Exams

The 2026 International Geography Championships will feature the below-listed exams. Unless noted otherwise, the exams are multiple choice in format. Content distribution for each exam will be provided in the coming months to aid students in their preparations; this will be available no later than when Event Selection opens in late May or early June 2026.

African Geography Exam

Competition Type: Individual, Multiple-choice exam, 25 minute time limit
70 Questions – High School & Middle School
65 Questions – Intermediate (& Family & Friends Program Adults)
60 Questions – Elementary School (& Family & Friends Program Students)

The 2026 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.

Asian Geography Exam

The 2026 International Geography Championships will feature an exam on the countries, landforms, bodies of water, and peoples of Asia. Cultural, political, and physical geography questions will be found in relatively equal proportions on this exam.

Australian & Oceanian Geography Exam

The 2026 International Geography Championships will feature an exam on the countries, landforms, bodies of water, and peoples of Australia and Oceania. Cultural, political, and physical geography questions will be found in relatively equal proportions on this exam.

Battery Exam

Competition Type: Individual, Multiple Choice Exam, Counts 1/4 towards the Overall 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 2026, 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 300-400 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.

European Geography Exam

The 2026 International Geography Championships will feature an exam on the countries, landforms, bodies of water, and peoples of Europe. Cultural, political, and physical geography questions will be found in relatively equal proportions on this exam.

Geography of Thailand Exam

The 2026 International Geography Championships will feature an exam on the geography on our host nation of Thailand. This exam will focus solely on present-day Thailand (not on other territories that were once part of Thai kingdoms, nor on Thai populations living outside of Thailand). 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

Human Geography Exam

Competition Type: Individual, Multiple-choice exam, 35 minute time limit
70 Questions – High School & Middle School
65 Questions – Intermediate (& Family & Friends Program Adults)
60 Questions – Elementary School (& Family & Friends Program Students)

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.

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

North American Geography Exam

The 2026 International Geography Championships will feature an exam on the countries, landforms, bodies of water, and peoples of North America. This exam will also include questions on Central America and the Caribbean. Cultural, political, and physical geography questions will be found in relatively equal proportions on this exam.

South American Geography Exam

The 2026 International Geography Championships will feature an exam on the countries, landforms, bodies of water, and peoples of South America. Cultural, political, and physical geography questions will be found in relatively equal proportions on this exam.

Theoretical and Applied Geography Exam

Competition Type: Individual, Multiple-choice exam, Counts 1/4 towards the Overall Individual IGC Championship Title
Exact Format Forthcoming
This is a required event for all competing students.

The Theoretical and Applied Geography Exam is new for the 2026 International Geography Championships, and is a mandatory event for all students. This exam will be similar to the multiple choice sections from the US Geography Championships, past examples of which are available for the High School Division and the Middle School, Intermediate, and Elementary School Divisions, though the geography of the USA will not feature in higher proportions than the standard IGC geographical distribution used for the Battery Exam and other events.

Travel and Tourism Exam

The 2026 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.

USA at 250 - Historical Geography Exam

Competition Type: Individual, Multiple-choice exam, 75 minute time limit
250 Questions – All Divisions (the questions and answers will be the same for all competitors)

The first day of the 2026 International Geography Championships falls on July 4 – the 250th anniversary of the USA declaring independence! As many families from the USA will be attending IGC, so as not to feel left out of the celebrations while in Thailand, a special opening medal event competition will be held on the evening of arrival day. This competition will feature 250 exam questions on the historical geography of the USA, each focusing on an event that happened in a specific year of the history of the USA. The questions will run in chronological order, with each year having its question. Will students and family members representing US states and territories sweep the medals or will students and families representing other countries (perhaps even the United Kingdom!) steal the opening glory? Take the opening challenge and find out! Note that in the interest of time, the questions on this exam will be very short.

Vexillology Exam

The 2026 International Geography Championships will see the debut of a new Vexillology Exam. The Map and Flag Exam has been very popular at all of our regional championship events, and we’re excited to debut a new exam focusing on geographically-based flags at IGC 2026. Questions will take the form of visual flag identifications and verbal questions about flags and their use.

Written Exam

Competition Type: Individual, Short Answer Exam, Counts 1/3 or 1/4 towards the Overall Individual IGC Championship Title
This is a required event for all competing students.

All students attending the 2026 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 60-90 minutes, though this will vary slightly by age division) 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