United States Geography Bee

Varsity & Junior Varsity Divisions

New for 2024-2025!

US Geography Bee
US Geography Bee

The US Geography Bee Varsity & JV Divisions Overview

US Geography Bee

The United States Geography Bee is a quiz competition for individual students, testing knowledge of all aspects of American geography at a grade-appropriate level. For students competing in the Varsity & Junior Varsity Divisions, the US Geography Bee consists solely of the online National Championships, which will take place on Thursday, May 22, 2025, and does not require prior qualifying. The National Championships of the US Geography Bee is entirely a buzzer-based quiz competition about the geography of the USA. Please note that the US Geography Bee is a distinct competition from the National Geography Bee, which covers the geography of the entire world. Questions will cover all aspects of geography, including political, physical, and cultural geography, and will reference all parts of the USA, including its dependent territories and territorial waters.

  • Eligibility: Students in 9th-12th grade; no prior qualification is needed. The Varsity division will consist of 12th and 11th grade students, and the JV division will consist of 10th and 9th graders only. Younger students must compete in the in-person National Championships in Orlando held on the same day.

  • Competitors:  Individual students. No prior qualification is required.

  • Competition Style: 4 preliminary rounds of buzzer-based competition, with semifinal and final rounds to determine the National Champions in each age division

  • Inquiries: Contact hs-info@iacompetitions.com

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Students participating in International Academic Competitions events

Competition Format

For students competing in the Varsity & Junior Varsity Divisions, the US Geography Bee is a one-stage competition, consisting solely of the National Championships. Students can also qualify for the International Geography Championships by competing in the US Geography Bee.

Stage
1

National Championships

The National Championships of the US Geography Bee for the Varsity & Junior Varsity Divisions for the 2024-25 academic year will take place online on Thursday, May 22, 2025. The four preliminary rounds take place in the morning and the two final rounds will take place in the evening. The National Championships for the US Geography Bee is held simultaneously with the National Championships of the Middle School & Elementary Divisions for this event, which will be taking place in-person as part of the IAC Middle and Elementary School National Championships weekend.

The cost to compete at the 2025 National Championships for the US Geography Bee is $135. Registration for the National Championships opens in November and runs through early May on this page.

For all questions on the Varsity and Junior Varsity US Geography Bee, please email hs-info@iacompetitions.com.

Bonus
Stage

International Geography Championships

Students who compete in the Varsity & Junior Varsity Divisions of the US Geography Bee can qualify for the 2026 International Geography Championships which will be held in Summer 2026! Students qualify for IGC by:

  • 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
  • placing in the top two thirds in their age division at the 2025 or 2026 National Championships of the US Geography Championships
  • 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 International Geography Championships is a week-long event with numerous competitions, field trips, 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 Bee Practice Resources

International Geography Championships

Additional geography questions are found under the Events tab on the IGC site though some are in different formats from those used in the National Geography Bee.

Quiz Bowl Packets

This site has links to hundreds of thousands of additional questions; most of which are not geographically-themed, though a good many are.

Rules & FAQs

The US Geography Bee National Championships follows standard International Academic Competitions online rules for bee competitions. The Championships Playoff Scoring System is used for this competition in the playoff rounds.