Jump to content

International Geography Olympiad

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The logo of the International Geography Olympiad
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 (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.

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.

2024 International Geography Olympiad

The 2024 iGeo will be held in the Maynooth University, Trinity College Dublin and Maynooth Post-Primary School. For the first time, Ireland will present a team to the competition, as the winners of the Geography Olympiad for Ireland will attend. The IGEO event is organised by the IGEO 2024 Local Organising Committee, chaired by Dr Susan Pike of Trinity College Dublin.

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.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 iGeo in Istanbul, Turkey was postponed.[6] The Olympiad was held in Istanbul between 11 and 15 August the following year, with 46 countries participating.[7] The Olympiad was held online once again in 2022, hosted by Paris. It was the edition with the highest number of countries (54) and participants (209).[8] In 2023, the iGeo returned to a physical format and it was held in Bandung, Indonesia.[9] The next Olympiad is to be held in Bangkok, Thailand in 2025.

Member countries and regions

[edit]

The countries and regions which participated in the 2023 International Geography Olympiad were:[10]

The full list of participating teams for all past iGeos may be found on the iGeo website.

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[11] 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 Russia

Rustam Bigildin

Russia Singapore Japan 46 180
18 2022 France Paris Kazakhstan

Sanzhar Khamitov

Singapore Lithuania Taiwan 54 216
19 2023 Indonesia Bandung Thailand

Passakarn Leewongcharoen

Romania Singapore Hungary 45 177
20 2024 Ireland Dublin and Maynooth Romania

David-Mihai Dumitrescu

USA Australia Indonesia 46 183
21 2025 Thailand Bangkok
22 2026 Turkey Istanbul

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, 2 1996 (5), 1998 (5), 2000 (13), 2004 (16), 2006 (23), 2015 (40), 2017 (41) 2002 (12) 2010 (27), 2012 (31)
2nd Romania 5, 3, 3 2002 (12), 2008 (24), 2013 (32), 2018 (43), 2023 (45) 2012 (31), 2015 (40), 2017 (41) 2004 (16), 2006 (23), 2014 (36)
3rd Singapore 4, 4, 1 2010 (27), 2012 (31), 2014 (36), 2022 (54) 2016 (45), 2018 (43), 2021 (46), 2023 (45) 2013 (32)
4th Australia 1, 3, 1 2016 (45) 2010 (27), 2014 (36), 2024 (46) 2008 (24)
5th USA 1, 1, 2 2024 (46) 2019 (43) 2017 (41), 2018 (43)
6th Indonesia 1, 0, 1 2019 (43) 2024 (46)
7th Russia 1, 0, 0 2021 (46)
8th Estonia 0, 3, 0 2004 (16), 2006 (23), 2008 (24)
9th Slovenia 0, 2, 0 1996 (5), 1998 (5)
10th (tied) Lithuania 0, 1, 0 2022 (54)
10th (tied) Croatia 0, 1, 0 2013 (32)
10th (tied) Netherlands 0, 1, 0 2000 (13)
13th (tied) Taiwan 0, 0, 2 2015 (40), 2022 (54)
13th (tied) Belgium 0, 0, 2 1996 (5), 1998 (5)
15th (tied) Japan 0, 0, 1 2021 (46)
15th (tied) Hungary 0, 0, 1 2023 (45)
15th (tied) Thailand 0, 0, 1 2016 (45)
15th (tied) United Kingdom 0, 0, 1 2019 (43)
15th (tied) South Korea 0, 0, 1 2000 (13)
15th (tied) Belarus 0, 0, 1 2002 (12)

Most national individual victories (All time)

[edit]
Place Nation Wins World Champions Produced (Year)
1st Romania 5 David-Mihai Dumitrescu (2024), Victor Vescu (2017), Barbu Ion Alexandru (2010, 2008), Florin Olteanu (2002)
2nd Poland 4 Jacek Próchniak (2006), Maciej Hermanowicz (2004), Adam Biliski (2000), Katarzyna Kwiecińska (1998)
3rd (tied) Singapore 2 Daniel Wong (2013), Samuel Chua (2012)
3rd (tied) USA 2 James Mullen (2014), Albert Zhang (2019)
3rd (tied) Russia 2 Alen Kospanov (2018), Rustam Bigildin (2021)
3rd (tied) Thailand 2 Wuttipat Kiratipaisarl (2016), Passakarn Leewongcharoen (2023)
7th (tied) Taiwan 1 Chang-Chin Wang (2015)
7th (tied) Belgium 1 Steven Pattheeuws (1996)
7th (tied) Kazakhstan 1 Sanzhar Khamitov (2022)

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "IGU - What is iGeo". www.geoolympiad.org. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
  2. ^ "International Geography Olympiad". promotinggeog.geo.ntnu.edu.tw. Archived from the original on 2022-08-16. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
  3. ^ https://spock.nehs.hc.edu.tw/newsletter/1205/B.htm[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ http://japan-igeo.com/english/pdf/result.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  5. ^ [1] [bare URL PDF]
  6. ^ iGeo 2020 - : info@igeo2020.org. "iGeo 2020". iGeo 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-05-10. Retrieved 2020-05-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ "The 2021 iGeo - Istanbul, Turkey". iGeo 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-04.
  8. ^ "IGU - iGeo 2022". www.geoolympiad.org. Retrieved 2023-09-08.
  9. ^ "IGU - iGeo 2023". www.geoolympiad.org. Retrieved 2023-09-08.
  10. ^ "Information Booklet iGeo 2023". 2023.geoolympiad.id. Retrieved 2023-09-08.
  11. ^ "iGeo2014 Kraków". 2016-04-04. Archived from the original on 2016-04-04. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
[edit]