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The 3rd International Geography Championships were recently held from July 13-20, 2024 in Vienna, Austria. Organized by International Academic Competitions, the International Geography Championships are a biennial event featuring the world’s top geography students ages 8-18. Featuring 30 separate competitions as well as numerous field trips, ceremonies, and social events, the 2024 International Geography Championships were attended by 310 students. They competed for 51 separate affiliations, representing 19 independent countries, Hong Kong, 31 US states, and the District of Columbia. Students competed in four separate age divisions: High School [...]

INSTRUCTIONS 1. Go around Vienna and do things (mostly taking selfies) of yourself (at least 1 family member) in front of the following spots. 2. Then go to the checkpoints which are open from 4:30 to 6:30 and show us your photos / what you've done / brought / etc. 3. You can only go to a checkpoint ONCE and you can only check 10 things in at any one point. Quizzes are not things (i.e. you can do the quiz at the checkpoint and still check in up [...]

JULY 8 UPDATE EMAIL Dear IGC Geographers, Families, and Supporters, It's IGC week! Another email will go out on July 10/11 that will have all the details on when and where to check in on the 12th or the 13th. That said, for those of you itching to know, check-in will be at the host school (GRG 23) from 2pm-9pm on the 12th, and from 11am-9pm on the 13th. It will also reopen at 7:30am-8:30am on the 14th, but that’s ONLY if you really can’t make it to the [...]

June 21 Update Email Text (June 6, May, February and March email texts are below) Dear IGC 2024 Participating Students, Families, Chaperones, and Staff, Greetings from Vienna, where the city is abuzz after Austria's win tonight in the Euro 2024! We wanted to pass along the latest IGC update email with some important reminders and a list of some important things to bring. We’ll be in touch with another email at some point next week with further tips and updates, but as always, remember to contact igc@iacompetitions.com if you need any assistance. Please [...]

A list of suggested hotels for the 2024 is now available here. Note that any hotel that is within a 5 minute walk to any stop along the U6 subway (U-Bahn) line between Thaliastraße and Siebenhirten, or within a 5 minute walk to any stop along the U4 subway (U-Bahn) line between Hietzing and Pilgramgasse can work well too. If you are looking to stay closer to the city center, then we recommend a hotel close to Karlsplatz, Stadtpark, or Landstraße. These are all stops on the U4 slightly [...]

We are pleased to announce that GRG 23-Alterlaa has been selected as the host school for the 2024 International Geography Championships! GRG 23-Alterlaa is an Austrian public high school in the 23rd District of Vienna, and is a three-minute walk from the Alterlaa station on the U6 subway (i.e. Metro / U-Bahn) line; the location is here on a map. Families who are looking to book hotels should look anywhere that is within a 5 minute walk from any U6 subway stop between Burggasse-Stadthalle and Siebenhirten, or along the [...]

Happy Holidays from International Academic Competitions! We've just spent several weeks in Vienna doing some advance planning for next summer, and we're delighted to present the Draft Schedule of the 2024 International Geography Championships! There are 30 different medal events and nearly 20 different field trip destinations in Vienna, Bratislava, and Budapest! Descriptions are now online for all of the buzzer quiz tournaments, exams, other medal events, field trips, and the optional day trip to Budapest. Registration will open by December 10; we will send out an announcement to [...]

International Academic Competitions is delighted to announce a new expansion of our programs. Branching out from our usual academic competitions, we will be offering a full week-long tour of Central Europe from Vienna to Berlin from July 21-27! Stops will include the Wachau Valley, Český Krumlov, Prague, Dresden, and Berlin on a tour designed specifically for families of children age 9-17 with an interest in geography, history, and culture. Details are available on the website here, which will be updated continually throughout the coming months. Of course, with this [...]

Vienna's famous Ferris Wheel overlooks the Prater amusement park. International Academic Competitions is delighted to announce that the 2024 International Geography Championships will be held in Vienna, Austria from July 13-20! This will be the first world championship level event that IAC has organized in what has routinely been called the world's most livable city, and which is an outstanding nexus of culture and history in a spectacular geographic setting at the far eastern end of the Alps along the Danube River. Please explore this website for [...]

One by one, different students went up onto the stage, either by themselves or with their team, with the final medals and prizes being awarded. Many different flags were waved and different state anthems played. The final ten questions were starting, with the five students from elementary on stage. As each question was being asked, scores were changing by the second. Finally, the scores came in with the rankings in the individual buzzer rounds being finished. In between the different divisions, other awards were given, with anticipation still in [...]

The day was Thursday July 7th 2022, and was not the usual day at Vermont for most International Geography Bee contestants. Almost everyone contestants, parents and the IAC organizers, were going to either Montreal, Canada or Fort Ticonderoga/Lake Placid, NY. Both were very exciting places to visit with a lot of information and history behind them. In the morning, we started around 8:45 AM as planned for the 90 minute bus ride to Fort Ticonderoga. On the way we crossed over to the state of New York. When we [...]

Montreal is one of the most important and influential cities not only in Canada but in the Americas as well.  So naturally this was a trip that most of us were looking forward to. After several days of competitions this trip was a welcome trip to let the competitors have a break and explore a new city. After an almost 2 hour drive the buses made it to Montreal. As the buses drove on the bridge to the island of Montreal we got to see picturesque views of the [...]

The Russo-Ukraine war was a highly chosen topic because many students had prior knowledge about the topic in the news. In total, there were 69 contestants from all three divisions compared to the average of ~37.4 students per 3 task forces, or 23 students per division compared to the average of ~12.5 students per round. There were also subtopics that we had to write about specifically, which was one thing we were graded about. The 5 subtopics were: Food production, exports, and the coming global food security crisis Impact [...]

As the teams were assigned, many were happy to find out who they were competing with. The teams were determined based on how they did in the individual buzzer rounds. Having scored higher, you were placed onto a higher ranking team such, or having scored lower, you were placed onto a lower-ranked team. Had there been a smaller number of children in a region, there would be only one team of two or three competitors.  On Tuesday, July 5th 2022, the first three rounds were played by every single [...]

And, the topic of the Blitz is…  The geography of the Comoros!  People erupted with cheers and boos on two sides, the excitement, and the disappointment. We were told to quiet down with the noise and went straight into the resources. 30 minutes on the clock were ticking with pages rustling, children chatting quietly, and staff members telling students to be quiet.  Soon, the 30 minutes are up. Everyone frazzled, we all put our resources away, hoping for the best. They bring us the test, 15 questions in 10 [...]

At IGC most events are academically focused competitions. All that time spent studying and participating in competitions can make us miss the outdoors. Therefore some competitors decided to go out and about in nature, namely to Mount Mansfield, the highest peak in Vermont which measures precisely 4,395 feet. The hikers were split into 2 groups, the all day group which left earlier in the morning and had been hiking from the morning and the half day group which arrived at the mountain later and hiked until the late afternoon. [...]

You might have heard of it because of the name dispute, prior knowledge or only because there was a chance to win a free trip to it at IGC. You also might not have heard about it. But regardless of whether you knew about it or not, North Macedonia is a destination worth being on any traveler's bucket list. Hidden within the Balkans it has a wealth of history, culture and landscapes packed into a country smaller than the US state of Massachuttes. From ancient ruins from former empires [...]

At the IGC  winning a medal showcases knowledge and skill in a geographical area. Winning a medal is an award that most, if not all attendees at IGC are hoping to achieve. One medal is already an accomplishment, but what about 5? Well that's what Aadi Gadekar, a rising junior from New Jersey, managed to achieve this July 4th. He scored a gold in geoguessr, the battery exam, knockout, and the historical geography bee. Additionally he won a bronze in the human geography exam. Winning all those events wasn’t [...]

Yes, the 2022 International Geography Championships have commenced, and as stated, these are just like the Olympics, but in geography. With students from all across the world, this is sure to be an event they will remember for a lifetime. As the flag parade started, all of the states’ and countries’ anthems played. The names of the competitors were announced, one by one. The flags were held by people from respective locations, marching on and off the stage. Many hands hurt with all the clapping. Now, let the games begin! [...]