Since 2016, International Academic Competitions has overseen the International Geography Bee. IGB is a worldwide geography quiz tournament that is contested in different regions of the world (the USA being one of them), and then the top students win the right to play in the International Geography Bee World Championships which are held every two years. The next IGB World Championships will be held in the summer of 2022 in Burlington, Vermont. At the US National Championships, the IGB takes the form of a geography-themed buzzer-based quiz tournament for individual students; the US Geography Championships at Nationals by contrast is entirely exam-based.
The US Division of the IGB consists of the National Qualifying Exam and the National Championships. The same four age divisions and the same definitions for these apply to the US Division of the IGB as they do for the US Geography Championships. The next Varsity and Junior Varsity Nationals for IGB will take place in April 2022 in Arlington, VA. Middle School and Elementary School Nationals for the IGB are held in conjunction with the National Science Bee, and US Academic Bee and Bowl. The next Middle School and Elementary School Nationals for the IGB will be held in June 2022 in Orlando, Florida.
US students qualify for the National Championships of IGB in the exact same way they qualify for the National Championships of USGC – if you qualify for the one, by definition, you qualify for the other. US students qualify for the World Championships of IGB by finishing in the top half of their age division at Nationals or by scoring 75 or higher on any version of the National Qualifying Exam in the two years prior to the next IGB World Championships. Qualification is valid for two years (you can qualify for the 2022 IGB World Championships at either the 2019, 2020, 2021 or 2022 IGB US National Championships by finishing in the top 50% of competing students, or by scoring at least 75 on the National Qualifying Exam regardless of age division in either the 2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2020-2021 or 2021-2022 academic year).
The International Geography Bee is organized under the auspices of IAC staff. More information on the International Geography Bee is available on the IGB website at www.internationalgeographybee.com and on the IGB World Championships website at www.igbworlds.com. For further questions about the International Geography Bee, please email us at info@iacompetitions.com Good luck!