List of IOC country codes
Special codes for Olympics
Table:
Code

Nation/Team

Years

Notes

ANZ
Australasia
1908–1912
Used in the IOC's medal database[7] to identify the team from Australasia, composed of athletes from both Australia and New Zealand for the 1908 and 1912 Games. By 1920, both nations competed separately.

COR
Korea
from French Corée
2018
Used for the unified Korean women's ice hockey team at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Also used when the delegations of the two Korean NOCs enter together during the opening ceremony.[8]

EUA
United Team of Germany
from French Équipe unifiée d'Allemagne
1956–1964
Used in the IOC's medal database[7] to identify the United Team of Germany, composed of athletes representing the NOCs of both East Germany and West Germany for the 1956–1964 Games. At the time, the team was simply known as Germany in the official reports for those six Games.

EUN
Unified Team
from French Équipe unifiée
1992
Used in 1992 (both Summer and Winter Games) for the Unified Team, composed of athletes from most of the ex-republics of the Soviet Union. Only the Baltic states were able to compete as independent teams in 1992; the other twelve new nations competed independently for the first time in 1994 and/or 1996.

IOP
Independent Olympic Participants

1992
2014

Used for Independent Olympic Participants at the 1992 Summer Olympics as a designation used for athletes from FR Yugoslavia who could not compete as a team due to United Nations sanctions. At the 1992 Summer Olympics IOP was used as a designation for athletes from the Republic of Macedonia too. IOP was also used during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi by Indian athletes due to the Indian Olympic Association suspension.

IOA
Independent Olympic Athletes

2000
2012
2016

Used for Individual Olympic Athletes in 2000,[9] a designation used for athletes from Timor-Leste prior to the formation of its NOC. IOA was used again in the 2012 Games, when it stood for Independent Olympic Athletes,[10] comprising athletes from the former Netherlands Antilles and a runner from South Sudan. The Netherlands Antilles Olympic Committee's membership from the IOC was withdrawn the previous year, and South Sudan has not formed an NOC. IOA was used again in 2016 for athletes from Kuwait as a result of the suspension of its National Olympic Committee.[11]

IOC
Athletes from Kuwait
2010–2012
Used as the country code for Athletes from Kuwait, when the Kuwait Olympic Committee was suspended the first time, at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, the 2010 Asian Games, the 2010 Asian Para Games and the 2011 Asian Winter Games; for the second suspension in 2015–2017, athletes from Kuwait were also competing in several international competitions under the IOC flag, but this time in the team of Individual Olympic Athletes (IOA), including (but not only) in the 2016 Summer Olympics.

MIX
Mixed-NOCs
2010–2018
Used as the country code for Mixed NOCs at the Youth Olympics.[12][13]

OAR
Olympic Athletes from Russia
2018
Used for Olympic Athletes from Russia competing as neutral athletes due to the state-sponsored doping scandal.[14]

ROT
Refugee Olympic Team
2016
Used for the Refugee Olympic Team at the 2016 Summer Olympics for athletes to compete who have been displaced from their home countries.[15]

ZZX
Mixed team
1896–1904
Used in the IOC's medal database[7] to identify medals won by mixed teams of athletes from multiple nations (such as the combination of France and Great Britain, for example), a situation that happened several times in the Games of 1896, 1900, and 1904.

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Australasia was a combined team of athletes from Australia and the Dominion of New Zealand that competed together at the 1908 and 1912 Summer Olympics . When the Olympic Games resumed in 1920 after World War I , the two nations sent separate teams to the Games , and have done so ever since .
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia , is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent , the island of Tasmania , and numerous smaller islands . It is the largest country in Oceania and the world 's sixth-largest country by total area . The population of 26 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard . Australia 's capital is Canberra , and its largest city is Sydney . The country 's other major metropolitan areas are Melbourne , Brisbane , Perth , and Adelaide . Indigenous Australians inhabited the continent for about 65,000 years prior to the first arrival of Dutch explorers in the early 17th century , who named it New Holland . In 1770 , Australia 's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788 , a date which became Australia 's national day . The population grew steadily in subsequent decades , and by the time of an 1850s gold rush , most of the continent had been explored and an additional five self-governing crown colonies established . On 1 January 1901 , the six colonies federated , forming the Commonwealth of Australia . Australia has since maintained a stable liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy , comprising six states and ten territories . Australia is the oldest , flattest , and driest inhabited continent , with the least fertile soils . It has a landmass of 7,617,930 square kilometres ( 2,941,300 sq mi ) .
New Zealand ( Māori : Aotearoa [ aɔˈtɛaɾɔa ] ) is a sovereign island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean . The country has two main landmasses - the North Island ( Te Ika-a-Māui ) , and the South Island ( Te Waipounamu ) - and around 600 smaller islands . It has a total land area of 268,000 square kilometres ( 103,500 sq mi ) . New Zealand is about 2,000 kilometres ( 1,200 mi ) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and 1,000 kilometres ( 600 mi ) south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia , Fiji , and Tonga . Because of its remoteness , it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans . During its long period of isolation , New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal , fungal , and plant life . The country 's varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks , such as the Southern Alps , owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions . New Zealand 's capital city is Wellington , and its most populous city is Auckland . Sometime between 1250 and 1300 , Polynesians settled in the islands and developed a distinctive Māori culture . In 1642 , Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight New Zealand . In 1840 , representatives of the United Kingdom and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi , which declared British sovereignty over the islands . In 1841 , New Zealand became a colony within the British Empire and in 1907 it became a dominion ; it gained full statutory independence in 1947 and the British monarch remained the head of state .
A unified team of South Korea and North Korea competed under the title Korea at the 2018 Winter Olympics in ice hockey . At the 2018 Winter Olympics , the delegations from both the host nation South Korea and North Korea marched together in the opening ceremony under the Korean Unification Flag .
The Korea women 's national ice hockey team is a representative side which is composed of players from both South Korea and North Korea . The team competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics , competing as Korea under the IOC country code COR .
The 2018 Winter Olympics , officially known as the XXIII Olympic Winter Games ( French : Les XXIIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver ; Korean : 제23회 동계 올림픽 , romanized : Jeisipsamhoe Donggye Ollimpik ) and commonly known as PyeongChang 2018 , was an international winter multi-sport event that was held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County , Gangwon Province , South Korea , with the opening rounds for certain events held on 8 February 2018 , the day before the opening ceremony . Pyeongchang was elected as the host city in July 2011 , at the 123rd IOC Session in Durban , South Africa . This was the second time that South Korea had hosted the Olympic Games , having previously hosted the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul , but it was only the first Winter Olympics to be held in the country . It was the first of three consecutive Olympics to be held in East Asia , the following two being Tokyo 2020 ( summer ) and Beijing 2022 ( winter ) . It was the third time that an East Asian country had hosted the Winter Games , after Sapporo ( 1972 ) and Nagano ( 1998 ) , both of these cities in Japan . It was also the first Winter Olympics to be held in mainland Asia . The Games featured 102 events over 15 disciplines , a record number of events for the Winter Games . Four events made their Olympic debut in 2018 : big air snowboarding , mass start speed skating , mixed doubles curling , and mixed team alpine skiing . A total of 2,914 athletes from 92 NOCs competed , including the national debuts of Ecuador , Eritrea , Kosovo , Malaysia , Nigeria and Singapore . After a state-sponsored doping program was exposed following the 2014 Winter Olympics , the Russian Olympic Committee was suspended , but selected athletes were allowed to compete neutrally under the special IOC designation of Olympic Athletes from Russia ( OAR ) . North Korea agreed to participate in the Games despite tense relations with South Korea ; the two nations paraded together at the opening ceremony as a unified Korea , and fielded a unified team ( COR ) in the women 's ice hockey . Norway led the total medal tally with 39 , followed by Germany 's 31 and Canada 's 29 .
The opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics was held at the Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium in Pyeongchang , South Korea on 9 February 2018 . It began at 20:00 KST and finished at approximately 22:20 KST . The Games were officially opened by President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in .
The United Team of Germany ( German : Gesamtdeutsche Mannschaft ) competed in the 1956 , 1960 , and 1964 Winter and Summer Olympic Games as a united team of athletes from West Germany and East Germany . In 1956 the team also included athletes from a third Olympic body , the Saarland Olympic Committee , which had sent a separate team in 1952 , but in 1956 was in the process of joining the German National Olympic Committee . This process was completed in February 1957 after the admission of Saarland into the Federal Republic of Germany .
The United Team of Germany ( German : Gesamtdeutsche Mannschaft ) competed in the 1956 , 1960 , and 1964 Winter and Summer Olympic Games as a united team of athletes from West Germany and East Germany . In 1956 the team also included athletes from a third Olympic body , the Saarland Olympic Committee , which had sent a separate team in 1952 , but in 1956 was in the process of joining the German National Olympic Committee . This process was completed in February 1957 after the admission of Saarland into the Federal Republic of Germany .
East Germany , officially the German Democratic Republic ( GDR ; German : Deutsche Demokratische Republik [ ˈdɔʏtʃə demoˈkʁaːtɪʃə ʁepuˈbliːk ] , DDR ) , was a state that existed from 1949 to 1990 , the period when the eastern portion of Germany was part of the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War . Commonly described as a communist state in English usage , it described itself as a socialist workers ' and peasants ' state . It consisted of territory that was administered and occupied by Soviet forces following the end of World War II - the Soviet occupation zone of the Potsdam Agreement , bounded on the east by the Oder-Neisse line . The Soviet zone surrounded West Berlin but did not include it ; as a result , West Berlin remained outside the jurisdiction of the GDR . The German Democratic Republic was established in the Soviet zone , while the Federal Republic was established in the three western zones . East Germany was a satellite state of the Soviet Union . Soviet occupation authorities began transferring administrative responsibility to German communist leaders in 1948 , and the GDR began to function as a state on 7 October 1949 . However , Soviet forces remained in the country throughout the Cold War . Until 1989 , the GDR was governed by the Socialist Unity Party ( SED ) , though other parties nominally participated in its alliance organisation , the National Front . The SED made the teaching of Marxism-Leninism and the Russian language compulsory in schools . The economy was centrally planned and increasingly state-owned . Prices of housing , basic goods and services were set by central government planners rather than rising and falling through supply and demand ; and were heavily subsidised .
West Germany was the informal name for the Federal Republic of Germany , a country in Western Europe , in the period between its formation on 23 May 1949 and German reunification on 3 October 1990 . During this Cold War period , the western portion of Germany was part of the Western Bloc . The Federal Republic was created during the Allied occupation of Germany after World War II , established from eleven states formed in the three Allied zones of occupation held by the United States , the United Kingdom and France . Its ( provisional ) capital was the city of Bonn . The Cold War era West Germany is also retrospectively designated the Bonn Republic . At the onset of the Cold War , Europe was divided among the Western and Eastern blocs . Germany was de facto divided into two countries and two special territories , the Saarland and a divided Berlin . Initially , the Federal Republic of Germany claimed an exclusive mandate for all of Germany , considering itself to be the sole democratically reorganised continuation of the 1871-1945 German Reich . It took the line that the German Democratic Republic ( GDR ) was an illegally constituted puppet state . Though the GDR did hold regular elections , these were neither free nor fair . From the West German perspective , the GDR was therefore illegitimate . Three southwestern states of West Germany merged to form Baden-Württemberg in 1952 , and the Saarland joined the Federal Republic of Germany in 1957 .
The Unified Team was the name used for the sports team of the former Soviet Union ( except the Baltic states ) at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville and the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona . The IOC country code was EUN , after the French name , Équipe unifiée . The Unified Team was sometimes informally called the CIS Team ( Commonwealth of Independent States , as a counterpart of CIS national football team taking part in Euro 1992 of the same year ) , although Georgia did not join the CIS until 1993 . During the Winter Olympics , the National Olympic Committees ( NOCs ) of the constituent countries had not yet been affiliated to the IOC , so the Olympic Flag was used in place of a national flag at the Opening Ceremony and at medals ceremonies , and the Olympic Hymn was played for gold medallists . By the time of the Summer Olympics , the NOCs had affiliated separately , though they fielded a joint team with a standard uniform as Olympic qualifying rounds had been completed before the final demise of the Soviet Union . Where an EUN individual won a medal , the national flag of the medallist 's nation was raised rather than the Olympic flag , and a gold medallist 's national anthem was played rather than the Olympic Hymn . In team sports , the EUN team continued to use the Olympic flag and the Olympic Hymn , as team members represented different nations . The team finished second in the medal table at the 1992 Winter Games , and first at the 1992 Summer Games , edging its old rival the US in the latter .
The Republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or Union Republics ( Russian : Сою́зные Респу́блики , tr . Soyúznye Respúbliki ) were the ethnically based proto-states of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( USSR ) . For most of its history , the USSR was a highly centralized state ; the decentralization reforms during the era of Perestroika ( Restructuring ) and Glasnost ( Openness ) conducted by Mikhail Gorbachev are cited as one of the factors which led to the dissolution of the USSR in 1991 .
The Baltic states , also known as the Baltic countries , Baltic republics , Baltic nations , or simply the Baltics ( Estonian : Balti riigid , Baltimaad ; Latvian : Baltijas valstis ; Lithuanian : Baltijos valstybės ) , is a geopolitical term , typically used to group the three sovereign states in Northern Europe on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea : Estonia , Latvia , and Lithuania . The term is not used in the context of cultural areas , national identity , or language , because while the majority of people in Latvia and Lithuania are Baltic people , the majority in Estonia are Finnic . The three countries do not form an official union , but engage in intergovernmental and parliamentary cooperation . The most important areas of cooperation between the three countries are foreign and security policy , defence , energy , and transportation . All three countries are members of NATO , the eurozone , and the OECD , and are members of the European Union . From 2020 , Estonia will also be a member of the United Nations Security Council . All three are classified as high-income economies by the World Bank and maintain a very high Human Development Index .
During the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona , Spain , athletes from Yugoslavia and Macedonia competed as Independent Olympic Participants . Macedonian athletes could not appear under their own flag because their NOC had not been formed . Yugoslavia ( also known as Serbia and Montenegro ) was under United Nations sanctions which prevented the country from taking part in the Olympics . However , individual Yugoslav athletes were allowed to take part as Independent Olympic Participants ( and as Independent Paralympic Participants at the 1992 Summer Paralympics ) . 58 competitors ( 52 from Yugoslavia , 6 from Republic of Macedonia ) , 39 men and 19 women , took part in 54 events in 13 sports . Three athletes won medals in 1992 as Independent Olympic Participants , all in shooting .
Serbia and Montenegro ( Serbian : Србија и Црна Гора , romanized : Srbija i Crna Gora ; abbr . Serbian : СЦГ , romanized : SCG ) , also known from 2003 to 2006 as the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro ( Serbian : Државна Заједница Србија и Црна Гора , romanized : Državna Zajednica Srbija i Crna Gora ) , and known as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1992 to 2003 , was a country in Southeast Europe , created from the two remaining federal republics of the Socialist Yugoslavia after its breakup in 1992 . The republics of Serbia and Montenegro together established a federation in 1992 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ( abbr . FR Yugoslavia or FRY ; Serbian : Савезна Република Југославија , romanized : Savezna Republika Jugoslavija ) [ a ] or Yugoslavia ( Serbian : Југославија , romanized : Jugoslavija ) for short . For the first several years of its existence , the state aspired to be recognized as the sole legal successor to Yugoslavia , but those claims were opposed by other former constituent republics . The United Nations also denied its request to take up Yugoslavia 's membership . Eventually , after the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević from power as president of the federation in 2000 , the country rescinded those aspirations and accepted the opinion of the Badinter Arbitration Committee about shared succession . It re-applied for UN membership on 27 October 2000 and was admitted on 1 November . The FRY was initially dominated by Slobodan Milošević as President of Serbia ( 1989-1997 ) and then President of Yugoslavia ( 1997-2000 ) . Milošević installed and forced the removal of several federal presidents ( such as Dobrica Ćosić ) and prime ministers ( such as Milan Panić ) . However , the Montenegrin government , initially enthusiastic supporters of Milošević , started gradually distancing themselves from his policies . That culminated in regime change in 1996 , when his former ally Milo Đukanović reversed his policies , became leader of Montenegro 's ruling party and subsequently dismissed former Montenegrin leader Momir Bulatović , who remained loyal to the Milošević government .
The United Nations ( UN ) is an intergovernmental organization that aims to maintain international peace and security , develop friendly relations among nations , achieve international cooperation , and be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations . It is the largest , most familiar , most internationally represented and most powerful intergovernmental organization in the world . The UN is headquartered on international territory in New York City ; other main offices are in Geneva , Nairobi , Vienna and The Hague . The UN was established after World War II with the aim of preventing future wars , succeeding the ineffective League of Nations . On 25 April 1945 , 50 governments met in San Francisco for a conference and started drafting the UN Charter , which was adopted on 25 June 1945 and took effect on 24 October 1945 , when the UN began operations . Pursuant to the Charter , the organization 's objectives include maintaining international peace and security , protecting human rights , delivering humanitarian aid , promoting sustainable development , and upholding international law . At its founding , the UN had 51 member states ; this number grew to 193 in 2011 , representing the vast majority of the world 's sovereign states . The organization 's mission to preserve world peace was complicated in its early decades by the Cold War between the United States and Soviet Union and their respective allies . Its missions have consisted primarily of unarmed military observers and lightly armed troops with primarily monitoring , reporting and confidence-building roles . UN membership grew significantly following widespread decolonization beginning in the 1960s . Since then , 80 former colonies have gained independence , including 11 trust territories that had been monitored by the Trusteeship Council . By the 1970s , the UN 's budget for economic and social development programmes far outstripped its spending on peacekeeping .
North Macedonia [ c ] ( officially the Republic of North Macedonia ; [ d ] before 2019 : Macedonia ) , is a country in the Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe . It is one of the successor states of Yugoslavia , from which it declared independence in September 1991 . A landlocked country , North Macedonia has borders with Kosovo [ e ] to the northwest , Serbia to the northeast , Bulgaria to the east , Greece to the south , and Albania to the west . It constitutes approximately the northern third of the larger geographical region of Macedonia . The capital and largest city , Skopje , is home to roughly a quarter of the nation 's 2.06 million inhabitants . The majority of the residents are ethnic Macedonians , a South Slavic people . Albanians form a significant minority at around 25% , followed by Turks , Romani , Serbs , Bosniaks , and Aromanians . The history of the region dates back to antiquity , beginning with the kingdom of Paeonia , presumably a mixed Thraco-Illyrian polity . In the late sixth century BC , the area was incorporated into the Persian Achaemenid Empire , then annexed by the kingdom of Macedonia in the fourth century BC . The Romans conquered the region in the second century BC and made it part of the much larger province of Macedonia . Τhe area remained part of the Byzantine Empire , but was often raided and settled by Slavic tribes beginning in the sixth century of the Christian era . Following centuries of contention between the Bulgarian , Byzantine , and Serbian Empire , it was part of the Ottoman dominion from the mid-14th until the early 20th century , when following the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913 , the modern territory of North Macedonia came under Serbian rule .
Athletes have competed as Independent Olympians at the Olympic Games for various reasons , including political transition , international sanctions , suspensions of National Olympic Committees , and compassion . Independent athletes have come from the Republic of North Macedonia , East Timor , South Sudan and Curaçao following geopolitical changes in the years before the Olympics , from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ( present-day Montenegro and Serbia ) as a result of international sanctions , from India and Kuwait due to the suspensions of their National Olympic Committees , and Russia for mass violations of anti-doping rules . Medals were won by Independent Olympians at the 1992 and 2016 Olympics , both times in shooting . The naming and country code conventions for these independent Olympians have not been consistent . Independent Paralympians have participated at Paralympic Games for the same reasons as Independent Olympians .
Four athletes from East Timor competed as Individual Olympic Athletes at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney , Australia .
East Timor ( /-ˈtiːmɔːr/ ( listen ) ) or Timor-Leste ( /tiˈmɔːr ˈlɛʃteɪ/ ; Tetum : Timór Lorosa ' e ) , officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste ( Portuguese : República Democrática de Timor-Leste , Tetum : Repúblika Demokrátika Timór-Leste ) , is a country in Southeast Asia . It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor , the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco , and Oecusse , an exclave on the northwestern side of the island surrounded by Indonesian West Timor . Australia is the country 's southern neighbour , separated by the Timor Sea . The country 's size is about 15,007 km2 ( 5,794 sq mi ) . East Timor was colonised by Portugal in the 16th century , and was known as Portuguese Timor until 28 November 1975 , when the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor ( Fretilin ) declared the territory 's independence . Nine days later , it was invaded and occupied by the Indonesian military , and was declared as the country 's 27th province the following year . The Indonesian occupation of East Timor was characterised by a highly violent , decades-long conflict between separatist groups ( especially Fretilin ) and the Indonesian military . In 1999 , following the United Nations-sponsored act of self-determination , Indonesia relinquished control of the territory . East Timor became the first new sovereign state of the 21st century on 20 May 2002 and joined the United Nations and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries . In 2011 , East Timor announced its intention to become the eleventh member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN ) . It is one of only two predominantly Christian nations in Southeast Asia , the other being the Philippines , as well as the only Asian country to be located completely in the Southern Hemisphere .
Four Independent Olympic Athletes competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London , in the United Kingdom . These were athletes from the former Netherlands Antilles , and from the newly formed state of South Sudan . This was the third time that athletes had competed as independent participants in the Olympics . None of the athletes won an Olympic medal .
The Netherlands Antilles ( Dutch : Nederlandse Antillen , pronounced [ ˌneːdərlɑntsə ʔɑnˈtɪlə ( n ) ] ( listen ) ; Papiamentu : Antia Hulandes ) was a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands . The country consisted of several island territories located in the Caribbean Sea . The islands were also informally known as the Dutch Antilles . The country came into being in 1954 as the autonomous successor of the Dutch colony of Curaçao and Dependencies , and was dissolved in 2010 . The Dutch colony of Surinam , although it was relatively close by on the continent of South America , did not become part of the Netherlands Antilles but became a separate autonomous country in 1954 . All the island territories that belonged to the Netherlands Antilles remain part of the kingdom today , although the legal status of each differs . As a group they are still commonly called the Dutch Caribbean , regardless of their legal status .
South Sudan ( /suːˈdɑːn , -ˈdæn/ ) , officially known as the Republic of South Sudan ( Dinka : Paguot Thudän ) is a landlocked country in East-Central Africa . It gained independence from the Republic of the Sudan in 2011 , making it the most recent sovereign state with widespread recognition . Its capital and largest city is Juba . South Sudan is bordered by Sudan to the north , Ethiopia to the east , Kenya to the southeast , Uganda to the south , the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the southwest and the Central African Republic to the west . It includes the vast swamp region of the Sudd , formed by the White Nile and known locally as the Bahr al Jabal ( Arabic : بحر الجبل ) , meaning Mountain Sea . Sudan was occupied by Egypt under the Muhammad Ali dynasty and was governed as an Anglo-Egyptian condominium until Sudanese independence in 1956 . Following the First Sudanese Civil War , the Southern Sudan Autonomous Region was formed in 1972 and lasted until 1983 . A second Sudanese civil war soon broke out , ending in 2005 with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement . Later that year , southern autonomy was restored when an Autonomous Government of Southern Sudan was formed . South Sudan became an independent state on 9 July 2011 , following 98.83% support for independence in a January 2011 referendum . It has suffered ethnic violence and endured a civil war since 2013 . South Sudan has a population of 12 million , mostly of the Nilotic peoples , and it is demographically among the youngest nations in the world , with roughly half under 18 years old .
The Netherlands Antilles Olympic Committee , ( Dutch : Nederlands Antilliaans Olympisch Comité ; Papiamento : Comité Olímpico di Antia Hulandes ) generally abbreviated NAOC was a member of the IOC from 1950 to 2011 . It constituted the National Olympic Committee of the dissolved country Netherlands Antilles which consisted of the islands Aruba ( until 1986 ) , Curaçao , Sint Maarten ( countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands ) , Bonaire , Sint Eustatius and Saba ( part of the Netherlands proper ) . The organization is a federation of 31 sports federations . So far only FINA， FIFA and CONCACAF recognize Curaçao as successor of Netherlands Antilles
Athletes from Kuwait participated in the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou , Guangdong , China from 12 November to 27 November 2010 . These athletes competed under the Olympic flag because the Kuwait Olympic Committee had been suspended by the International Olympic Committee in January 2010 . A total of 195 athletes competed , of which 19 were women .
Kuwait Olympic Committee ( Arabic : اللجنة الأولمبية الكويتية , IOC code : KUW ) is the National Olympic Committee representing Kuwait and organising the Kuwait Olympic team .
Athletes from Kuwait competed in the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore . However , Kuwaiti athletes competed under the Olympic flag as the Kuwait Olympic Committee had been suspended by the International Olympic Committee in January 2010 due to government interference .
Kuwait participated in the 2010 Asian Para Games-First Asian Para Games in Guangzhou , China from 13 to 19 December 2010 . Kuwait won three medals , and finished at the 26th spot in a medal table . Unlike its Asian Games counterpart ( which participated under the Olympic flag as it was being suspended by the International Olympic Committee ) , it participated at the sporting event under its own national flag .
Athletes from Kuwait participated in the 2011 Asian Winter Games in Almaty and Astana , Kazakhstan from January 30 , 2011 to February 6 , 2011 . These athletes competed under the Olympic flag because the Kuwait Olympic Committee had been suspended by the International Olympic Committee in January 2010 .
Mixed-NOCs ( IOC code : MIX ) are Youth Olympic Games teams consisting of athletes representing different National Olympic Committees ( NOCs ) . The concept of mixed-NOCs was introduced at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics , in which athletes from different nations would compete in the same team . It was also used in multiple sports at the Winter Youth Olympics since 2012 .
The Youth Olympic Games ( YOG ) is an international multi-sport event organized by the International Olympic Committee . The games are held every four years in staggered summer and winter events consistent with the current Olympic Games format , though in reverse order with Winter Games held in leap years instead of Summer Games . The first summer version was held in Singapore from 14 to 26 August 2010 while the first winter version was held in Innsbruck , Austria from 13 to 22 January 2012 . The age limitation of the athletes is 14 to 18 . The idea of such an event was introduced by Johann Rosenzopf from Austria in 1998 . On 6 July 2007 , International Olympic Committee ( IOC ) members at the 119th IOC session in Guatemala City approved the creation of a youth version of the Olympic Games , with the intention of sharing the costs of hosting the event between the IOC and the host city , whereas the travelling costs of athletes and coaches were to be paid by the IOC . These Games will also feature cultural exchange programs and opportunities for participants to meet Olympic athletes . Several other Olympic events for youth , like the European Youth Olympic Festival held every other year with summer and winter versions , and the Australian Youth Olympic Festival , have proven successful . The Youth Games are modelled after these sporting events . The YOG are also a successor to the discontinued World Youth Games . The Summer Youth Olympic Games of Singapore in 2010 and Nanjing in 2014 each played host to 3600 athletes and lasted 13 days , whereas the Winter YOG of Innsbruck in 2012 had 1059 athletes and Lillehammer in 2016 had 1100 athletes and lasted 10 days . Even though this exceeded initial estimates , the YOG are still both smaller in size as well as shorter than their senior equivalents .
Olympic Athlete from Russia ( OAR ) is the International Olympic Committee 's ( IOC ) designation of select Russian athletes permitted to participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang , South Korea . The designation was instigated following the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee after the Russian doping scandal . This was the first time since the Unified Team of 1992 that Russian athletes had participated under the neutral Olympic flag . During the 2018 Winter Olympics , two athletes from this team tested positive for banned substances and were found guilty of doping by the Court of Arbitration for Sport ( CAS ) . Both were sanctioned by the IOC and their results were annulled as a consequence of the ruling .
Systematic doping in Russian sports has resulted in 43 Olympic medals being stripped from Russian athletes - the most of any country , more than four times the number of the runner-up , and more than 30% of the global total . Due to widespread doping violations , in 2019 the World Anti-Doping Agency banned Russia from all major sporting events for four years .
The Refugee Olympic Team competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro , Brazil , from 5 to 21 August 2016 , as independent Olympic participants . In March 2016 , the International Olympic Committee ( IOC ) President Thomas Bach declared that the IOC would choose five to ten refugees to compete at the Rio Olympics , in the context of the worldwide refugee crisis , of which the European migrant crisis is a prominent part . The athletes competed under the Olympic Flag . Initially , they were labeled Team of Refugee Olympic Athletes , with the IOC country code ROA , but this was updated to Refugee Olympic Team with the country code ROT . As part of an effort to show solidarity with the world 's refugees , the United Nations Refugee Agency selected Ibrahim Al-Hussein , a Syrian refugee residing in Athens , Greece , to carry the Olympic flame through the Eleonas refugee and migrant camp in the city as part of the 2016 torch relay . In addition , Kuwaiti athletes competed under the Olympic flag and the Independent Olympic Athletes title as a result of the suspension of the Kuwait Olympic Committee , their national Olympic Committee .
The 2016 Summer Olympics ( Portuguese : Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016 ) , [ a ] officially known as the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( Portuguese : Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada ) and commonly known as Rio 2016 , was an international multi-sport event that was held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro , Brazil , with preliminary events in some sports beginning on 3 August . These were the first Olympic Games ever to be held in South America and the fourth to be held in a developing country , after the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico , the 1980 Summer Olympics in the Soviet Union , and the 2008 Summer Olympics in China . More than 11,000 athletes from 205 National Olympic Committees took part , including first time entrants Kosovo , South Sudan , and the Refugee Olympic Team . With 306 sets of medals , the games featured 28 Olympic sports , including rugby sevens and golf , which were added to the Olympic program in 2009 . These sporting events took place at 33 venues in the host city and at five separate venues in the Brazilian cities of São Paulo , Belo Horizonte , Salvador , Brasília , and Manaus . These were the first Summer Olympic Games to take place under the International Olympic Committee ( IOC ) presidency of Thomas Bach . The host city Rio de Janeiro was announced at the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen , Denmark , on 2 October 2009 . Rio became the first South American city ever to host the Olympic Games . These were the first games to be held in a Portuguese-speaking country , the first summer edition to be held entirely in the host country 's winter season , the first since 1968 to be held in Latin America , and the first since 2000 to be held in the Southern Hemisphere . The United States topped the medal table , winning the most gold and overall medals , 46 and 121 , as well as its 1,000th Summer Olympic gold medal overall . Great Britain finished second and became only the second country in modern Olympic history to increase its tally of medals in the Olympiad immediately after it had been host nation . China finished third .
A refugee , generally speaking , is a displaced person who has been forced to cross national boundaries and who can not return home safely ( for more detail see legal definition ) . Such a person may be called an asylum seeker until granted refugee status by the contracting state or the UNHCR if they formally make a claim for asylum . The lead international agency coordinating refugee protection is the United Nations Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ( UNHCR ) . The United Nations have a second Office for refugees , the UNRWA , which is solely responsible for supporting the large majority of Palestinian refugees .
Early modern Olympic Games allowed for individuals in a team to be from different nations . The International Olympic Committee ( IOC ) grouped their results together under the mixed team designation ( IOC code ZZX ) . [ citation needed ] A total of 17 medals were won by mixed teams in the first three modern Games , from 1896 to 1904 . [ citation needed ]
France ( French : [ fʁɑ̃s ] ( listen ) ) , officially the French Republic ( French : République française , pronounced [ ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛːz ] ( listen ) ) , is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories . [ XIII ] The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea , and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean . It is bordered by Belgium , Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast , Switzerland and Italy to the east , and Andorra and Spain to the south . The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic , Pacific and Indian oceans . The country 's 18 integral regions ( five of which are situated overseas ) span a combined area of 643,801 square kilometres ( 248,573 sq mi ) and a total population of 67.02 million ( as of July 2019 [ update ] ) . France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris , the country 's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre . Other major urban areas include Lyon , Marseille , Toulouse , Bordeaux , Lille and Nice . France , including its overseas territories , has the most number of time zones of any country , with a total of 12 . During the Iron Age , what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls , a Celtic people . Rome annexed the area in 51 BC , holding it until the arrival of Germanic Franks in 476 , who formed the Kingdom of Francia . The Treaty of Verdun of 843 partitioned Francia into East Francia , Middle Francia and West Francia . West Francia , which became the Kingdom of France in 987 , emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages , following its victory in the Hundred Years ' War ( 1337-1453 ) .
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland , commonly known as the United Kingdom ( UK or U.K. ) or Britain , [ note 11 ] is a sovereign country located off the north­western coast of the European mainland . Existing under its current name since 1921 , the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain , the north­eastern part of the island of Ireland , and many smaller islands . Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland . Otherwise , the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean , with the North Sea to the east , the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the southwest , giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world . The Irish Sea separates Great Britain and Ireland . The total area of the United Kingdom is 94,000 square miles ( 240,000 km2 ) . The United Kingdom is a unitary parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy . [ note 12 ] The current monarch is Queen Elizabeth II , who has reigned since 1952 , making her the world 's longest-serving current head of state . The United Kingdom 's capital and largest city is London , a global city and financial centre with an urban area population of 10.3 million . Other major cities include Birmingham , Manchester , Glasgow , Leeds and Liverpool . The United Kingdom consists of four constituent countries : England , Scotland , Wales , and Northern Ireland . Their capitals are London , Edinburgh , Cardiff , and Belfast , respectively .