The Geographical Dictation–2021 Will Take Place on October 31

Географический диктант в Республике Крым. Фото: Ксения Гасица

The Russian Geographical Society has announced the date for the Geographical Dictation in 2021. The large-scale international educational event, initiated by the President of Russia, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Russian Geographical Society, Vladimir Putin, will take place on October 31.

The Geographical Dictation has been held annually since 2015. The participants anonymously answer questions about the geography of Russia, but assessing the level of geographical literacy is not the main task of the event. It is educational in nature and is aimed at popularizing geographical knowledge, as well as increasing interest in science and national heritage among the population of the country.

In six years, nearly 1.8 million people have taken part in the project. In 2017, the Dictation became international for the first time: it was taken in 25 countries around the world. In 2020, the number of participating countries reached 110, including Russia. The event took place on all continents, except Antarctica, and even in space – on the ISS.

One of the traditional formats for conducting the Dictation is on-site. It is carried out at specially organized venues:  universities, schools, research institutes, libraries and other public places. At different times, the event venues were organized at reserves, museums, multimedia historical parks "Russia is My History". For example, the unusual venues include the “Akademik Lomonosov” nuclear power barge, the Nizhny Novgorod-Moscow train, the “Cruiser ‘Aurora’” museum-ship, the Mission Control Center, oil platforms in the Caspian Sea, and the Katun Biosphere Reserve. From 2015 to 2020, the number of venues had increased by 27 times – from 210 to 5697.

Anyone can organize a venue for the on-site Dictation in their city. It must be registered on the event’s website. According to the Regulations on the Geographical Dictation, any educational, scientific, and public organizations of Russia and foreign countries, regional branches of the Russian Geographical Society, centers of the Russian Geographical Society abroad, cultural, scientific and other Russian centers in different countries can act as venues. Please note that when conducting the Dictation, all venues should comply with the requirements of Rospotrebnadzor and take into account the current epidemiological situation in a particular region.

Any organization can apply to hold the Dictation on its premises on the website dictant.rgo.ru. You can register your event venue until October 22, 2021, inclusive.

It will be possible to take the Geographical Dictation online. The online event starts on the website dictant.rgo.ru on the same day as at offline venues, but it will last for several days so that everyone who wants to test their knowledge could do it.

The Dictation–2021 will have four versions, each of which will include 40 questions, divided into two parts. The first part of the basic level of ten questions is the so-called "geographical educational program" based on well-known facts from geography. The second part of 30 questions will require the use of creative thinking, logic and erudition.