Exams

African Geography Exam

Competition Type: Individual, Multiple-choice exam, 25 minute time limit
75 Questions – High School & Middle School
70 Questions – Intermediate
65 Questions – Elementary School

The 2024 International Geography Championships will feature an exam on the countries, landforms, bodies of water, and peoples of Africa. Cultural, political, and physical geography questions will be found in relatively equal proportions on this exam.

Austrian Geography Exam

Competition Type: Individual, Multiple-choice exam, 25 minute time limit
75 Questions – High School & Middle School
70 Questions – Intermediate
65 Questions – Elementary School

The 2024 International Geography Championships will feature an exam on the geography of the nation of Austria. This exam will focus solely on present-day Austria (not on the historical Austrian or Austro-Hungarian Empires). Examples are provided below from the 2022 International Geography Championships exams on the geography of Vermont, the US state which hosted the 2022 International Geography Championships, so that students can gain a sense of the sort of questions that we will ask on a relatively specific geographic entity.

2022 International Geography Championships – Vermont Geography Exam
2022 International Geography Championships – Vermont Geography Exam Answer Key

Battery Exam

Competition Type: Individual, Multiple Choice Exam, Counts 1/3 towards the Individual IGC Championship Title
400 Questions – High School & Middle School
350 Questions – Intermediate
300 Questions – Elementary School
This is a required event for all competing students.

The Battery is a required individual event at the International Geography Championships. For all age divisions, it counts towards the individual IGC Championship Title. The Battery, however, is also an event in its own right, with 400 multiple choice questions on all aspects, eras, and places in geography. A more complete distribution of the questions will be provided to students in advance. Note that in 2024, the Battery will be used to determine seedings in the International Geography Bee World Championships. The preliminary round results of the International Geography Bee World Championships will then determine the composition of teams for the various team events.

Normally, the top three or four students from a country or state will form the A Team for that country or state, the next top three or four scoring students will form Team B and so on per age group. However, some teams may consist of just three students due to the need for rounding, while solo or duo students will be paired up with students from a different country and/or state in their same division. Solo teams will not be permitted.

In 2024, all competing students in the High School and Middle School Divisions at the International Geography Championships will take the same version of the Battery Exam, and all students in the Intermediate and Elementary School Divisions will likewise take the same version. Question difficulty on the exam will vary widely within the 400 questions.

Speed is of the essence; students have roughly 20-25 seconds per question; the Exam is expected to take 120 minutes. There will be one bathroom break in the middle of the exam; the second part of the exam will only be distributed after this, and students will not be able to go back and fix answers from the first part of the exam after the first part is over.

As with all multiple choice exams at IGC, the Battery Exam will be scored on a 2 points for a correct answer, 0 for a blank answer, and a -1 for an incorrect answer basis. Family members who are interested can take the exam too.

The Exam from 2022 and its Answer Key are listed here for review and practice.
2022 International Geography Championships – International Geography Exam Part 1
2022 International Geography Championships – International Geography Exam Part 2
2022 International Geography Championships – International Geography Exam Part 3
2022 International Geography Championships – International Geography Exam Part 4
2022 International Geography Championships – International Geography Exam Answer Key

Economic Geography Exam

Competition Type: Individual, Multiple-choice exam, 25 minute time limit
75 Questions – High School & Middle School
70 Questions – Intermediate
65 Questions – Elementary School

This exam was offered at the 2022 IGC as a demonstration event and is being added to a full medal event for 2024. This exam will feature questions on the geographic determinants of economics and international business. Topics covered include companies, international trade, macroeconomics, natural resources, currencies, regional economic blocs, and environmental impacts, among others. The 2022 IGC Economic Geography Exam and Answer Key are provided here for study and reference, though the exam used in 2024 will have more of an emphasis on analysis and economic concepts.

Human Geography Exam

Competition Type: Individual, 100 Question Multiple Choice Exam
Competition Type: Individual, Multiple-choice exam, 40 minute time limit
100 Questions – High School & Middle School
90 Questions – Intermediate
80 Questions – Elementary School

Many top geography students will be interested in taking the AP Human Geography Exam. This exam, which will broadly reflect the same curriculum as the AP Exam will focus on all aspects of human geography. Students can find practice AP Human Geography questions at this link. This exam will last 40 minutes.

The Exam from 2022 and its Answer Key are listed here for review and practice.
2022 International Geography Championships – Human Geography Exam
2022 International Geography Championships – Human Geography Exam Answer Key

Hungarian Geography Exam

Competition Type: Individual, Multiple-choice exam, 25 minute time limit
75 Questions – High School & Middle School
70 Questions – Intermediate
65 Questions – Elementary School

This exam on all aspects of the geography of Hungary will be contested on the bus en route to Budapest during the pre-trip on July 13 and is only open to students who will be going on that trip. It will count as an official medal event at the 2024 International Geography Championships. The exam will feature questions on all aspects of the geography of Hungary, as well as lands inhabited traditionally by Hungarians (including Transylvania, Vojvodina, Burgenland, etc.). The medals ceremony for this event will be held at a location of cultural and geographic importance in Budapest in the afternoon of the trip before we return to Vienna.

An Exam from the 2022 IGC and its Answer Key are listed here for review and practice, though these focused on Montreal – a city which we took a day trip to during the 2022 IGC. These are provided to give you a sense of how we phrase questions on an exam with a specific geographic focus.

The Exam from 2022 and its Answer Key are listed here for review and practice.
2022 International Geography Championships – Montreal Cultural Geography Exam
2022 International Geography Championships – Montreal Cultural Geography Exam Answer Key

Slovak Geography Exam

Competition Type: Individual, Multiple-choice exam, 25 minute time limit
75 Questions – High School & Middle School
70 Questions – Intermediate
65 Questions – Elementary School

This exam on all aspects of the geography of Slovakia will be contested on the bus en route to Bratislava during the Bratislava half-day trip on July 16. It is only open to students who are going on the trip. It will count as an official medal event at the 2024 International Geography Championships, and the medals will be awarded in Bratislava during a ceremony at a place of cultural and geographic importance. The exam will feature questions on all aspects of the geography of Slovakia, as well as lands inhabited traditionally by Slovaks outside of Slovakia proper (including portions of Hungary, Ukraine, Serbia, etc.).

Travel and Tourism Exam

Competition Type: Individual, Multiple-choice exam, 25 minute time limit
75 Questions – High School & Middle School
70 Questions – Intermediate
65 Questions – Elementary School

The 2024 International Geography Championships will see the debut of a new Travel and Tourism Exam. This exam will focus on tourist attractions around the world, particularly those listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. However, it will also cover topics that an informed traveler should know about, such as time zones, cultural customs, currencies, visa requirements, and more.

Written Exam

Competition Type: Individual, Short Answer Exam, Counts 1/3 towards the Overall Individual IGC Championship Title
This is a required event for all competing students.

All students attending the 2024 International Geography Championships will be required to compete in the Written Exam, which will consist of a certain number of questions, and a timeframe (approximately 80 minutes) which all answers must be written by. The exam will follow the same format as past USGC/USGO written exams, samples of which can be found here at the high school level and here at the middle and elementary school level along with answer keys.

The Exam from 2022 and its Answer Key are listed here for review and practice.
2022 International Geography Championships – Written Exam (High School)
2022 International Geography Championships – Written Exam (Middle School)
2022 International Geography Championships – Written Exam (Elementary School)
2022 International Geography Championships – Written Exam Resource Book
2022 International Geography Championships – Written Exam Answer Key