the Taiwan Geography Olympiad
The Taiwan Geography Olympiad (tGeo) was founded in 2002 as a national-level competition for high school students, aiming to cultivate geography education throughout Taiwan. The tGeo Task Force has established three separate competition groups that attract hundreds of contestants from around our country each year. The tGeo hosts the “Individual Competition,” “Project and Short Essay Competition,” and the “Fieldwork and Mapping Competition.” Through this event, we strive to encourage and reward students who have embraced the study of human-environment relationships from a global perspective. The tGeo is hosted by the Geography Society of China Located in Taipei, a member of the International Geographical Union (IGU), while the local organizing committee rotates biennially between five universities in Taiwan.
Corresponding with the International Geography Olympiad (iGeo), the tGeo hosts the “Individual Competition” annually, with exactly the same test subjects as the iGeo. Students in this group have to complete the WRT (Written Response Test), MMT (Multimedia Test), and the FWE (Fieldwork Excercise) entirely in English.
Furthermore, the two other groups, “Project and Short Essay Competition” and the “Fieldwork and Mapping Competition” (Held in Mandarin Chinese) emphasize teamwork and presentation abilities while assessing students’ research and cartography skills, respectively.
Through these three competitions, we hope to attract more students with diverse backgrounds and skillsets into the field of geography, fostering the future geographers and geography lovers of Taiwan.
taiwan & the International Geography olympiad
Taiwan has been actively participating in the iGeo since 2002 and contributing to the event through the IGU Olympiad Task Force. Students who excel in the national competition have an opportunity to join our training and selection program led by professors at the National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) along with four other fellow universities (NTU, NCUE, NKNU, and PCCU). After completing the selection and training program, students obtain the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to represent Taiwan in the iGeo. Starting from 2008, Team Taiwan has accumulated 10 gold, 12 silver, and 10 bronze medals in the iGeo.
Written by Brian Shixuan Lee｜Student, Dept. of Geography, NTU｜Gold Medalist, iGeo 2021 İstanbul
Edited by Su-min Shen｜Associate Professor, Dept. of Geography, NTNU｜Co-chair, IGU Olympiad Task Force