The 2026 International Geography Championships concluded on July 11 with the Closing Ceremonies and Gala Dinner at the JW Marriott Khao Lak Resort & Spa in Khao Lak, Thailand. For the 251 Competing Students of IGC and their accompanying family members, IGC 2026 was an incredible week full of competition (47 official medal events, plus the Family Scavenger Hunt), field trips, family fun, and an introduction to Thai culture. IGC 2026 also featured three world championship events – congratulations to our newly-crowned World Champions!
International Geography Championships – Overall World Champions
High School – Manu Cherukumille, California
Middle School – Avahan Gautam, Texas
Intermediate – Aditya Vanka, California
Elementary School – Shamik Mukherjee, California
International Geography Bee – World Champions
High School – Siddhu Nagarajan, New Jersey
Middle School – Teja Varanasy, California
Intermediate – Aditya Vanka, California
Elementary School – Shamik Mukherjee, California
International Geography Bowl – World Champions
High School – Team New Jersey A (Siddhu Nagarajan, Abhay Naidu, Naman Belakavadi)
Middle School – Team Texas A (Avahan Gautam, Bolin Zhang, Shreyaan Yadav)
Intermediate – Team California A (Aditya Vanka, Chengyu Ethan Yang, Kirthan Parvathaneni)
Elementary School – Team California A (Shamik Mukherjee, Kabir Das, Minglang Tu)
The IGC 2026 Medals Table was won by a wide margin by Team California for the second IGC in a row (68.5 gold medals). New Jersey finished in second place (21.83 golds), and Texas finished in third place (17.33 golds). Fractional medals are due to members competing on mixed-affiliation teams, with the medals won being allocated fractionally based on the number of team members. The Proportional Medals Table (where medals are divided by the number of team members to determine the most successful team on average) was won by Poland, followed by Minnesota and Rhode Island. Shamik Mukherjee (California, Elementary School Division) was by far the most successful student in terms of medals won, leading the Individual Medals Table with 18 golds.
Colorado led the Family and Friends Medals Table with 9 golds and 13 medals, all of which were won by Zente Kovari (FFP, Younger Students). Samendu Manoj of Michigan was the top FFP Older Students performer (7 medals, all gold), and Prem Swaroop of California was the top performer in the FFP Adults Division (5 medals, 4 golds). Dilip Joseph (FFP Adults, California), Manan Bhatt (FFP Older Students, Texas), and Annika Vokkaarne (FFP Younger Students, Washington) won the Family and Friends Geography Bees in their respective divisions.
Affiliations represented for the first time at the International Geography Championships in 2026 included Hawaii, Indonesia, Ireland, Kansas, Nevada, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, and Romania. Of these, Ireland, Nevada, Rhode Island, and Romania won medals, with Rhode Island (4 golds) and Romania (1 gold) winning gold medals.
Events debuting at IGC 2026 that will be part of the IGC program in subsequent years included the Geopolitics Bee, the Linguistics Geography Bee, the Economic Geography Bee, the Musical Geography Bee, the Theoretical and Applied Geography Exam, the Vexillology Exam, Running Combined, Swimming Combined (when a subsequent IGC is held at a resort area), the Question Writing Competition, Fieldwork, and the Geographic Spelling Bee. Specialty events included the USA at 250 Historical Geography Exam (held on July 4) and the Geography of Thailand Exam. The Simulation program was also greatly expanded with six simulations taking place (with further expansions slated for 2028).
A big thank you to the JW Marriott Khao Lak Resort & Spa for being a wonderful host venue, to the field trip and shuttle companies with whom we worked, to the amazing IGC Staff for all their hard work – and most of all: to all attending families! We’ll see you for IGC 2028 (and perhaps for the 2027 International History Olympiad as well)!