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 get to know their fellow students and explore the host city.
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.
IGeo 2020:
1:USA
2:France
3:Iran
4:China
5:South Korea
6:Japan
7:Russia
8:Switzerland
9:Germany
10:UK
11:Poland
12:Canada
13:Azerbaijan
14:Belgium
15:Australia
16:Austria
17:Turkey
18:Iraq
19:Serbia
20:Czech Republic
21:Indonesia
22: Hungary
23:Emirates
24:Egypt
25:Singapore
26:Pakistan
27:Lebanon
28:Argentina
29:India
30:Bangladesh
31:Thailand
32:Morocco
History of competition and national success[edit]
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[edit]
The participating countries and regions in the 2018 International Geography Olympiad are:[7][8][9]
Argentina
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Australia
Belarus
Belgium
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Brazil
Bulgaria
Canada
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
Germany
Hungary
Indonesia
Japan
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Latvia
Lithuania
Malaysia
Netherlands
Mongolia
New Zealand
Nigeria
Philippines
Poland
Pakistan
Romania
Russia
Serbia
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Sri Lanka
Switzerland
Thailand
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Tajikistan
United Kingdom
United States
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[edit]
| 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[edit]
Best nations by podium finishes (all time)[edit]
| 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)[edit]
| 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[edit]
- ^ http://www.geoolympiad.org/fass/geoolympiad/what-is-igeo/index.shtml
- ^ http://promotinggeog.geo.ntnu.edu.tw/iGeo2010taipei/introduction.htm
- ^ https://spock.nehs.hc.edu.tw/newsletter/1205/B.htm
- ^ http://japan-igeo.com/english/pdf/result.pdf
- ^ http://www.gtansw.org.au/files/geog_bulletin/2012/2_GTA%20Bulletin%201%202012-2_Asia%20Pacific%20Olympiad.pdf
- ^ iGeo 2020 - : info@igeo2020.org. "iGeo 2020". iGeo 2020. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
- ^ "Home | IGEO 2018". Université Laval. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
- ^ "2018년 제19회 전국지리올림피아드 추진 계획(안)" (in Korean). The Korean Geographical Society. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
- ^ "Final Report | IGEO 2018" (PDF). International Geographical Union= 1 July 2019.