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The World Geography Bowl (WGB) is an quiz bowl tournament hosted by the American Association of Geographers (AAG) at their annual and regional meetings.^[1] Participants include graduate and undergraduate geography students, and national participants are selected from the regional devisions of the AAG, often through performing well in a regional devisions geography bowl. The first WGB was held between North Carlonina university students in 1987, and was first held at the AAG annual meeting in 1993.^[2] Other organizations have since created their own versions of the WGB.

Each team participating in a World Geography Bowl can include a maximum of six players, consisting of undergraduate and graduate students.^[3] Each team must consist of full time students, have a “mix of genders,” at least one undergraduate student. At the regional level, teams are often (but not always) comprised of students from the same academic institution or state. At the national level, at least one student on a team must be from a different academic institution then the rest of them.^[3] One student can satisfy all of these requirments.

Teams compete against one other team at a a time, and progress through rounds generally competing against each other team present.^[3] These rounds are divided into two types of question: Toss-up and team questions.^[3] In toss-up questions, an individual team member may buzz in when they think they know an answer without the help of the rest of their team, and are allowed to interupt the reader. If they get the question right they get a point, and if they get it wrong the reader finishes reading the question and a member of the other team is allowed to buzz in. Each team only gets one chance for one of its members to correctly answer. Team questions allow the team to work together to generate an answer. For each set of questions, one team answers first, and if they have an incomplete answer the other is allowed to complete it for the remaining points. Teams take turns answering first. Both individual and team scores are tracked, and at regional meetings top scoring individuals are invited to participate at the national competition.^[3]

The first “Geography Bowl” was at the 1970 South Dakota State Geography Convention and based on the College Bowl show.^{[4][Note 1]} This bowl consisted of four teams from South Dakota State University and one team from Augustana University, with each team being comprised of four students.^[4] Subsequent South Dakota State Geography Conventions continued to host some form of a geography bowl.^[4] In 1993 and 1994, the Iota Alpha, and Delta Zeta chapters of Gamma Theta Upsilon reported attending the “Geography Bowl” at the South Dakota State Geography Convention in an article published in the Geographical Bulletin.^[5]

In 1984, Phyllis Rand published the book Geography Bowl: Quiz Team Book, Mastering Facts Around the World aimed at 6th grade students, which contained a series of “toss-up” questions and set of rules.^[6]

The first “World Geography Bowl” was organized by Bashir Rabat as a a Jeopardy style tournamend, and held in 1987 at North Carolina State University.^[2][3] This first WGB was limited to students from various North Carolina universities, and focused on international affairs.^[2][3] In 1990, the competition was expanded to include other states in the South Eastern Devision of the American Association of Geographers (SEDAAG) to participate in a WGB at the regional conference for the first time. In 1991, Bryon Middlekauff from the New England/St. Lawrence Valley Division (NESTVAL) of the AAG attended the SEDAAG WGB, and in 1993 NESTVAL organized a team of students to compete with SEDAAG for the first National WGB at the AAG annual meeting.^[2][7]

In 1993, the SEDAAG WGB Committee was created, consisting of one person from each SEDAAG state.^[2] In 1994, the SEDAAG WGB Committee became the WGB sanctioning body for the American Association of Geographers, and adopted a set of rules written by Neal Lineback.^[2] To facilitate the game and student participation, the AAG purchased buzzer systems and authorized using AAG funds to support students traveling to participate in the national WGB.^[2] In subsequent years, score keeping practices and the formatting of rounds was standardized. In 1994, the AAG purchased electronic buzzer systems to facilitate gameplay which became standard at regional and national events.^[2]

In fall 2000, Kennesaw State University organized a WGB for highschool students.^[2]

The COVID-19 pandemic forced caused the cancleation of the 2020 WGB, and in 2021 the WGB was held virtually for the first time.^[1][8] In person WGB competition resumed in 2022.^[8] In 2023, the AAG began giving plaques to the winning teams.^[8]

Top left: NESTVAL World Geography bowl 2022 regional championship trophy. Top Right: SEDAAG World Geography bowl 2025 regional championship trophy.

Kennesaw State University has hosted WGB events for highschool students.^[2] Jacksonville, Illinois holds an annual “Geography bowl” for elementary school students, hosted by the Jacksonville High School Geography Club.^[13] In the Jacksonville geography bowl, students compete with other elementary schools virtually from their home school.^[13]