Welcome to the European Division of The International Geography Bee!
The International Geography Bee is delighted to offer a new year of geography quiz competition to European students! Within the European Division, three age divisions are offered: Varsity (born prior to 1 Sep., 2003 for the 2019-2020 school year), Junior Varsity (born from 1 Sep., 2003-31 Aug. 2005), and Middle School (born on 1 Sep., 2005 and later). These are the same three age divisions that apply for the International History Bee and Bowl. Please see www.ihbbeurope.com for more details on IHBB’s history quiz tournaments in Europe. For European students, the International Geography Bee consists of three levels: Regionals, the European Championships, and the IGB World Championships, though students can already qualify for the World Championships at the Regional level as well.
The Regional level has two variants, Regional Quiz Tournaments and the Championships Qualifying Exam. The Quiz Tournaments follow the same rules as the International History Bee Regional Tournaments and the IGB European Championships. Students who finish in the top half qualify for the European Championships and the World Championships. If any Regional Quiz Tournaments are held at the intramural level, then the winning student qualifies for the World Championships, and the top 25% qualify in each age division for the European Championships.
There are two versions of the International Geography Bee Championships Qualifying Exam – Alpha and Beta. Each is offered at International History Bee and Bowl Regional Tournaments held on that respective question set. Click on the dots on the map at www.ihbbeurope.com to see which question set is offered where. Both versions are also available for students to take at their school if they wish, with a teacher or administrator proctoring. Students interested in taking a version of the Championships Qualifying Exam at their school (or teachers interested in offering it to their students) should email nolwenn@iacompetitions.com – it is free of charge for students to take the Championships Qualifying Exam with a teacher or homeschool instructor proctoring it. Both IGB Championships Qualifying Exam versions are meant to have equal difficulty. Students only need to qualify off one version of the Championships Qualifying Exam. Students must finish in the top 50% of students in their age division, either at their tournament site or across all students taking the Alpha or Beta version in their age division by April 1. Students who finish in the top 25% either at their site or across all students taking Alpha or Beta also qualify for the World Championships.
At the European Championships of The International History Bee and Bowl, the European Championships of the International Geography Bee are also contested. If they are not already qualified, the top 50% of students in the European IGB Championships in each age division receive eligibility to compete at the IGB World Championships, which will be held every other year in conjunction with the International History Olympiad. In 2020, the IGB World Championships will be held on a Caribbean cruise on July 12-19, 2020. Qualification is valid for two years; thus students can qualify for the 2018 IGB World Championships in either the 2018-2019 or 2019-2020 academic years.
The European Championships for the International Geography Bee consists of 3 preliminary rounds of 30 paragraph-length buzzer quiz questions, and one or two rounds of playoffs for the top students from the preliminaries. Please see the questions used at the past European Championships on the Resources page to get a sense of the sort of questions that are asked at the Championships.
For further questions about IGB, please email us at info@iacompetitions.com. Good luck!