Description This list includes all 206 current NOCs, 25 obsolete NOCs and 3 other entries, arranged alphabetically. The three-letter country code is also listed for each NOC. Since the 1960s, these codes have been frequently used by the IOC and each Games organizing committee to identify NOCs, such as within the official report of each Games. However, in this section, several countries uses long-form names designated by the United Nations uses short form common names such as for example: Laos (Lao People's Democratic Republic), North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea), and Moldova (Republic of Moldova). Several nations have changed during their Olympic history. Name changes due to
geographical renaming are explained by footnotes after the nation's name, and other notes are explained by footnotes linked within the table itself.
Obsolete nations Obsolete nations are included in the table to more clearly illustrate past Olympic appearances for their successor nations. •
ANZ. In the 1908 and 1912 Games, athletes from Australia and New Zealand competed together as a single team, designated
Australasia (ANZ). •
ROC. The
Republic of China (ROC) was designated as
China from 1932 to 1948, representing all of China (including Taiwan at the 1948 Games). After the
Chinese Civil War,
Taiwan participated using the
Republic of China designation in 1956, 1960, and 1972. •
BOH,
TCH. Prior to the foundation of
Czechoslovakia after
World War I, athletes from
Bohemia (BOH) (now part of the present-day Czech Republic) competed in 1900, 1908, and 1912.
Czechoslovakia (TCH) participated in 1920–1992, from 1996 represented by two successor NOCs of
Czech Republic (CZE) and
Slovakia (SVK). •
SAA,
EUA,
FRG,
GDR. Due to the
partition of Germany after World War II, Germany was represented by two teams at the 1952 Games—Germany and the
Saar (SAA). The Saar was reintegrated into the Federal Republic of Germany in 1956, and Saar athletes then competed for Germany.
East Germany did not contribute athletes to the 1952 team, as the National Olympic Committee for the German Democratic Republic was only granted "provisional" recognition by the IOC in 1955. For the Games of 1956–1964, Germany participated as a
United Team of Germany (GER), representing the National Olympic Committees of both
East Germany and
West Germany. Retrospectively, the IOC uses the country code EUA for this team. After the NOC for the German Democratic Republic was granted full recognition by the IOC in 1968,
East Germany (GDR) and
West Germany (FRG) participated as two distinct teams at the Games of 1968–1988. •
MAL,
NBO. Prior to the formation of the Federation of
Malaysia in 1963, athletes from
Malaya (MAL) competed at the 1956 Games and 1960 Games, and athletes from
North Borneo (NBO) competed at the 1956 Games. •
AHO. The NOC of the
Netherlands Antilles (AHO) was recognized by the IOC from 1950 until 2011 upon the
dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles. •
RU1,
URS,
EUN,
ROC,
AIN. The
Russian Empire (RU1) participated in three Games prior to
World War I.
Soviet Union (URS) participated at the Games of 1952–1988. After the
dissolution of the
Soviet Union in 1991, the fifteen ex-
republics of the Soviet Union were all represented at the
1992 Summer Olympics.
Estonia,
Latvia, and
Lithuania participated as independent teams, and the other twelve nations participated as a combined
Unified Team (EUN). Since 1996 they are represented by fifteen successor NOCs. Russian athletes competed as the
Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) at the
2020 Summer Olympics due to doping-related sanctions, and they also competed as
Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) at the
2024 Summer Olympics due to the Russian attack on Ukraine. •
YUG,
IOP,
SCG. The
Kingdom of Yugoslavia (officially the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes until 1929) participated as
Yugoslavia (YUG) in five Games before the
Second World War. The
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia also participated using the
Yugoslavia (YUG) designation, for all Games between 1948 and 1988. Because of
United Nations sanctions in
Security Council Resolution 757, athletes from the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) competed as
Independent Olympic Participants (IOP) at the 1992 Games. They were not permitted to compete in team sports such as
basketball,
handball, or
water polo, and the
Olympic flag was used in medal ceremonies. Athletes from the
Republic of Macedonia also competed as
Independent Olympic Participants (IOP) at the 1992 Games because their NOC had not been formed. The
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (later
State Union of Serbia and Montenegro), consisting of the
Republic of Serbia and the
Republic of Montenegro, participated at the Games of 1996 and 2000 as
Yugoslavia (YUG), and at the Games of 2004 as
Serbia and Montenegro (SCG). In 2008 and 2012, the former republics of Yugoslavia were represented by six successor NOCs. In 2016,
the autonomous province of Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008 and is
partially recognised as a sovereign state, became the seventh successor NOC. •
BWI. Athletes from
Barbados,
Jamaica, and
Trinidad and Tobago competed as the
British West Indies (BWI) at the 1960 Games. The
West Indies Federation only existed as a nation from 1958 to 1962, so the constituent nations once again competed independently in 1964. •
YAR,
YMD. Prior to
Yemenite unification in 1990,
North Yemen participated as the
Yemen Arab Republic (YAR) in 1984 and 1988, and
South Yemen participated as the
Yemen Democratic Republic (YMD) in the 1988 Games. •
RHO. Southern Rhodesia first participated as Rhodesia in the Olympic Games in 1928, when it sent two boxers to Amsterdam, both of whom were eliminated in their second bout. The colony did not appear at the Games under a Rhodesian banner until 1960, when it sent a fourteen-athlete delegation as part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. In Rome, two sailors, Alan David Butler and Christopher Bevan, finished fourth, which was Rhodesia's best result until it became Zimbabwe in 1980. Southern Rhodesia sent 29 competitors, including a field hockey team, to the 1964 Summer Games, which was its last Olympic appearance under the Rhodesian banner. In 1965, Prime Minister Ian Smith declared a unilateral independence that allowed the country's white minority to dominate the government. The United Kingdom pressured the Mexican state to deny Rhodesia an invitation to the 1968 Summer Olympics and supported a proposed African boycott of the Games that ultimately prevented Rhodesia from taking part. The nation was positioned to compete at the Olympics in 1972 and reached the Olympic Village before a last-minute International Olympic Committee (IOC) decision barred its athletes from participating. The National Olympic Committee was expelled permanently in 1975 and Rhodesia never again participated under that banner. Rhodesia never took part in the Winter Olympic Games and no Rhodesian competitor ever won an Olympic medal, although it was able to continue competing at the Paralympics through 1972 and reached the podium on multiple occasions.
Other entries •
ZZX. Between 1896 and 1904 Olympic Games allowed for individuals in a team, designated later as
Mixed teams, to be from different nations. •
IOA. Athletes from
Timor-Leste competed as
Individual Olympic Athletes (IOA) at the 2000 Games. Athletes from the former
Netherlands Antilles and
South Sudan competed as
Independent Olympic Athletes (IOA) at the 2012 Games. Athletes from
Kuwait competed as
Independent Olympic Athletes (IOA) at the 2016 Games. •
EOR (previously ROT). Owing to the
refugee crisis, a
refugee team was formed at the
2016 Summer Olympics. It consists of athletes from the
Democratic Republic of Congo,
Ethiopia,
South Sudan and
Syria, who have fled their home countries and cannot compete under the home
NOC. It returned for the
2020 Summer Olympics and was expanded to include athletes from
Afghanistan,
Cameroon,
Congo,
Eritrea,
Iran,
Iraq,
Sudan and
Venezuela.
Table legend Alphabetical list ==Notes==