International Geography Olympiad

The International Geography Olympiad (iGeo) is an annual competition for 16- to 19-year-old geography students from all over the world. Students chosen to represent their countries are some of the best, chosen from thousands of students who participate enthusiastically in their own National Geography Olympiads. iGeo tests the abilities of every participant in spatial patterns and processes. The iGeo consists of three parts: a written test, a multimedia test and a substantial fieldwork exercise requiring observation, leading to cartographic representation and geographical analysis. The programme also includes poster presentations by teams, cultural exchanges, and time for students to know their fellow students and explore the host city.

For the competition run by National Geographic previously called the "International Geography Olympiad", see National Geographic World Championship.
Group photo at the 12th International Geography Olympiad in Russia in August 2015.
Written Response Test at the 11th International Geography Olympiad in Poland in August 2014.
Awarding of an International Geography Olympiad Gold Medal at the Opening Ceremony of the International Geographical Union Conference in Moscow, Russia, in August 2015.
Gold Medal Winners from the 12th International Geography Olympiad at the Opening Ceremony of the International Geographical Union Conference in Moscow, Russia, in August 2015.
Geographical Analysis Component of the Fieldwork Exercise at 11th International Geography Olympiad in Poland in August 2014.
Cartographic Representation Component of the Fieldwork Exercise at 12th International Geography Olympiad in Russia in August 2015.

The International Geography Olympiad is organised by the International Geographical Union (IGU) Olympiad Task Force, who produce tests with reference to the local organisers and the international board.

After the first iGeo in 1996, it was recommended that the competition was held biennially. Due to the competition growing in popularity, since 2012 the competition has been held annually, rather than biennially, as is the case with the other large International Science Olympiads.

History of competition and national success

During the 1994 Congress of the International Geographical Union (IGU) in Prague, people from Poland and the Netherlands launched the idea of an International Geography Competition (iGeo) or Olympiad for students between 15 and 19 years of age. The first one was held in 1996 in The Hague, Netherlands, with five participating countries. The participant count grew to 24 countries with the 2008 competition in Carthage, Tunisia.

Before 2012, the International Science Olympiads were held every two years, and some regional geography Olympiads were held during intervening years.[1] These include the Asia Pacific Regional Geography Olympiads (APRGO), which were held in 2007 (Hsinchu, Taiwan[2][3]), 2009 (Tsukuba, Japan[4]), and 2011 (Merida, Mexico[5]), and the Central European Regional Geography Olympiads (CERIGEO). Since 2013, the International Geography Olympiad, in concordance with the other Olympiads, has been held on a yearly basis.

At the most recent iGeo, held in Hong Kong between July and August 2019, there were 43 participating countries.

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the 2020 iGeo in Istanbul, Turkey was cancelled. [6]

The next Olympiad is the 2021 iGeo, which will be held in Istanbul, Turkey in August 2021.

Member countries and regions

The participating countries and regions in the 2018 International Geography Olympiad are:[7][8][9]

The names used are the standard names officially used by the International Geographical Union, based on the roster list for the 2017 International Geography Olympiad in Belgrade.

Summary
Number Year Host country Host city Individual Olympiad Champion Best National Team 2nd National Team 3rd National Team Nations Participants
1 1996  Netherlands The Hague  Belgium

Steven Pattheeuws

  Poland  Slovenia  Belgium 5 20
2 1998  Portugal Lisbon  Poland

Katarzyna Kwiecińska

  Poland  Slovenia  Belgium 5 20
3 2000  South Korea Seoul  Poland

Adam Biliski

  Poland  Netherlands  South Korea 13 52
4 2002  South Africa Durban  Romania

Florin Olteanu

  Romania  Poland  Belarus 12 48
5 2004  Poland Gdańsk  Poland

Maciej Hermanowicz

  Poland  Estonia  Romania 16 64
6 2006  Australia Brisbane  Poland

Jacek Próchniak

  Poland  Estonia  Romania 23 92
7 2008  Tunisia Carthage  Romania

Barbu Ion Alexandru

  Romania  Estonia  Australia 24 96
8 2010 Taiwan Taipei  Romania

Barbu Ion Alexandru

  Singapore  Australia  Poland 27 108
9 2012  Germany Cologne  Singapore

Samuel Chua

  Singapore  Romania  Poland 31 124
10 2013  Japan Kyoto  Singapore

Daniel Wong

  Romania  Croatia  Singapore 32 128
11 2014  Poland Kraków  USA

James Mullen

  Singapore  Australia  Romania 36 144
12 2015  Russia Tver Taiwan

Chang-Chin Wang

  Poland  Romania Taiwan 40 159
13 2016  China Beijing  Thailand

Wuttipat Kiratipaisarl

  Australia  Singapore  Thailand 45 173
14 2017  Serbia Belgrade  Romania

Victor Vescu

  Poland  Romania  USA 41 160
15 2018  Canada Quebec City  Russia

Alen Kospanov

  Romania Singapore  USA 43 165
16 2019  Hong Kong Hong Kong  USA

Albert Zhang

  Indonesia  USA  United Kingdom 43 166
— 2020 Postponed for 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic — — — — — — —
17 2021  Turkey Istanbul — — — — — —
18 2022  France Paris — — — — — —
19 2023  Indonesia Bandung — — — — — —
20 2024  Ireland Dublin — — — — — —

Performances

Best nations by podium finishes (all time)
Place National Team 1st, 2nd, 3rd Years Champions (Teams Participating) Years Runners Up (Teams) Years 3rd Place (Teams)
1st  Poland 7, 1, 1 1996 (5), 1998 (5), 2000 (13), 2004 (12), 2006 (23), 2015 (40), 2017 (41) 2002 (12) 2012 (31)
2nd  Romania 4, 3, 2 2002 (12), 2008 (24), 2013 (32), 2018 (43) 2012 (31), 2015 (40), 2017 (41) 2006 (23), 2014 (36)
3rd  Singapore 3, 2, 1 2010 (27), 2012 (31), 2014 (36) 2016 (45), 2018 (43) 2013 (32)
4th  Australia 1, 2, 1 2016 (45) 2010 (27), 2014 (36) 2008 (24)
5th (tied)  Estonia 0, 3, 0 — 2004 (12), 2006 (23), 2008 (24) —
5th (tied)  USA 0, 1, 2 — 2019 (43) 2017 (41), 2018 (43)
7th  Slovenia 0, 2, 0 — 1996 (5), 1998 (5) —
8th (tied)  Croatia 0, 1, 0 — 2013 (32) —
8th (tied)  Netherlands 0, 1, 0 — 2000 (13) —
10th  Belgium 0, 0, 2 — — 1996 (5), 1998 (5)
11th (tied)  Indonesia 1, 0, 0 2019 (43) — —
11th (tied)  Thailand 0, 0, 1 — — 2016 (45)
11th (tied)  United Kingdom 0, 0, 1 — — 2019 (43)
11th (tied) Taiwan 0, 0, 1 — — 2015 (40)
11th (tied)  Belarus 0, 0, 1 — — 2002 (12)
11th (tied)  South Korea 0, 0, 1 — — 2000 (13)

Most national individual victories (All time)
Place Nation Wins World Champions Produced (Year)
1st (tied)  Poland 4 Jacek Próchniak (2006), Maciej Hermanowicz (2004), Adam Biliski (2000), Katarzyna Kwiecińska (1998)
1st (tied)  Romania 4 Victor Vescu (2017), Barbu Ion Alexandru (2010, 2008), Florin Olteanu (2002)
3rd (tied)  Singapore 2 Daniel Wong (2013), Samuel Chua (2012)
3rd (tied)  USA 2 James Mullen (2014), Albert Zhang (2019)
4th (tied)  Thailand 1 Wuttipat Kiratipaisarl (2016)
4th (tied) Taiwan 1 Chang-Chin Wang (2015)
4th (tied)  Belgium 1 Steven Pattheeuws (1996)
4th (tied)  Russia 1 Alen Kospanov (2018)

References
  1. http://www.geoolympiad.org/fass/geoolympiad/what-is-igeo/index.shtml
  2. http://promotinggeog.geo.ntnu.edu.tw/iGeo2010taipei/introduction.htm
  3. https://spock.nehs.hc.edu.tw/newsletter/1205/B.htm
  4. http://japan-igeo.com/english/pdf/result.pdf
  5. http://www.gtansw.org.au/files/geog_bulletin/2012/2_GTA%20Bulletin%201%202012-2_Asia%20Pacific%20Olympiad.pdf
  6. iGeo 2020 - : info@igeo2020.org. "iGeo 2020". iGeo 2020. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
  7. "Home | IGEO 2018". Université Laval. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  8. "2018년 제19회 전국지리올림피아드 추진 계획(안)" (in Korean). The Korean Geographical Society. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  9. "Final Report | IGEO 2018" (PDF). International Geographical Union= 1 July 2019.
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