbul between 11 and 15 August the following year, with 46 countries participating. The Olympiad was held online once again in 2022, hosted by Paris. In 2023, the iGeo returned to a physical format and it was held in Bandung, Indonesia. The most recent Olympiad was held in Istanbul, Turkey in 2026 with 48 competing affiliations; subsequent Olympiads will be held in Jelgava, Latvia in 2027 and Melbourne, Australia in 2028.

Qualification Teams consist of up to four students between the ages of 16 and 19 from each participating country or region, accompanied by two adults. Students may not have begun tertiary education, and may participate at most twice. They are selected from among hundreds of thousands of students who participate in National Geography Olympiads each year, although these often vary in format from the iGeo.

Adults accompanying the teams are expected to be involved in geography education; they are expected to both supervise the team's students, and to be involved in writing and/or marking tests.

Format The test consists of three parts: a written response test, a multimedia test, and a fieldwork portion. Questions are typically open ended, and designed to assess critical thinking skills. They cover a wide range of topics across physical geography, human geography, and technical geography. The fieldwork portion is intended to give students an opportunity to visit the host country, while developing and assessing their skills to observe, analyze, and graphically represent their environment.

Question proposals for the written and multimedia tests are submitted by participating countries; final versions of the tests and rubrics, as well as the fieldwork portion, are prepared by IGU committees. Some questions are to be complete individually, while others may be completed as a group. Tests are given only in English, and for ease of scoring answers are also required to be given in English.

About half of participants receive a medal, with a ratio of 1:2:3 between gold, silver, and bronze.

Member countries and regions

The countries and regions which participated in the 2026 International Geography Olympiad were:

China-Beijing China-Hong Kong Taiwan

(observer)

(observer)

A full list of participating teams for all past iGeos can be found on the iGeo website.

Results

Number Year Host country Host city Individual Olympiad Champion Best National Team2nd National Team3rd National TeamNations Participants 1 1996 The Hague Steven Pattheeuws 5 20 2 1998 Lisbon Katarzyna Kwiecińska 5 20 3 2000 Seoul Adam Biliski 13 52 4 2002 Durban Florin Olteanu 12 48 5 2004 Gdańsk Maciej Hermanowicz 16 64 6 2006 Brisbane Jacek Próchniak 23 92 7 2008 Carthage Barbu Ion Alexandru 24 96 8 2010 Taiwan Taipei Barbu Ion Alexandru 27 108 9 2012 Cologne Samuel Chua 31 124 10 2013 Kyoto Daniel Wong 32 128 11 2014 Kraków

James Mullen 36 144 12 2015 Tver Taiwan Chang-Chin Wang Taiwan 40 159 13 2016 Beijing

Wuttipat Kiratipaisarl 45 173 14 2017 Belgrade

Victor Vescu 41160 15 2018 Quebec City

Alen Kospanov Singapore 43165162019Hong Kong

Albert Zhang 43 166 —2020Postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic— — — — — — —172021Istanbul Rustam Bigildin 46 180182022Paris Sanzhar Khamitov 54 216192023Bandung Passakarn Leewongcharoen 45 177202024Dublin and Maynooth David-Mihai Dumitrescu 46 183212025Bangkok Mikalai Misiyuk 47 179222026Istanbul Andrey Yenbakhtov 48 184232027Jelgava — — — — — —242028Melbourne — — — — — —252029Burgas——————

Nations by podium finishes

Place National Team 1st, 2nd, 3rd Years Champions (Teams Participating)Years Runners Up (Teams)Years 3rd Place (Teams)1st7, 1, 31996 (5), 1998 (5), 2000 (13), 2004 (16), 2006 (23), 2015 (40), 2017 (41)2002 (12)2010 (27), 2012 (31), 2025 (47)2nd5, 3, 32002 (12), 2008 (24), 2013 (32), 2018 (43), 2023 (45)2012 (31), 2015 (40), 2017 (41)2004 (16), 2006 (23), 2014 (36)3rd4, 4, 12010 (27), 2012 (31), 2014 (36), 2022 (54)2016 (45), 2018 (43), 2021 (46), 2023 (45)2013 (32)4th1, 3, 12016 (45)2010 (27), 2014 (36), 2024 (46)2008 (24)5th2, 1, 02025 (47), 2026 (48)2022 (54) —6th1, 1, 32024 (46)2019 (43)2017 (41), 2018 (43), 2026 (48)7th1, 0, 12019 (43) —2024 (46)8th1, 0, 02021 (46) — —9th0, 3, 0 —2004 (16), 2006 (23), 2008 (24) —10th (tied)0, 2, 0—1996 (5), 1998 (5)—10th (tied)0, 2, 0—2025 (47), 2026 (48)—12th (tied)0, 1, 0 —2013 (32) —12th (tied)0, 1, 0 —2000 (13) —14th (tied) Taiwan0, 0, 2 — —2015 (40), 2022 (54)14th (tied)0, 0, 2 — —1996 (5), 1998 (5)16th (tied)0, 0, 1——2021 (46)16th (tied)0, 0, 1——2023 (45)16th (tied)0, 0, 1 — —2016 (45)16th (tied)0, 0, 1——2019 (43)16th (tied)0, 0, 1 — —2000 (13)16th (tied)0, 0, 1 — —2002 (12)

Nations by individual victories

Place Nation Wins World Champions Produced (Year)1st5David-Mihai Dumitrescu (2024), Victor Vescu (2017), Barbu Ion Alexandru (2010, 2008), Florin Olteanu (2002)2nd4Jacek Próchniak (2006), Maciej Hermanowicz (2004), Adam Biliski (2000), Katarzyna Kwiecińska (1998)3rd (tied)2Andrey Yenbakhtov (2026), Sanzhar Khamitov (2022)3rd (tied)2Rustam Bigildin (2021), Alen Kospanov (2018)3rd (tied)2Daniel Wong (2013), Samuel Chua (2012)3rd (tied)2Passakarn Leewongcharoen (2023), Wuttipat Kiratipaisarl (2016)3rd (tied)2Albert Zhang (2019), James Mullen (2014)8th (tied) Taiwan1Chang-Chin Wang (2015)8th (tied)1Steven Pattheeuws (1996)8th (tied)1Mikalai Misiyuk (2025)

See also Open International Geography Olympiad European Geography Olympiad

References

Further reading

External links