diff --git a/go-backend/cmd/api/main.go b/go-backend/cmd/api/main.go
index c31ce98..9250bad 100644
--- a/go-backend/cmd/api/main.go
+++ b/go-backend/cmd/api/main.go
@@ -89,6 +89,16 @@ func main() {
 		MaxAge:           12 * time.Hour,
 	}))
 
+	// Initialize GeoIP middleware for geographic blocking
+	geoIPMiddleware, err := middleware.NewGeoIPMiddleware("/opt/sojorn/geoip/GeoLite2-Country.mmdb")
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Warn().Err(err).Msg("Failed to initialize GeoIP middleware, geographic filtering disabled")
+	} else {
+		defer geoIPMiddleware.Close()
+		r.Use(geoIPMiddleware.Middleware())
+		log.Info().Msg("GeoIP middleware enabled - blocking requests from outside North America")
+	}
+
 	r.NoRoute(func(c *gin.Context) {
 		log.Debug().Msgf("No route found for %s %s", c.Request.Method, c.Request.URL.Path)
 		c.JSON(404, gin.H{"error": "route not found", "path": c.Request.URL.Path, "method": c.Request.Method})
diff --git a/go-backend/go.mod b/go-backend/go.mod
index 4f57e91..054c23a 100644
--- a/go-backend/go.mod
+++ b/go-backend/go.mod
@@ -87,6 +87,8 @@ require (
 	github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.20 // indirect
 	github.com/modern-go/concurrent v0.0.0-20180306012644-bacd9c7ef1dd // indirect
 	github.com/modern-go/reflect2 v1.0.2 // indirect
+	github.com/oschwald/geoip2-golang v1.13.0 // indirect
+	github.com/oschwald/maxminddb-golang v1.13.0 // indirect
 	github.com/pelletier/go-toml/v2 v2.2.4 // indirect
 	github.com/planetscale/vtprotobuf v0.6.1-0.20240319094008-0393e58bdf10 // indirect
 	github.com/quic-go/qpack v0.5.1 // indirect
diff --git a/go-backend/go.sum b/go-backend/go.sum
index ac951b4..fdadb7c 100644
--- a/go-backend/go.sum
+++ b/go-backend/go.sum
@@ -180,6 +180,10 @@ github.com/modern-go/concurrent v0.0.0-20180306012644-bacd9c7ef1dd h1:TRLaZ9cD/w
 github.com/modern-go/concurrent v0.0.0-20180306012644-bacd9c7ef1dd/go.mod h1:6dJC0mAP4ikYIbvyc7fijjWJddQyLn8Ig3JB5CqoB9Q=
 github.com/modern-go/reflect2 v1.0.2 h1:xBagoLtFs94CBntxluKeaWgTMpvLxC4ur3nMaC9Gz0M=
 github.com/modern-go/reflect2 v1.0.2/go.mod h1:yWuevngMOJpCy52FWWMvUC8ws7m/LJsjYzDa0/r8luk=
+github.com/oschwald/geoip2-golang v1.13.0 h1:Q44/Ldc703pasJeP5V9+aFSZFmBN7DKHbNsSFzQATJI=
+github.com/oschwald/geoip2-golang v1.13.0/go.mod h1:P9zG+54KPEFOliZ29i7SeYZ/GM6tfEL+rgSn03hYuUo=
+github.com/oschwald/maxminddb-golang v1.13.0 h1:R8xBorY71s84yO06NgTmQvqvTvlS/bnYZrrWX1MElnU=
+github.com/oschwald/maxminddb-golang v1.13.0/go.mod h1:BU0z8BfFVhi1LQaonTwwGQlsHUEu9pWNdMfmq4ztm0o=
 github.com/pashagolub/pgxmock/v4 v4.9.0 h1:itlO8nrVRnzkdMBXLs8pWUyyB2PC3Gku0WGIj/gGl7I=
 github.com/pashagolub/pgxmock/v4 v4.9.0/go.mod h1:9L57pC193h2aKRHVyiiE817avasIPZnPwPlw3JczWvM=
 github.com/pelletier/go-toml/v2 v2.2.4 h1:mye9XuhQ6gvn5h28+VilKrrPoQVanw5PMw/TB0t5Ec4=
diff --git a/go-backend/internal/middleware/geoip.go b/go-backend/internal/middleware/geoip.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aabd0fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/go-backend/internal/middleware/geoip.go
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+package middleware
+
+import (
+	"net"
+	"net/http"
+
+	"github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
+	"github.com/oschwald/geoip2-golang"
+	"github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
+)
+
+// GeoIPMiddleware blocks requests from outside North America
+type GeoIPMiddleware struct {
+	db *geoip2.Reader
+}
+
+// NewGeoIPMiddleware creates a new GeoIP middleware
+func NewGeoIPMiddleware(dbPath string) (*GeoIPMiddleware, error) {
+	db, err := geoip2.Open(dbPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	
+	return &GeoIPMiddleware{db: db}, nil
+}
+
+// Close closes the GeoIP database
+func (g *GeoIPMiddleware) Close() error {
+	return g.db.Close()
+}
+
+// Middleware returns the Gin middleware function
+func (g *GeoIPMiddleware) Middleware() gin.HandlerFunc {
+	return func(c *gin.Context) {
+		// Get client IP
+		clientIP := c.ClientIP()
+		
+		// Parse IP
+		ip := net.ParseIP(clientIP)
+		if ip == nil {
+			// Invalid IP, block it
+			log.Warn().Str("ip", clientIP).Msg("Invalid IP address, blocking request")
+			c.JSON(http.StatusForbidden, gin.H{"error": "Access denied"})
+			c.Abort()
+			return
+		}
+		
+		// Skip for private/local IPs
+		if ip.IsPrivate() || ip.IsLoopback() || ip.IsLinkLocalUnicast() {
+			c.Next()
+			return
+		}
+		
+		// Look up country
+		record, err := g.db.Country(ip)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Warn().Str("ip", clientIP).Err(err).Msg("Failed to lookup country, blocking request")
+			c.JSON(http.StatusForbidden, gin.H{"error": "Access denied"})
+			c.Abort()
+			return
+		}
+		
+		// Check if country is in North America
+		countryCode := record.Country.IsoCode
+		if !g.isNorthAmericanCountry(countryCode) {
+			log.Info().Str("ip", clientIP).Str("country", countryCode).Msg("Blocking request from outside North America")
+			c.JSON(http.StatusForbidden, gin.H{"error": "Access denied - region not supported"})
+			c.Abort()
+			return
+		}
+		
+		c.Next()
+	}
+}
+
+// isNorthAmericanCountry checks if the country code is from North America
+func (g *GeoIPMiddleware) isNorthAmericanCountry(countryCode string) bool {
+	northAmericanCountries := map[string]bool{
+		"US": true, // United States
+		"CA": true, // Canada
+		"MX": true, // Mexico
+		"GT": true, // Guatemala
+		"BZ": true, // Belize
+		"SV": true, // El Salvador
+		"HN": true, // Honduras
+		"NI": true, // Nicaragua
+		"CR": true, // Costa Rica
+		"PA": true, // Panama
+	}
+	
+	return northAmericanCountries[countryCode]
+}
diff --git a/go-backend/scripts/setup-geoip.sh b/go-backend/scripts/setup-geoip.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2fe3036
--- /dev/null
+++ b/go-backend/scripts/setup-geoip.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Setup script for GeoIP database
+# This downloads the GeoLite2-Country database from MaxMind
+
+set -e
+
+GEOIP_DIR="/opt/sojorn/geoip"
+DATABASE_FILE="$GEOIP_DIR/GeoLite2-Country.mmdb"
+
+echo "Setting up GeoIP database for geographic filtering..."
+
+# Create directory if it doesn't exist
+sudo mkdir -p "$GEOIP_DIR"
+sudo chown patrick:patrick "$GEOIP_DIR"
+
+# Download the GeoLite2-Country database
+echo "Downloading GeoLite2-Country database..."
+cd "$GEOIP_DIR"
+
+# Use curl to download the database (you'll need a MaxMind account for this)
+# For now, we'll create a placeholder - you should replace this with actual download
+echo "Note: You need to sign up for a free MaxMind account to download the GeoLite2 database"
+echo "Visit: https://dev.maxmind.com/geoip/geolite2-free-geolocation-data"
+echo ""
+echo "After getting your license key, download with:"
+echo "curl -v 'https://download.maxmind.com/app/geoip_download?edition_id=GeoLite2-Country&license_key=YOUR_LICENSE_KEY&suffix=tar.gz' | tar xz --strip-components=1 -C ."
+echo ""
+
+# Create a placeholder file for now (this won't work but allows the service to start)
+echo "Creating placeholder database file (you should replace this with the real database)"
+cat > placeholder.txt << 'EOF'
+This is a placeholder file. You need to download the actual GeoLite2-Country.mmdb file
+from MaxMind and place it here: /opt/sojorn/geoip/GeoLite2-Country.mmdb
+
+Steps:
+1. Sign up for free account at https://dev.maxmind.com/geoip/geolite2-free-geolocation-data
+2. Get your license key
+3. Download: curl -v 'https://download.maxmind.com/app/geoip_download?edition_id=GeoLite2-Country&license_key=YOUR_LICENSE_KEY&suffix=tar.gz' | tar xz --strip-components=1 -C .
+EOF
+
+echo "Setup complete. Please download the actual GeoIP database as described above."
+echo "The service will start but geographic filtering will be disabled until the database is installed."