# 2018 Winter Paralympics Parade of Nations

During the 2018 Winter Paralympics Parade of Nations at the 2018 Winter Paralympics opening ceremony, beginning at 20:00 KST (UTC+9) on 9 March 2018, athletes bearing the flags of their respective nations led their national delegations as they paraded into the Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium in the host city of Pyeongchang, South Korea.

## Background

All teams entered in alphabetical order based on the names of countries in the Korean language, except host nation South Korea, marched last. The collation method used is based on the names as written in Hangul, the Korean alphabet. The names of the nations were announced English and Korean, the official languages of the Paralympic movement and the host nation, in accordance with traditional and International Paralympic Committee (IPC) guidelines.
Whilst most countries entered under their short names, a few entered under more formal or alternative names, sometimes due to political or naming disputes. North Korean and South Korean teams marched on their own, after the leaders of both Koreas failed to arrange for both teams to march together in the opening ceremony. After a Russian state-sponsored doping program was exposed following the 2014 Winter Paralympics, the Russian Paralympic Committee was suspended, and selected athletes were allowed to compete neutrally under the IOC designation of "Neutral Paralympic Athletes" (패럴림픽 중립 선수), under 중. In addition, the United States, Iran, North Korea, China and South Korea all entered under their formal names, respectively the "United States of America", "Islamic Republic of Iran", "Democratic People's Republic of Korea", "People's Republic of China" and "Republic of Korea".
A record of 49 nations entered the stadium with a combined total of 569 athletes. Three nations made their Winter Paralympic debut, namely Georgia, North Korea and Tajikistan.

## List

Below is a list of parading countries and their announced flag bearer, in the same order as the parade. This is sortable by country name, flag bearer's name and flag bearer's sport. Names are given in the form officially designated by the IPC.
| Order | Nation | Hangul | Roman Transliteration | Flag bearer | Sport |
| 1 | Greece (GRE) | 그리스 | geu ri seu | Konstantinos Petrakis | Snowboarding |
| 2 | Netherlands (NED) | 네덜란드 | ne deol ran deu | Bibian Mentel-Spee | Snowboarding |
| 3 | Norway (NOR) | 노르웨이 | no reu we i | Birgit Skarstein | Cross-country skiing |
| 4 | New Zealand (NZL) | 뉴질랜드 | nyu jil raen deu | Corey Peters | Alpine skiing |
| 5 | Denmark (DEN) | 덴마크 | den ma keu | Daniel Wagner | Snowboarding |
| 6 | Germany (GER) | 독일 | dok il | Andrea Eskau | Biathlon Cross-country skiing |
| 7 | Romania (ROU) | 루마니아 | ru ma ni a | Mihaita Papara | Snowboarding |
| 8 | Mexico (MEX) | 멕시코 | mek si ko | Arly Velásquez | Alpine skiing |
| 9 | Mongolia (MGL) | 몽골 | mong gol | Ganbold Batmunkh | Cross-country skiing |
| 10 | United States (USA) | 미국 | mi guk | Mike Schultz | Snowboarding |
| 11 | Belgium (BEL) | 벨기에 | bel gi e | Eléonor Sana | Alpine skiing |
| 12 | Belarus (BLR) | 벨라루스 | bel ra ru seu | Liudmila Vauchok | Cross-country skiing |
| 13 | Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) | 보스니아 헤르체고비나 | bo seu ni a he reu che go bi na | Ilma Kazazić | Alpine skiing |
| 14 | Bulgaria (BUL) | 불가리아 | bul ga ri a | Svetoslav Georgiev | Cross-country skiing |
| 15 | Brazil (BRA) | 브라질 | beu ra jil | Aline Dos Santos Rocha | Cross-country skiing |
| 16 | Serbia (SRB) | 세르비아 | se reu bi a | Miloš Zarić | Cross-country skiing |
| 17 | Sweden (SWE) | 스웨덴 | seu we den | Ronny Persson | Wheelchair curling |
| 18 | Switzerland (SUI) | 스위스 | seu wi seu | Felix Wagner | Wheelchair curling |
| 19 | Spain (ESP) | 스페인 | seu pe in | Astrid Fina | Snowboarding |
| 20 | Slovakia (SVK) | 슬로바키아 | seul ro ba ki a | Henrieta Farkašová & Natália Šubrtová | Alpine skiing |
| 21 | Slovenia (SLO) | 슬로베니아 | seul ro be ni a | Jernej Slivnik | Alpine skiing |
| 22 | Armenia (ARM) | 아르메니아 | a reu me ni a | Stasik Nazaryan | Cross-country skiing |
| 23 | Argentina (ARG) | 아르헨티나 | a reu hen ti na | Enrique Plantey | Alpine skiing |
| 24 | Iceland (ISL) | 아이슬란드 | a i seul ran deu | Hilmar Snaer Ovarsson | Alpine skiing |
| 25 | Andorra (AND) | 안도라 | an do ra | Roger Puig Davi | Alpine skiing |
| 26 | Great Britain (GBR) | 영국 | yeong guk | Owen Pick | Snowboarding |
| 27 | Australia (AUS) | 오스트레일리아 | o seu teu re il ri a | Joany Badenhorst | Snowboarding |
| 28 | Austria (AUT) | 오스트리아 | o seu teu ri a | Claudia Loesch | Alpine skiing |
| 29 | Uzbekistan (UZB) | 우즈베키스탄 | u jeu be ki seu tan | Yokutkhon Kholbekova | Cross-country skiing |
| 30 | Ukraine (UKR) | 우크라이나 | u keu ra i na | Vitaliy Lukyanenko | Biathlon Cross-country skiing |
| 31 | Iran (IRI) | 이란 | i ran | Elaheh Gholifallah | Cross-country skiing |
| 32 | Italy (ITA) | 이탈리아 | i tal ri a | Florian Planker | Para ice hockey |
| 33 | Japan (JPN) | 일본 | il bon | Momoka Muraoka | Alpine skiing |
| 34 | North Korea (PRK) | 조선민주주의인민공화국 | jo seon min ju ju ui in min gong hwa guk | Kim Jong-hyon | Cross-country skiing |
| 35 | Georgia (GEO) | 조지아 | jo ji a | Temuri Dadiani | Cross-country skiing |
| 36 | China (CHN) | 중국 | jung guk | Peng Yuanyuan | Cross-country skiing |
| 37 | Neutral Paralympic Athletes (NPA) | 패럴림픽 중립 선수 | pae reol lim pik jung nip seon su | POCOG Volunteer | N/A |
| 38 | Czech Republic (CZE) | 체코 | che ko | Miroslav Hrbek | Para ice hockey |
| 39 | Chile (CHI) | 칠레 | chil re | Diego Seguel | Alpine skiing |
| 40 | Kazakhstan (KAZ) | 카자흐스탄 | ka ja heu seu tan | Kairat Kanafin | Cross-country skiing |
| 41 | Canada (CAN) | 캐나다 | kae na da | Brian McKeever | Cross-country skiing |
| 42 | Croatia (CRO) | 크로아티아 | keu ro a ti a | Eva Goluza | Alpine skiing |
| 43 | Tajikistan (TJK) | 타지키스탄 | ta ji ki seu tan | Siyovush Ilyasov | Cross-country skiing |
| 44 | Turkey (TUR) | 터키 | teo ki | Mehmet Çekiç | Alpine skiing |
| 45 | Poland (POL) | 폴란드 | pol ran deu | Kamil Rosiek | Biathlon Cross-country skiing |
| 46 | France (FRA) | 프랑스 | peu rang seu | Marie Bochet | Alpine skiing |
| 47 | Finland (FIN) | 핀란드 | pin ran deu | Matti Suur-Hamari | Snowboarding |
| 48 | Hungary (HUN) | 헝가리 | heong ga ri | Zsolt Balogh | Alpine skiing |
| 49 | South Korea (KOR) | 대한민국 | dae han min guk | Sin Eui-hyun | Biathlon Cross-country skiing |