The flag of the international Olympic movement

The flag of the international Paralympic movement

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) uses three-letter abbreviation country codes^[1] to refer to each group of athletes that participate in the Olympic Games. Each geocode usually identifies a National Olympic Committee (NOC), but there are several codes that have been used for other instances in past Games, such as teams composed of athletes from multiple nations, or groups of athletes not formally representing any nation.

Several of the IOC codes are different from the standard ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 codes. Other sporting organisations like FIFA use similar country codes to refer to their respective teams, but with some differences. Still others, such as the Commonwealth Games Federation or Association of Tennis Professionals, use the IOC list verbatim.

Because French is the first reference language of the IOC, followed by English, followed by the host country's language when necessary, most IOC codes have their origins from French or English.^[2][3]

History

The 1956 Winter Olympics and 1960 Summer Olympics were the first Games to feature Initials of Nations to refer to each NOC in the published official reports.^[4] However, the codes used at the next few Games were often based on the host nation's language (e.g., GIA for Japan at the 1956 Winter Olympics and 1960 Summer Olympics, both held in Italy, from Italian Giappone) or based on the French name for the nation (e.g., AUT for Austria, from Autriche). By the 1972 Winter Olympics, most codes were standardized on the current usage, but several have changed in recent years. Additionally, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, division and unification of Germany, breakup of Yugoslavia, dissolution of Czechoslovakia, and several other instances of geographical renaming have all resulted in code changes.

In addition to this list of over 200 NOCs, the participation of National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) at the Paralympic Games requires standardised IOC codes, such as Macau (or as "Macau, China" since 1999) and the Faroe Islands, coded MAC and FRO respectively.^[5][6]

Current NOCs

There are 206 current NOCs (National Olympic Committees) within the Olympic Movement. The following tables show the currently used code for each NOC and any different codes used in past Games, per the official reports from those Games. Some of the past code usage is further explained in the following sections. Codes used specifically for a Summer Games only or a Winter Games only, within the same year, are indicated by "S" and "W" respectively.

Code	National Olympic Committee	Other codes used	Link
AFG	Afghanistan		[1]
ALB	Albania		[2]
ALG	Algeria	AGR (1964) AGL (1968 S) from Spanish Argelia	[3]
AND	Andorra		[4]
ANG	Angola	ANO (As referenced in IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015 Statistics Handbook)[7]	[5]
ANT	Antigua and Barbuda		[6]
ARG	Argentina		[7]
ARM	Armenia		[8]
ARU	Aruba		[9]
ASA	American Samoa	AMS[7]	[10]
AUS	Australia		[11]
AUT	Austria	current code from French Autriche	[12]
AZE	Azerbaijan		[13]
BAH	Bahamas		[14]
BAN	Bangladesh		[15]
BAR	Barbados	BAD (1964)	[16]
BDI	Burundi		[17]
BEL	Belgium		[18]
BEN	Benin	DAY (1964) DAH (1968–1976) as Dahomey	[19]
BER	Bermuda		[20]
BHU	Bhutan		[21]
BIH	Bosnia and Herzegovina	BSH (1992 S), BOS[7] current code from Bosnian Bosna i Hercegovina	[22]
BIZ	Belize	HBR (1968–1972) from French Honduras britannique as British Honduras Also BHO[7]	[23]
BLR	Belarus		[24]
BOL	Bolivia		[25]
BOT	Botswana		[26]
BRA	Brazil		[27]
BRN	Bahrain	BHR[7]	[28]
BRU	Brunei		[29]
BUL	Bulgaria		[30]
BUR	Burkina Faso	VOL (1972–1984) as Upper Volta Also BKF[7]	[31]
CAF	Central African Republic	AFC (1968)	[32]
CAM	Cambodia	CAB (1964) KHM (1972) as Khmer Republic	[33]
CAN	Canada		[34]
CAY	Cayman Islands		[35]
CGO	Republic of the Congo		[36]
CHA	Chad	CHD (1964)	[37]
CHI	Chile	CIL (1956 W 1960 S) from Italian Cile	[38]
CHN	China	PRC (1952 S) as People's Republic of China	[39]
CIV	Ivory Coast	IVC (1964) CML (1968) from Spanish Costa de Marfil current code from French Côte d'Ivoire	[40]
CMR	Cameroon		[41]
COD	Democratic Republic of the Congo	COK (1968) as Congo-Kinshasa ZAI (1972–1996) as Zaire	[42]
COK	Cook Islands	CKI[7]	[43]
COL	Colombia		[44]
COM	Comoros		[45]
CPV	Cape Verde	CVD[7]	[46]
CRC	Costa Rica	COS (1964)	[47]
CRO	Croatia		[48]
CUB	Cuba		[49]
CYP	Cyprus		[50]
CZE	Czechia		[51]
DEN	Denmark	DAN (1960 S 1968 W) DIN (1968 S) previous codes taken from Italian Danimarca, French Danemark and Spanish Dinamarca	[52]
DJI	Djibouti		[53]
DMA	Dominica	DMN[7]	[54]
DOM	Dominican Republic		[55]
ECU	Ecuador		[56]
EGY	Egypt	RAU (1960 1968) UAR (1964) as United Arab Republic previous codes taken from Italian Repubblica Araba Unita, French République Arabe Unie and Spanish República Árabe Unida	[57]
ERI	Eritrea		[58]
ESA	El Salvador	SAL (1964–1976)	[59]
ESP	Spain	SPA (1956–1964 1968 W) current code taken from French Espagne or Spanish España	[60]
EST	Estonia		[61]
ETH	Ethiopia	ETI (1960 1968)	[62]
FIJ	Fiji	FIG (1960) from Italian Figi	[63]
FIN	Finland		[64]
FRA	France		[65]
FSM	Federated States of Micronesia		[66]
GAB	Gabon		[67]
GAM	The Gambia		[68]
GBR	Great Britain	GRB (1956 W–1960) GBI (1964)	[69]
GBS	Guinea-Bissau		[70]
GEO	Georgia		[71]
GEQ	Equatorial Guinea		[72]
GER	Germany		[73]
GHA	Ghana		[74]
GRE	Greece		[75]
GRN	Grenada		[76]
GUA	Guatemala	GUT (1964)	[77]
GUI	Guinea		[78]
GUM	Guam		[79]
GUY	Guyana	GUA (1960) GUI (1964) BGU[7]	[80]
HAI	Haiti		[81]
HKG	Hong Kong, China	HOK (1960–1968)	[82]
HON	Honduras		[83]
HUN	Hungary	UNG (1956 W 1960 S) from Italian Ungheria	[84]
INA	Indonesia	INS (1960)	[85]
IND	India		[86]
IRI	Iran	IRN (1956–1988) IRA (1968 W) current code from Islamic Republic of Iran	[87]
IRL	Ireland	current code taken from French Irlande	[88]
IRQ	Iraq	IRK (1960 1968) from French/Spanish Irak	[89]
ISL	Iceland	ICE (1960 W 1964 S) current code taken from French Islande, Icelandic Ísland or Spanish Islandia	[90]
ISR	Israel		[91]
ISV	Virgin Islands	current code taken from French Îles Vierges (des États-Unis)	[92]
ITA	Italy		[93]
IVB	British Virgin Islands	current code taken from French Îles Vierges britanniques	[94]
JAM	Jamaica		[95]
JOR	Jordan		[96]
JPN	Japan	GIA (1956 W 1960 S) from Italian Giappone JAP (1960 W)	[97]
KAZ	Kazakhstan		[98]
KEN	Kenya		[99]
KGZ	Kyrgyzstan		[100]
KIR	Kiribati		[101]
KOR	South Korea	COR (1956 W 1960 S 1968 S 1972 S) previous code taken from Italian Corea, French Corée and Spanish Corea	[102]
KOS	Kosovo		[103]
KSA	Saudi Arabia	ARS (1968–1976) from French Arabie saoudite SAU (1980–1984) current code from Kingdom of Saudi Arabia	[104]
KUW	Kuwait		[105]
LAO	Laos		[106]
LAT	Latvia		[107]
LBA	Libya	LYA (1964) LBY (1968 W)	[108]
LBN	Lebanon	LEB (1960 W 1964 S) LIB (1964–2016) from French Liban	[109]
LBR	Liberia		[110]
LCA	Saint Lucia		[111]
LES	Lesotho		[112]
LIE	Liechtenstein	LIC (1956 W 1964 S 1968 W)	[113]
LTU	Lithuania	LIT (1992 W)	[114]
LUX	Luxembourg		[115]
MAD	Madagascar	MAG (1964)	[116]
MAR	Morocco	MRC (1964); current code from French Maroc	[117]
MAS	Malaysia	MAL (1964–1988)	[118]
MAW	Malawi		[119]
MDA	Moldova	MLD (1994)	[120]
MDV	Maldives		[121]
MEX	Mexico		[122]
MGL	Mongolia	MON (1968 W)	[123]
MHL	Marshall Islands		[124]
MKD	North Macedonia	current code taken from Macedonian Македонија/Makedonija	[125]
MLI	Mali		[126]
MLT	Malta	MAT (1960–1964)	[127]
MNE	Montenegro		[128]
MON	Monaco		[129]
MOZ	Mozambique		[130]
MRI	Mauritius	From French Maurice	[131]
MTN	Mauritania		[132]
MYA	Myanmar	BIR (1948–1960 1968–1988) from French Birmanie BUR (1964) as Burma	[133]
NAM	Namibia		[134]
NCA	Nicaragua	NCG (1964) NIC (1968)	[135]
NED	Netherlands	OLA (1956 W) from Italian Olanda NET (1960 W) PBA (1960 S) from Italian Paesi Bassi NLD (1964 S) HOL (1968–1988) as Holland current code taken from Dutch Nederland	[136]
NEP	Nepal		[137]
NGR	Nigeria	NIG (1960 S) NGA (1964)	[138]
NIG	Niger	NGR (1964)	[139]
NOR	Norway		[140]
NRU	Nauru		[141]
NZL	New Zealand	NZE (1960 1968 W)	[142]
OMA	Oman		[143]
PAK	Pakistan		[144]
PAN	Panama		[145]
PAR	Paraguay		[146]
PER	Peru		[147]
PHI	Philippines	FIL (1960 1968) from Italian Filippine and Spanish Filipinas	[148]
PLE	Palestine		[149]
PLW	Palau		[150]
PNG	Papua New Guinea	NGY (1976–1980) NGU (1984–1988)	[151]
POL	Poland		[152]
POR	Portugal		[153]
PRK	North Korea	NKO (1964 S 1968 W) CDN (1968) from French Corée du Nord or Spanish Corea del Norte current code from People's Republic of Korea	[154]
PUR	Puerto Rico	PRI (1960) PRO (1968)	[155]
QAT	Qatar		[156]
ROU	Romania	ROM (1956–1960 1972–2006) RUM (1964–1968) from obsolete spelling Rumania current code from French Roumanie	[157]
RSA	South Africa	SAF (1960–1972) current code from Republic of South Africa	[158]
RUS	Russia	From 1994 to 2016	[159]
RWA	Rwanda		[160]
SAM	Samoa	WSM (1984–1996) as Western Samoa	[161]
SEN	Senegal	SGL (1964)	[162]
SEY	Seychelles		[163]
SGP	Singapore	SIN (1959–2016)	[164]
SKN	Saint Kitts and Nevis		[165]
SLE	Sierra Leone	SLA (1968)	[166]
SLO	Slovenia		[167]
SMR	San Marino	SMA (1960–1964)	[168]
SOL	Solomon Islands		[169]
SOM	Somalia		[170]
SRB	Serbia		[171]
SRI	Sri Lanka	CEY (1948–1964 1972) as Ceylon CEI (1968 S) from Spanish Ceilán	[172]
SSD	South Sudan		[173]
STP	São Tomé and Príncipe		[174]
SUD	Sudan		[175]
SUI	Switzerland	SVI (1956 W 1960 S) from Italian Svizzera SWI (1960 W 1964 S) current code from French Suisse	[176]
SUR	Suriname		[177]
SVK	Slovakia		[178]
SWE	Sweden	SVE (1956 W 1960 S) from Italian Svezia SUE (1968 S) from Spanish Suecia	[179]
SWZ	Eswatini	current code from former name Swaziland	[180]
SYR	Syria	SIR (1968) from Spanish Siria	[181]
TAN	Tanzania		[182]
TGA	Tonga	TON (1984)	[183]
THA	Thailand		[184]
TJK	Tajikistan		[185]
TKM	Turkmenistan		[186]
TLS	Timor-Leste	current code taken from Portuguese Timor-Leste	[187]
TOG	Togo		[188]
TPE	Chinese Taipei[8]	RCF (1956–1960) as Republic of China, Formosa TWN (1964–1968) as Taiwan ROC (1972–1976) as Republic of China	[189]
TTO	Trinidad and Tobago	TRT (1964–1968) TRI (1972–2012)	[190]
TUN	Tunisia		[191]
TUR	Turkey		[192]
TUV	Tuvalu		[193]
UAE	United Arab Emirates		[194]
UGA	Uganda		[195]
UKR	Ukraine		[196]
URU	Uruguay	URG (1968)	[197]
USA	United States	SUA (1960 S) from Italian Stati Uniti d'America EUA (1968 S) from French États-Unis d'Amérique or Spanish Estados Unidos de América	[198]
UZB	Uzbekistan		[199]
VAN	Vanuatu		[200]
VEN	Venezuela		[201]
VIE	Vietnam	VET (1964) VNM (1968–1976)	[202]
VIN	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines		[203]
YEM	Yemen		[204]
ZAM	Zambia	NRH (1964) as Northern Rhodesia	[205]
ZIM	Zimbabwe	RHO (1960–1972) as Rhodesia	[206]

Current NPCs

Most National Paralympic Committees (NPC) cover a territory with an active NOC. In these cases the NPC codes matches the IOC codes shown above. The two current NPCs without a corresponding NOC use the following NPC codes.

Code	National Paralympic Committee	Link
MAC	Macau, China	Associação Recreativa dos Deficientes de Macau
FRO	Faroe Islands	The Faroese Sport Organisation for Disabled

Historic NOCs and teams

Codes still in use

Fourteen historical NOCs or teams have codes that are still used in the IOC results database^[9] to refer to past medal winners from these teams.

Code	Nation/Team	Other codes used
AHO	Netherlands Antilles	ATO (1960) NAN (1964) code from French Antilles hollandaises
ANZ	Australasia	Also AUA[7]
BOH	Bohemia
BWI	British West Indies	ANT (1960 1968) from Antilles WID (1964)
EUA	United Team of Germany	GER (1956–1964) code taken from French Équipe unifiée d'Allemagne
EUN	Unified Team	code from the French Équipe unifiée or Spanish Equipo Unificado
FRG	West Germany	ALL (1968 W) from French Allemagne ALE (1968 S) from Spanish Alemania GER (1972–1976) code FRG taken from Federal Republic of Germany
GDR	East Germany	ADE (1968) from Spanish Alemania Democrática code GDR taken from German Democratic Republic
RU1	Russian Empire
SCG	Serbia and Montenegro	code from Serbian Србија и Црна Гора / Srbija i Crna Gora
TCH	Czechoslovakia	CSL (1956 W) CZE (1960 W) CSV (1960 S) CZS (1964 S) CHE (1968 S) from Spanish Checoslovaquia code taken from French Tchécoslovaquie
URS	Soviet Union	SOV (1968 W) code from French Union des républiques socialistes soviétiques (URSS)
VNM	South Vietnam	Code of Republic of Vietnam from 1955 to 1975.[citation needed][10]
YUG	Yugoslavia	JUG (1956–1960 1968 W) from Југославија/Jugoslavija in native languages YUS (1964 S)
ZZX	Mixed team

Obsolete codes

Unlike the previous list, these codes no longer appear in the IOC results database. When a past athlete from one of these teams has won a medal, the new code is shown next to them instead.

Code	Nation (NOC)	Years	Notes
BIR	Burma From French Birmanie	1948–1988	Now  Myanmar (MYA)
CEY	Ceylon From French Ceylan	1948–1972	Now  Sri Lanka (SRI)
DAH	Dahomey	1964–1976	Now  Benin (BEN)
GUI	British Guiana	1948–1964	Now  Guyana (GUY). The code former GUI has been reassigned to  Guinea (GUI) in 1965 when its new NOC was recognized by the IOC and used publicly in their first competed games in 1968. All formerly known by BGU[7]
HBR	British Honduras From French Honduras britannique	1968–1972	Now  Belize (BIZ)
IHO	Dutch East Indies code from French Indes orientales hollandaises	1934–1938	Now  Indonesia (INA)
KHM	Khmer Republic From French République khmère	1972	Now  Cambodia (CAM)
MAL	Malaysia From French Malaisie	1956–1960	Competed independently before the formation of Malaysia in 1963. Now  Malaysia (MAS)
NBO	North Borneo	1956
NRH	Northern Rhodesia	1964	Now  Zambia (ZAM)
RAU	United Arab Republic code from French République arabe unie	1960	Now  Egypt (EGY) and  Syria (SYR)
RHO	Rhodesia also Southern Rhodesia and Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland until it became Zimbabwe in 1980	1960–1972	Now  Zimbabwe (ZIM)
ROC	Republic of China	1932–1976	Medal winners from 1948 and earlier display as  China (CHN), while medal winners from after 1948 display as  Chinese Taipei (TPE) under which the team now competes.
SAA	Saar	1952	Competed independently before rejoining  West Germany (FRG) in 1957
UAR	United Arab Republic	1964–1968	Now  Egypt (EGY)
VOL	Upper Volta	1972–1984	Now  Burkina Faso (BUR)
WSM	Western Samoa	1984–1996	Now  Samoa (SAM)
YAR	North Yemen code from Yemen Arab Republic	1984–1988	Competed independently before Yemeni unification in 1990. Now  Yemen (YEM)
YMD	South Yemen code from Yemen Democratic Republic	1988
ZAI	Zaire From French Zaïre	1972–1996	Now  Democratic Republic of the Congo (COD)

Two other significant code changes have occurred, both because of a change in the nation's designation as used by the IOC:

• HOL was changed to NED for the Netherlands for the 1992 Games, reflecting the change in designation from Holland.
• IRN was changed to IRI for Iran for the 1992 Games, reflecting the change in designation to Islamic Republic of Iran.

Special codes for Olympics

Code	Nation/team	Years	Notes
ANZ	Australasia	1908–1912	Used in the IOC's medal database[9] to identify the team from Australasia, composed of athletes from both Australia and New Zealand for the 1908 and 1912 Games. Both nations competed separately by 1920.
COR	Korea from French Corée	2018	Used for the unified Korean women's ice hockey team at the 2018 Winter Olympics.[11]
EOR	Refugee Olympic Team from French Équipe olympique des réfugiés	2020	Used for the IOC Refugee Olympic Team at the 2020 Summer Olympics for athletes to compete who have been displaced from their home countries. The IOC code was changed from ROT which was used in 2016.
EUA	United Team of Germany from French Équipe unifiée d'Allemagne	1956–1964	Used in the IOC's medal database[9] 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. The team was simply known as Germany in the official reports for those six games at the time.
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 that chose to compete as a unified team. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were able to compete again as independent teams in 1992, whereas Russia and eleven other post-Soviet 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,[12] a designation used for athletes from Timor-Leste before the formation of its NOC. IOA was used again in the 2012 Games, when it stood for Independent Olympic Athletes,[13] 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 had not yet formed an NOC at the time. IOA was used again in 2016 for athletes from Kuwait as a result of the suspension of its National Olympic Committee.[14]
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 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–	Used as the country code for Mixed NOCs at the Youth Olympics.[15][16]
OAR	Olympic Athletes from Russia	2018	Used for Olympic Athletes from Russia competing as neutral athletes due to the state-sponsored doping scandal.[17]
ROC	ROC from the abbreviation for Russian Olympic Committee	2020–	Used for Russian Olympic Committee athletes at the 2020 Summer Olympics and 2022 Winter Olympics following the sanctions due to the state-sponsored doping scandal.[18][19]
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.[20]
ZZX	Mixed team	1896–1904	Used in the IOC's medal database[9] 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.

Special codes for Paralympics

Code	Nation/Team	Years	Notes
IPP	Independent Paralympic Participants	1992	Used for Independent Paralympic Participants at the 1992 Summer Paralympics as a designation used for athletes from FR Yugoslavia and Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia who could not compete as a team due to United Nations sanctions.
IPA	Individual Paralympic Athletes	2000	De facto independent East Timor was not yet recognised as a sovereign state, and did not have a recognised National Paralympic Committee. Two athletes from the country gained the opportunity to in the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, but they competed officially as Individual Paralympic Athletes, rather than as representatives of an NPC.
IPA	Independent Paralympic Athletes	2016	A team consisting of refugee and asylee Paralympic athletes competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro as Independent Paralympic Athletes.
NPA	Neutral Paralympic Athletes	2018	Used in 2018 for Russian athletes competing as neutral athletes due to the state-sponsored doping scandal. Was to be used in 2022 for Russian athletes competing as neutral athletes due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine,[21] however the Russian athletes were ultimately banned before the start of the 2022 Games.
PNA	Paralympic Neutral Athletes	—	Was to be used for Belarusian athletes competing as neutral athletes due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine,[21] however the Belarusian athletes were ultimately banned before the start of the 2022 Winter Paralympics and the code was not used.
RPC	RPC from the abbreviation for Russian Paralympic Committee	2020	Used for Russian Paralympic Committee athletes at the 2020 Summer Paralympics following the sanctions due to the state-sponsored doping scandal. Was to be used in 2022 as well, however the Russian athletes were ultimately banned due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
RPT	Refugee Paralympic Team	2020

Special codes for World Games

The World Games are a multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. The World Games are governed by the International World Games Association, under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee.

Code	Nation/Team	Years	Notes
HNL[22]	Iroquois	2022	The Haudenosaunee Nationals (also known as the Iroquois), who invented the sport of lacrosse and which has spiritual significance to them, were initially denied a spot to compete at the 2022 World Games, despite the Haudenosaunee national team's placement at the 2018 World Lacrosse Championship, due to not having a recognized NOC and issues concerning other countries recognizing sovereignty; they were given a spot to compete after Ireland agreed to drop out of competition in a show of solidarity.[23][24][25]