Citizenship in the World
Scouts BSA · Merit Badge · Citizenship, Eagle-required
Printable worksheet (PDF)You're part of a world full of countries that trade, travel, and solve problems together. This badge helps you understand how nations work together and how you can be a good neighbor to people everywhere. You'll learn about governments, diplomacy, and other cultures.
Why it's worth it
Your phone, your shoes, and maybe your breakfast came from other countries, and what happens in a faraway capital can change prices at your grocery store. Citizenship in the World helps you understand how nations trade, argue, and cooperate, and how people from anywhere can become U.S. citizens. You'll follow a real world event, learn what diplomats do, and connect with people from other countries, maybe even Scouts on the other side of the world. There are tens of millions of Scouts worldwide, and this badge makes you one of them.
Start this week
- Check the labels on five things you use every day and mark on a map the countries where they were made.
- Ask your Scoutmaster for the name of a Citizenship in the World counselor, and send them a short message with a parent copied to set up a first meeting.
- Pick one international news story this week and follow it for a few days from a trusted source.
- Ask family and friends whether anyone has become a U.S. citizen, lived abroad, or works with other countries, and might talk with you.
Stay safe
- Connect with people from other countries through supervised programs like Jamboree on the Air or a school or Scouting exchange, and never share personal details with strangers online.
Requirements · 7
Every official requirement and part, numbered to match Scouting America, in plain language. Sign off against the official wording (opens in a new tab) (updated 2025).
- Requirement 1
Tell your counselor what world citizenship means to you and what qualities you believe make someone a good world citizen
Tip: Think about how things you use every day connect to other countries, like food, clothes, and phones.
For example: World citizenship might mean caring about clean oceans because fish don't stop at borders, learning a few words of a classmate's family language, or supporting disaster relief after an earthquake overseas. Explain what it means to you with one personal example.
- Requirement 2
Explain how a person becomes a U.S. citizen and the rights, duties, and obligations that come with it; compare them with those of citizens in two other countries
Tip: Look up the steps to become a U.S. citizen. If you know someone who became a citizen, ask about their experience.
For example: Outline the path to naturalization: becoming a lawful permanent resident, living in the U.S. for a set number of years, then passing an English and civics test and taking the Oath of Allegiance. Then list duties like obeying laws, paying taxes, and serving on a jury.
- Requirement 3
World events and national interest
Tips for this section: Follow a world news story for a week. Pick a country and learn how it gets along with the United States.
Example for this section: Follow a world event, like a drought causing food shortages in one region, for a week. Explain what's happening, which countries are involved, and how one of those countries gets along with the United States through trade, aid, or disagreements.
- Requirement 3a
Choose a current world event and talk with your counselor about how a nation's interests and its ties with other countries could affect its security, economy, values, and its people's health
- Requirement 3b
Choose a foreign country and talk with your counselor about how its geography, natural resources, and climate shape its economy and its partnerships with other nations
- Requirement 4
International law, trade, and organizations. Choose 2 of 3
Tips for this section: Pick the topics that interest you most and learn one or two key facts about each.
- Requirement 4a
Explain international law, how it differs from national law, and how it can be used to help settle conflicts
- Requirement 4b
With a parent's or guardian's permission, use newspapers, news magazines, and the internet to follow a current issue about tariffs, free trade, foreign exchange, balance of payments, and international trade; explain what you learned and why nations must cooperate for world trade and competition to thrive
- Requirement 4c
World organizations. Choose 2 of 9
- Requirement 4c1
Describe the role the United Nations and UNICEF (the UN's children's fund) play in the world
- Requirement 4c2
Describe the role the International Court of Justice (the World Court) plays in the world
- Requirement 4c3
Describe the role Interpol (the International Criminal Police Organization) plays in the world
- Requirement 4c4
Describe the role the World Organization of the Scout Movement plays in the world
- Requirement 4c5
Describe the role the World Health Organization (WHO) plays in the world
- Requirement 4c6
Describe the role Amnesty International plays in the world
- Requirement 4c7
Describe the role the IFRC, the worldwide network of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, plays in the world
- Requirement 4c8
Describe the role CARE (Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere) plays in the world
- Requirement 4c9
Describe the role the European Union plays in the world
- Requirement 5
Governments of the world
Tips for this section: Make a simple chart of government types and color in a world map to show examples.
Example for this section: Make a chart of government types with examples: a constitutional republic (the United States), a parliamentary democracy (Canada), a constitutional monarchy (Japan), an absolute monarchy (Saudi Arabia), and a one-party state (China). Color them on a world map and explain who holds power in each.
- Requirement 5a
Discuss how constitutional and nonconstitutional governments differ
- Requirement 5b
Name at least five kinds of government in power around the world today
- Requirement 5c
On a world map, point out countries that use each of those five forms of government
- Requirement 6
Representing a country abroad
Tips for this section: Look up how passports and visas work. Ask someone who has traveled abroad about their experience.
Example for this section: Explain what an ambassador and embassy staff do, like protecting citizens abroad and negotiating agreements. Then compare a passport, which proves who you are and your citizenship, with a visa, which is another country's permission to enter.
- Requirement 6a
Explain how a country is represented in other nations and how the U.S. government is accredited to international organizations
- Requirement 6b
Describe what each of these does in foreign relations: an ambassador, a consul, the Bureau of Global Public Affairs, and the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service
- Requirement 6c
Explain why passports and visas are needed for travel between countries
- Requirement 7
Connecting with other countries. Choose 2 of 5
Tips for this section: Try a pen pal, an international scouting event, or a cultural festival near you.
Example for this section: Two activities could be taking part in Jamboree on the Air or Jamboree on the Internet with your troop and adult leaders, and visiting a cultural festival to try food and learn customs from another country.
- Requirement 7a
With a parent's or guardian's permission, explore the U.S. State Department website, learn more about an issue there that interests you, and share it with your counselor
- Requirement 7b
With permission, check an international news or foreign government website, or a foreign newspaper from a library, bookstore, or newsstand; find a story about a human right Americans have that another country doesn't recognize, and share it with your counselor
- Requirement 7c
With permission, talk with a Scout or student from another country about the values, holidays, foods, and traditions of their homeland, and share what you learned with your counselor
- Requirement 7d
With permission, attend or take part in a WOSM event such as World Scout Moot, a World Scout Jamboree, JOTA/JOTI, or World Scout Congress (a national or regional jamboree run by a WOSM member organization also counts), and share what you learned with your counselor
- Requirement 7e
With permission, attend or join in an international event near you, such as a cultural festival, concert, or play, and share what you learned with your counselor
Places to visit
Ask an adult to set it up, and go with your family, den, patrol, or crew.
A naturalization ceremony
Watching new citizens take the oath is moving, and it makes requirement 2 real.
How: Have an adult check the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website or call a federal courthouse to ask whether the public may attend upcoming ceremonies.
A world affairs council, international center, or consulate event
Speakers and staff discuss diplomacy, trade, and world events, and some host student programs.
How: An adult looks up organizations in your region and asks about youth events or programs open to the public.
A cultural festival or international heritage day
You can meet people, try food, and learn customs from other countries without leaving town.
How: Go with your family or troop. Check community calendars or the library for upcoming festivals.
Where it can lead
- Foreign Service officer (diplomat)Represents the United States at embassies around the world.
- International aid workerHelps after disasters or with health and education programs in other countries.
- Interpreter or translatorHelps governments, businesses, and travelers communicate across languages.
- International trade specialistHelps companies buy and sell goods across borders and follow trade laws.
- Immigration officerReviews applications and helps people through the citizenship process.
Ask yourself
- What part of the world are you most curious about, and why?
- How has following a world event changed how you think about people who live far away?
- What surprised you about how someone becomes a U.S. citizen?
- What did you learn from connecting with someone from another country or culture?
- What world problem do you most want to help solve, and what's one small step you could take now?
Good questions to ask someone who has lived abroad or become a U.S. citizen
- What was the biggest surprise about living in a different country?
- What was the process of becoming a citizen like for you?
- What do people in other countries often misunderstand about Americans, and the other way around?
- How did you learn to fit in somewhere with different customs?
- What advice would you give a young person who wants to travel or work internationally?
Helpful reads
- Earning a merit badge, step by step, From picking a badge to getting the final signature: how to find a counselor, set up meetings safely, work the requirements, and keep your progress., Youth · Families · 6 min read
- Contacting counselors, experts, and organizations, Email and phone scripts, who to ask for, how to follow up, and how to say thanks, with a parent copied every time., Youth · Families · 7 min read
- Choosing your next merit badge, How to pick a badge you'll actually finish: start with what you care about, balance Eagle-required and just-for-fun badges, and make the most of camp., Youth · Families · 6 min read
For leaders & parents
- Encourage scouts to join Jamboree on the Air or Jamboree on the Internet to meet scouts worldwide.
- Invite a guest who has lived or worked abroad to talk with the troop.
People & places that can help
- Merit badge counselor — Talk with them early; they can explain what's expected.
- U.S. Department of State (opens in a new tab) — Information on diplomacy, passports, and other countries.
- United Nations (opens in a new tab) — Learn how countries work together on world issues.
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (opens in a new tab) — Steps to becoming a U.S. citizen.
- World Organization of the Scout Movement (opens in a new tab) — Scouting around the world, with stories from Scouts in many countries.
- JOTA-JOTI (opens in a new tab) — The yearly event where Scouts connect worldwide by radio and internet.
- International Court of Justice (opens in a new tab) — The United Nations court that settles disputes between countries.
- UNICEF (opens in a new tab) — How countries work together to help children everywhere get food, health care, and school.
Pairs well with
Helps you earn
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Tips, examples, and questions are ideas from experienced leaders, not extra requirements. Your unit leader or counselor decides when a requirement is complete.