The competitions that are listed here will form the third portion of medal events at the 2024 International Geography Championships in addition to buzzer-based quiz competitions and exams. These twelve events are an engaging and challenging group of all sorts of geography-themed competitions. Further information will be forthcoming on these events in the coming months; if you have any questions, please contact david@iacompetitions.com. We look forward to your participation in these events at IGC 2024 next July!
Coming soon!
Introduction to the 2022 Great St. Lawrence Trading Game
The Great St. Lawrence Trading Game immerses players into the economies of eight U. S. States and Canadian Provinces along the St. Lawrence Seaway. While both Canada and the United States have evolved into post-industrial economies dominated by high tech and information industries, natural resources and industrial production are still important. Much of that commerce is shipped on the waterway extending from the Gulf of Lawrence to Lake Superior. Both countries are global traders, but the United States and Canada are major trading partners with trade in each direction approaching a half trillion dollars. Trading between the Canadian Provinces such as Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba and American States such as Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Vermont is a major driver of their economies. While the United States cancelled the historic NAFTA trade agreement, it has been replaced by the similar United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), which had been ratified by all three countries by March 2020.
This game greatly simplifies the Provincial and State economies in many ways. The four Resource regions and four Industrial regions are represented only as simplifications of their complex cultures and economies. It will give players a sense of the challenges facing both sets of regions. Players will deal with the twists and turns of history, while exercising and expanding their diplomatic, tactical, and negotiating skills. Knowledge of global maritime geography, strategy and a bit of luck will also play a minor role in determining the winner of The Great St. Lawrence Trading Game.
Geographeud returns to the IGC event line up for 2024 for all age divisions!. This required team event sees two teams compete against each other in a competition reminiscent of the American game show Family Feud. In Geographeud, we ask teams to name one of the top five (or six, or seven, etc.) of a geographical category. For example “Excluding Brazil and Portugal, name the top five countries with the most Portuguese speakers.” Or, “Name the top six lakes by volume in the world.” Teams send up one of their players to buzz in on an initial guess – whoever gets the higher value controls the board (or can elect to pass). We then continue with the other team members, though once a team gets three strikes, the other team then can win the round by naming one of the remaining answers the first team missed. Of course if the first team gets all entries before getting three strikes, then they win. The twist is that teams get more points if they name one of the smallest values (e.g. the sixth highest lake by volume gets one point, while the highest lake by volume gets only one point). This rewards teams who can use their geography skills to make educated guesses – unless they know it outright!
Teams will likely play 3 preliminary rounds, with the top 4 teams in each age division advancing to the semifinals and finals.
Many geographically savvy students have enjoyed the Geoguessr game since it debuted online in 2013. At IGC, participants play a modified version of it; the 2022 competition pictures and their answers are listed below. In 2024, the rules will be similar in this optional competition for all age divisions.
Elementary Geoguessr Pictures
Middle School Geoguessr Pictures
High School Geoguessr Pictures
Answers – All Divisions
Geopardy, as its name suggests, is a game based on the popular quiz show Jeopardy! with a number of adjustments so that we can make it a competition event for IGC. Up to 5 students compete at a time, selecting clues of varying values and difficulty from a grid of categories (all of which, of course, will have geographic themes). Students will not be able to ring in until the moderator has finished reading each question. If a student answers correctly, they get the points, and pick the next question. Students will play one full game, with the top students in each age divisions making the semifinals, and then the top players in the semis will play in the finals.
This event is for High School Division students only. This event counts 1/3 towards the individual IGC Championship Title for High School Division students.
Geographic Information Systems, or GIS, have become a critically important tool within the discipline of geography. As geographers have grown increasingly accustomed to using GIS in their work, it’s important that students looking to study geography in their university studies and careers gain a working understanding of GIS. For High School Division students only, the GIS competition is a required portion of the competition at the International Geography Championships.
The GIS Exam from 2022 and its Grading Guidelines are listed here for review. For IGC 2024, we will introduce a new set of GIS problem or problems. Further information may be posted on this page in advance of July 2024. Good luck!
2022 International Geography Championships – GIS Exam
2022 International Geography Championships – GIS Grading Guidelines
Competition Type: Team, 6 different events
This is a required event for all competing students.
The Hextathlon (sometimes spelled Hexathlon; both versions are considered correct) is a collaborative team event where team members will work together to come up with correct answers on 6 different types of quizzes, including the following:
1. Crossword Puzzle Quiz
2. 3-2-1 Quiz
Teams will hear questions audibly and have the chance to submit an answer off a difficult clue for 3 points, a moderate clue for 2 points, or an easy clue for 1 point. Clues will be read in 3-2-1 order, with teams having an opportunity to submit an answer before the next clue is read. Teams can only submit 1 answer per question, however (i.e. you cannot submit an answer after each clue, or go back and change your answer upon hearing a later clue)
3. Multiple Choice Quiz
4. Map Quiz
5. Audio Quiz
6. Picture Quiz
There will be a limited amount of time for each version of the quiz (likely 12-15 minutes for each step), and each quiz will be worth the same amount in the overall score.
Divisions: High School, Middle School, Elementary
Competition Type: Individual, Non-Buzzer Quiz Game
Knockout is a competition unique to the International Geography Championships and the International History Olympiad.* Up to 10 players sit or stand in a circle. One player begins, and then selects another player – that player then has to answer a question correctly. If they don’t, they get a strike. If they answer correctly, then they get the chance to pick the next player. If you get a certain number of strikes, then you’re out! The top players move on to additional rounds. At the end of the rounds, the last players to get knocked out receive bronze and silver medals, and the sole survivor is the gold medalist.
* IGCd trivia note – The idea for this event comes from Jeder Gegen Jeden (translation: Each Against Everyone) – a German language TV quiz show. If you’re interested in seeing an episode of Jeder Gegen Jeden, click here. Even if you don’t speak German, you can probably get the gist of the show – and if you listen carefully, you may even be able to figure out a few of the questions and answers.
Coming soon!
Coming soon!
This event is for High School Division Students Only
For the 2024 International Geography Championships, the Symposium offers students a chance to present their own research. First, students will write a 2000-3500 word geographic-themed research paper on a topic of their choice. The research paper must be entirely original, though it is permitted for students to submit a relevant paper that they have previously written as part of their academic studies in school or homeschooling. Papers must be formatted to include proper footnotes and a bibliography and should include a wide variety of sources. Any evidence of plagiarism will lead to immediate disqualification.
Students’ papers will be due on July 1, 2024, and will then be read by IGC staff. The top students will then be subject to an oral defense of their research by their readers. From those, the top three students, as selected by the readers will be invited to a dinner with IGC staff members at a traditional restaurant in Vienna where they will have a chance to share their research with each other as well.
Note: You are welcome to use whichever citation format you prefer, although you must cite sources. Footnotes are preferred over endnotes, if you are using footnotes. You are also welcome to use MLA format (whereby, you would just indicate the author’s name [and work if citing more than one source by the same author] in parentheses, followed by the relevant page number). For all papers, a bibliography must be included, and a wide variety of sources (especially primary sources and interviews) is encouraged.
Coming soon!