United States
Geography Championships
Middle & Elementary School Divisions

2025-2026 Competition Year

2026 National Champions:
8th Grade – Avahan Gautam, Dewitt Perry Middle School, TX
7th Grade – Han Lu, Valley Christian Jr. High School, CA
6th Grade – Yiyang Lu, Horizon Prep, CA
5th Grade – Aditya Vanka, Oxford Prep – South Orange Country, CA
4th Grade – Shamik Mukherjee, Mission San Jose Elementary School, CA
3rd Grade and Younger – Siaan Bhargav Gottupula, Rosa Parks Elementary School, WA

US Geography Championships
US Geography Championships

The US Geography Championships Middle & Elementary School Divisions Overview

US geography championships

The US Geography Championships is an exam competition for individual students, testing knowledge of geographic concepts and applications of geography to real world situations. For students competing in the Middle & Elementary School Divisions, the US Geography Championships consists solely of the National Championships.

  • Eligibility:  Students in 8th grade and younger. There is no younger age limit.

  • Competitors:  Individual students. Separate age divisions for 8th Graders, 7th Graders, 6th Graders, 5th Graders, 4th Graders, and for students in 3rd Grade & Younger.

  • Competition Style: Comprehensive exam with both multiple choice and written response sections.

  • Inquiries: Contact help@iacompetitions.com

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Competition Format

For students competing in the Middle & Elementary School Divisions, the US Geography Championships is a one-stage competition, consisting solely of the National Championships. Students must have qualified for and be competing in the National Championships of the National Geography Bee to compete in the US Geography Championships.

Stage
1

National Championships

The US Geography Championships for the Middle & Elementary School Divisions consists solely of the National Championships which is held each year on Memorial Day weekend at the Hyatt Regency Orlando. For 2026, the US Geography Championships will be held on Thursday, May 21 from 3:00pm-4:50pm. A full schedule of the Nationals Events is available here.

Registration for the National Championships is done on this page. Nationals weekend will also feature many other events, including the Opening Ceremonies, a Family Quiz Night, Universal Studios Night, Intro to Model United Nations, various talks and receptions, and the Jeopardy! Charity Games.

Please note that the format of the Middle & Elementary School USGC National Championships was changed after the 2023 competition. Students are still encouraged to review past USGC National Championships Exams prior to 2024 as the questions themselves are still good practice and cover much of the same material that will be tested.

  • 25 to 35 minutes
  • 25% of overall championship ranking
  • Supplies needed – pencil and eraser

7th Grade and 8th Grade Divisions – 40 questions, 35 minute time limit
5th Grade and 6th Grade Divisions – 35 questions, 30 minute time limit
4th Grade and 3rd Grade & Younger Divisions – 30 questions, 25 minute time limit

The Multiple Choice Examination will consist of between 30 and 40 questions covering multiple aspects of geography. A majority of the questions will be in sets of 5 to 10 questions devoted to various geography topics. The final 15 questions will be based on visual stimuli, and may include maps, charts, graphs or diagrams.

Students will have between 25 and 35 minutes to complete this section of the examination based on their division, and there will be a five minute break between this section and the free-response section. The Multiple Choice Examination will be scored on the standard IAC National Championships scoring system of two points for a correct answer, no points for questions left blank, and negative one point for incorrect answers.

  • 45 to 55 minutes
  • 75% of overall championship ranking
  • Supplies needed – pen or pencil
  • Optional supplies – colored pencils, ruler, eraser, non-programmable calculator

7th Grade and 8th Grade Divisions – 5 questions, 55 minute time limit
5th Grade and 6th Grade Divisions – 5 questions, 50 minute time limit
4th Grade and 3rd Grade & Younger Divisions – 4 questions, 45 minute time limit

The Free-Response Examination will consist of 4 or 5 questions, each of which will have multiple parts. Topics for the free-response exam will be a mix of human and physical geography, with roughly half of the points on the exam coming from each. Topics for the examination will be drawn from the following list:

  • Geomorphology
  • Landforms and landscapes
  • Hazards and hazard management
  • Urban geography and urban planning
  • Historical geography (concentrating on the development of the United States)
  • Cultural geography
  • Economic and developmental geography
  • Population geography
  • Agriculture, resources, and environmental geography
  • Biogeography
  • Climate geography

In addition to written responses, one question will ask students to produce one of the following –

  • a mathematical calculation
  • a chart or graph based on provided data
  • a map
  • a diagram of a geographic or geological process

Questions on the Free-Response Examination will be similar in format and content to questions on the Written and Cartographic examinations at past USGC competitions.

Overall USGC Rank Calculation

For the overall USGC rank, placements will be determined on a points system using the following formula –

Multiple Choice Exam points x .25 + Free-Response Exam points x .75 = overall score (out of 100)

Overall scores will be calculated to 3 decimal places and students will be ranked based on their overall scores. If there is a tie for any of the top ten positions in the overall rankings, ties will be broken using the following criteria (in respective order):

  1. Points earned on the Free-Response Exam.
  2. Points earned on the non-stimulus questions of the Multiple Choice Exam.

If students are still tied following these two tiebreakers, an additional five question multiple choice exam will be administered, with the student earning the most points on this exam taking the higher placement. This process may be repeated as needed until the tie is broken.

For all questions on the Middle & Elementary School National Championships, please email help@iacompetitions.com.

Bonus
Stage

International Geography Championships

Students who compete in the Middle & Elementary School Divisions of the US Geography Championships can qualify for the 2026 International Geography Championships which will be held from July 5-12 at the JW Marriott Resort and Spa in Khao Lak, Thailand! Students qualify for the International Geography Championships by placing in the top two thirds in their age division at the 2025 or 2026 National Championships of the US Geography Championships. They can also qualify by doing any of the following:

  • having a score of 75 or higher on any version of the Varsity / Junior Varsity Geography National Qualifying Exam in the 2024-25 or 2025-26 academic year if they were in 9th grade or higher in the year they took it.
  • having a score of 65 or higher on any version of the Varsity / Junior Varsity Geography National Qualifying Exam in the 2024-25 or 2025-26 academic year if they were in 7th or 8th grade in the year they took it.
  • having a score of 55 or higher on any version of the Varsity / Junior Varsity Geography National Qualifying Exam in the 2024-25 or 2025-26 academic year if they were in 6th grade or lower in the year they took it.
  • placing in the top third at a National Geography Bee regional event (or first or second place in the case of small fields)
  • placing in the top two thirds in their age division at the 2025 or 2026 National Championships of the National Geography Bee
  • making the playoffs in their age division at the 2025 or 2026 National Championships of the US Geography Bee
  • playing on a team that finishes in the top 50% in any age division at the 2025 or 2026 National Championships of the National Geography Bowl

The 2026 International Geography Championships is a week-long event with numerous competitions, field trips (including an optional 3-day pre-trip to Bangkok, and an optional 3-day post-trip to Angkor Wat), family activities and more. In each event, medals are awarded to the top 3 competing students in each age division. US students compete for their state; students from other countries (or students in the USA who were born abroad or who have foreign citizenship) represent those countries. Two of the most prestigious events at IGC are the International Geography Bee World Championships and the International Geography Bowl World Championships; an overall IGC Championship title is also awarded in each age division; please view the website at www.geochampionships.com for further details on all events and to register. We are expecting 300-400 students to attend the 2026 IGC.

For all questions on the 2026 International Geography Championships, please email igc@iacompetitions.com.

US Geography Championships Practice Resources

Past Questions

Past Questions from the National Championships

Rules & FAQs

The US Geography Championships is simply an exam competition, so there is no Official Rules file for it. Obviously, any attempt to access external help, including the internet, notes brought in advance, and/or assistance from other competitors will result in immediate disqualification, as well as a potential ban in further IAC events. It is not permitted to leave the exam room for any reason, including a bathroom break, and then return to the section of the US Geography Championships exam that one is working on. It is permitted to arrive late, though additional time will not be granted, and once any students have been released from the exam room, other students will not be allowed into the room to begin a section of the exam.
Please note that at the discretion of IAC Staff, the time allotted for all students to complete the exam may be shortened by up to 10 minutes per section. If this is done, it will be announced in person to all students at the start of the exam section in question.

No. Due to exam security requirements, all students who wish to compete in the Middle and Elementary School USGC National Championships must be physically present in Orlando, FL.

The National Geography Bee is entirely a buzzer-based competition at the National Championships. The US Geography Championships is entirely an exam-based competition at the National Championships. These are separate competitions because at the Varsity Division level, USGC is meant as a way to find the most competitive team members to compete for the USA at the International Geography Olympiad (iGeo). Students competing in the various Middle and Elementary School Divisions of USGC are thus gaining experience with the general approach to geography that iGeo tests, as well as the Varsity-level competition in the USA that selects the best team to compete in it. iGeo does not feature any buzzer-based competition, and it focuses much more on analytical and theoretical geography. Thus, USGC, as a qualifying competition for iGeo, emphasizes those aspects of geography, so we can find the strongest students in the country to compete on the type of questions that are found at iGeo.
Students who compete in the Varsity Division (which necessitates being at least 16 years old on July 1 of the year in which a particular USGC takes place) at the USGC National Championships are eligible to qualify for a spot on Team USA. Students in Middle and Elementary School may compete in the Junior Varsity Division at Varsity / Junior Varsity USGC Nationals in April in Arlington, VA if they have qualified in the Junior Varsity Division.

The hotels where we have room blocks, especially the host hotel, provide us with meeting space to hold the competitions and with sleeping accommodations for our staff, which we need to fly in from around the country. They do this in return for a commitment to fulfill a large number of sleeping room bookings over the course of Nationals weekend. For students who live near the Nationals host site for whom it would make sense to attend Nationals as a day trip and go back to their home each night, this rule does not apply.

Yes! They are actively encouraged to do so, and if they do so, they would play in the Junior Varsity Division which includes students in the 9th grade and some students in the 10th grade. Students cannot transfer qualification in the National Championships at the Junior Varsity level to the Middle or Elementary School level National Championships. For more information on how the US Geography Championships works for the Varsity and Junior Varsity Divisions, please visit the US Geography Championships Varsity & Junior Varsity Divisions Homepage.

The US Geography Championships, the sister competition to the National Geography Bee, is an exam-based competition on theoretical and analytical geography. At the National Championships, the top 4 Varsity students in the USGC are invited to compete as Team USA at the annual International Geography Olympiad (commonly known as iGeo). iGeo has a minimum age requirement which is set at July 1 of the year 16 years prior to the year in which it takes place. Thus for 2026, the date cutoff is July 1, 2010. Students born prior to this date are therefore eligible to compete in the Varsity Division for USGC and compete for a spot on Team USA. In practice, this means that most 10th graders are in fact considered as Varsity students for the USGC and the National Geography Bee.

USGC and the National Geography Bee share the same qualifying track, so it makes sense for us to keep the particular Varsity / Junior Varsity distinction the same for both competitions for both the Qualifying Stage and the National Championships.

No. The National Geographic Bee, which was formerly run by National Geographic, was discontinued in 2021. We warmly welcome all schools and students that used to compete in it and who are looking for a new way to compete in nationwide geography competitions!

Past National Champions

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YearDivisionNational ChampionSchoolCityState or District
20268th GradeAvahan GautamDeWitt Perry Middle SchoolCarrolltonTexas TX
20267th GradeHan LuValley Christian Jr High SchoolSan JoseCalifornia Flag CA
20266th GradeYiyang LuHorizon PrepSan DiegoCalifornia Flag CA
20265th GradeAditya VankaOxford Prep - South Orange CountyMission ViejoCalifornia Flag CA
20264th GradeShamik MukherjeeMission San Jose Elementary SchoolSan JoseCalifornia Flag CA
20263rd Grade & YoungerSiaan Bhargav GottupulaRosa Parks Elementary SchoolRedmondWashington WA
20258th GradeThiyagesh VenkatesanSchool - Strawberry ParkSan JoseCalifornia Flag CA
20257th GradeNavya SainiSam Lawson Middle SchoolCupertinoCalifornia Flag CA
20256th GradeYichen TanMayfield Junior SchoolPasadenaCalifornia Flag CA
20255th GradeYiyang LuSolana Santa Fe Elementary SchoolFairbanks RanchCalifornia Flag CA
20254th GradeYakshit BagadReeves Elementary SchoolMcKinneyTexas TX
20253rd Grade & YoungerAnuj ChintakuntlawarBASIS Scottsdale East PrimaryScottsdaleAZ AZ
20248th GradeDe-An ChenSt. Paul AcademySt. Paul MN
20247th GradeThiyagesh VenkatesanChallenger School - Strawberry ParkSan JoseCalifornia Flag CA
20246th GradeJiyan SinghUniversity School of MilwaukeeMilwaukeeWI WI
20255th GradeArmaan GulatiSamantha Smith Elementary SchoolSammamishWashington WA
20244th GradeYiyang LuSolana Santa Fe Elementary SchoolFairbanks RanchCalifornia Flag CA
20243rd Grade & YoungerYakshit BagadReeves Elementary SchoolMcKinneyTexas TX
20238th GradeConnor WindustEagle Ridge Middle SchoolAshburn VA
20237th GradeSatvik JainBurleigh Manor Middle SchoolEllicott CityMD MD
20236th GradeDavis HanesWoodbury Middle SchoolSalemNH NH
20235th GradeJiwoo KimHalf Day SchoolLincolnshireIllinois Flag IL
20234th Grade & YoungerAidan ZhangSycamore Ridge SchoolSan DiegoCalifornia Flag CA
20228th GradeRay DaiFredonia Middle SchoolFredoniaNY NY
20227th GradeAnish RajaSouth Forsyth Middle SchoolCummingGA GA
20226th GradeSatvik JainBurleigh Manor Middle SchoolEllicott CityMD MD
2022Elementary SchoolIshaan DeshmukhBlanchard Memorial SchoolBoxborough MA
20218th GradeJohn AugustynNotre Dame Catholic SchoolClarendon HillsIllinois Flag IL
20217th GradeIshaan PusuluriFelix V. Festa Middle SchoolWest NyackNY NY
20216th GradeEshaan SombhattaColvin Run Elementary SchoolVienna VA
2021Elementary SchoolNicolas BaxterMantua Elementary SchoolFairfax VA
20208th GradeAshmith KumbalaUplift North Hills PreparatoryIrvingTexas TX
20207th GradeThomas CatuoscoJohn Adams Middle SchoolEdisonNJ NJ
20206th GradeIshaan PusuluriFelix V. Festa Middle SchoolWest NyackNY NY
2020Elementary SchoolAnish RajaBrookwood Elementary SchoolCummingGA GA
20198th GradeArnav DharmagaddaRussell Middle SchoolRussellKY KY
20197th GradeAshrith ReddyMarvin P. Baker Middle SchoolCorpus ChristiTexas TX
20196th GradeJishnu NayakPeter Hansen Elementary SchoolMountain HouseCalifornia Flag CA
2019Elementary SchoolRoman GagliardiHindley Elementary SchoolDarienCT CT
20188th GradeSrikrishna DarbhaCollege Station Middle SchoolCollege StationTexas TX
20187th GradeSiddardh BudamaguntaDavis Drive Middle SchoolCaryNC NC
20186th GradeBianca JoaquinSt. Joan of Arc SchoolEvanstonIllinois Flag IL
20185th GradeLee BalkcomHomeschoolFL FL
20184th Grade & YoungerMarc LindemannLaddie A. Decker Sound Beach SchoolMiller PlaceNY NY
2017Middle SchoolKai WaddellLux Middle SchoolLincolnNE NE