List of IOC country codes

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 code 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, such as 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.

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.^[2] 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., COR for Korea, from Corée). 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 and the Faroe Islands, coded MAC and FRO respectively.^[3][4]

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	Link	Nation (NOC)	Other codes used
AFG		Afghanistan
ALB		Albania
ALG		Algeria	AGR (1964), AGL (1968 S)
AND		Andorra
ANG		Angola
ANT		Antigua and Barbuda
ARG		Argentina
ARM		Armenia
ARU		Aruba
ASA		American Samoa
AUS		Australia
AUT		Austria
AZE		Azerbaijan
BAH		Bahamas
BAN		Bangladesh
BAR		Barbados	BAD (1964)
BDI		Burundi
BEL		Belgium
BEN		Benin	DAY (1964), DAH (1968–1976)
BER		Bermuda
BHU		Bhutan
BIH		Bosnia and Herzegovina	BSH (1992 S)
BIZ		Belize	HBR (1968–1972)
BLR		Belarus
BOL		Bolivia
BOT		Botswana
BRA		Brazil
BRN		Bahrain
BRU		Brunei
BUL		Bulgaria
BUR		Burkina Faso	VOL (1972–1984)
CAF		Central African Republic	AFC (1968)
CAM		Cambodia	CAB (1964), KHM (1972–1976)
CAN		Canada
CAY		Cayman Islands
CGO		Congo
CHA		Chad	CHD (1964)
CHI		Chile	CIL (1956 W, 1960 S)
CHN		China
CIV		Ivory Coast	IVC (1964), CML (1968)
CMR		Cameroon
COD		DR Congo	COK (1968), ZAI (1972–1996)
COK		Cook Islands
COL		Colombia
COM		Comoros
CPV		Cape Verde
CRC		Costa Rica	COS (1964)
CRO		Croatia
CUB		Cuba
CYP		Cyprus
CZE		Czech Republic	TCH (1984)
DEN		Denmark	DAN (1960 S, 1968 W), DIN (1968 S)
DJI		Djibouti
DMA		Dominica
DOM		Dominican Republic
ECU		Ecuador
EGY		Egypt	RAU (1960, 1968), UAR (1964)
ERI		Eritrea
ESA		El Salvador	SAL (1964–1976)
ESP		Spain	SPA (1956–1964, 1968 W)
EST		Estonia
ETH		Ethiopia	ETI (1960, 1968)
FIJ		Fiji	FIG (1960)
FIN		Finland
FRA		France
FSM		Federated States of Micronesia
GAB		Gabon
GAM		The Gambia
GBR		Great Britain	GRB (1956 W–1960), GBI (1964)
GBS		Guinea-Bissau
GEO		Georgia
GEQ		Equatorial Guinea
GER		Germany	ALL (1968 W), ALE (1968 S)
GHA		Ghana
GRE		Greece
GRN		Grenada
GUA		Guatemala	GUT (1964)
GUI		Guinea
GUM		Guam
GUY		Guyana	GUA (1960), GUI (1964)
HAI		Haiti
HKG		Hong Kong	HOK (1960–1968)
HON		Honduras
HUN		Hungary	UNG (1956 W, 1960 S)
INA		Indonesia	INS (1960)
IND		India
IRI		Iran	IRN (1956–1988), IRA (1968 W)
IRL		Ireland
IRQ		Iraq	IRK (1960, 1968)
ISL		Iceland	ICE (1960 W, 1964 S)
ISR		Israel	ISL
ISV		Virgin Islands
ITA		Italy
IVB		British Virgin Islands
JAM		Jamaica
JOR		Jordan
JPN		Japan	GIA (1956 W, 1960 S), JAP (1960 W)
KAZ		Kazakhstan
KEN		Kenya
KGZ		Kyrgyzstan
KIR		Kiribati
KOR		South Korea	COR (1956 W, 1960 S, 1968 S, 1972 S)
KOS		Kosovo
KSA		Saudi Arabia	ARS (1968–1976), SAU (1980–1984)
KUW		Kuwait
LAO		Laos
LAT		Latvia
LBA		Libya	LYA (1964), LBY (1968 W)
LBR		Liberia
LCA		Saint Lucia
LES		Lesotho
LIB		Lebanon	LEB (1960 W, 1964 S)
LIE		Liechtenstein	LIC (1956 W, 1964 S, 1968 W)
LTU		Lithuania	LIT (1992 W)
LUX		Luxembourg
MAD		Madagascar	MAG (1964)
MAR		Morocco	MRC (1964)
MAS		Malaysia	MAL (1964–1988)
MAW		Malawi
MDA		Moldova	MLD (1994)
MDV		Maldives
MEX		Mexico
MGL		Mongolia	MON (1968 W)
MHL		Marshall Islands
MKD		Macedonia
MLI		Mali
MLT		Malta	MAT (1960–1964)
MNE		Montenegro
MON		Monaco
MOZ		Mozambique
MRI		Mauritius
MTN		Mauritania
MYA		Myanmar	BIR (1960, 1968–1988), BUR (1964)
NAM		Namibia
NCA		Nicaragua	NCG (1964), NIC (1968)
NED		Netherlands	OLA (1956 W), NET (1960 W), PBA (1960 S), NLD (1964 S), HOL (1968–1988)
NEP		Nepal
NGR		Nigeria	NIG (1960 S), NGA (1964)
NIG		Niger	NGR (1964)
NOR		Norway
NRU		Nauru
NZL		New Zealand	NZE (1960, 1968 W)
OMA		Oman
PAK		Pakistan
PAN		Panama
PAR		Paraguay
PER		Peru
PHI		Philippines	FIL (1960, 1968)
PLE		Palestine
PLW		Palau
PNG		Papua New Guinea	NGY (1976–1980), NGU (1984–1988)
POL		Poland
POR		Portugal
PRK		North Korea	NKO (1964 S, 1968 W), CDN (1968)
PUR		Puerto Rico	PRI (1960), PRO (1968)
QAT		Qatar
ROU		Romania	ROM (1956–1960, 1972–2006), RUM (1964–1968)
RSA		South Africa	SAF (1960–1972)
RUS		Russia
RWA		Rwanda
SAM		Samoa
SEN		Senegal	SGL (1964)
SEY		Seychelles
SIN		Singapore
SKN		Saint Kitts and Nevis
SLE		Sierra Leone	SLA (1968)
SLO		Slovenia
SMR		San Marino	SMA (1960–1964)
SOL		Solomon Islands
SOM		Somalia
SRB		Serbia
SRI		Sri Lanka	CEY (1960-1964, 1972), CEI (1968 S)
SSD		South Sudan
STP		São Tomé and Príncipe
SUD		Sudan
SUI		Switzerland	SVI (1956 W, 1960 S), SWI (1960 W, 1964 S)
SUR		Suriname
SVK		Slovakia
SWE		Sweden	SVE (1956 W, 1960 S), SUE (1968 S)
SWZ		Swaziland
SYR		Syria	RAU (1960), SIR (1968)
TAN		Tanzania
TGA		Tonga	TON (1984)
THA		Thailand
TJK		Tajikistan
TKM		Turkmenistan
TLS		Timor-Leste	IOA (Individual Olympic Athletes, 2000)
TOG		Togo
TPE		Chinese Taipei[5]	RCF (1960), TWN (1964–1968), ROC (1972–1976)
TTO		Trinidad and Tobago	TRT (1964–1968) TRI (1972–2012)
TUN		Tunisia
TUR		Turkey
TUV		Tuvalu
UAE		United Arab Emirates
UGA		Uganda
UKR		Ukraine
URU		Uruguay	URG (1968)
USA		United States	SUA (1960 S), EUA (1968 S)
UZB		Uzbekistan
VAN		Vanuatu
VEN		Venezuela
VIE		Vietnam	VET (1964), VNM (1968–1976)
VIN		Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
YEM		Yemen
ZAM		Zambia	NRH (1964)
ZIM		Zimbabwe	RHO (1960–1972)

Historic NOCs and teams

Codes still in use

Fourteen historical NOCs or teams have codes that are still used in the IOC results database^[6] to refer to past medal winners from these teams.

Code	Nation/Team	Other codes used
AHO	Netherlands Antilles
ANZ	Australasia
BOH	Bohemia
BWI	British West Indies	ANT (1960, 1968), WID (1964)
EUA	United Team of Germany	GER (1956–1964)
EUN	Unified Team
FRG	West Germany	ALL (1968 W), ALE (1968 S), GER (1972–1976)
GDR	East Germany	ADE (1968)
RU1	Russian Empire
SCG	Serbia and Montenegro	YUG (1996 S-2002 W)
TCH	Czechoslovakia	CSL (1956 W), CZE (1960 W), CSV (1960 S), CZS (1964 S), CHE (1968 S)
URS	Soviet Union	SOV (1968 W)
YUG	Yugoslavia	JUG (1956–1960, 1968 W), YUS (1964 S)
ZZX	Mixed teams

Obsolete codes

Code	Nation (NOC)	Years	Notes
BIR	Burma	1948–1988	Now  Myanmar (MYA)
CEY	Ceylon	1948–1972	Now  Sri Lanka (SRI)
DAH	Dahomey	1964–1976	Now  Benin (BEN)
GUI	British Guiana	1948–1964	Now  Guyana (GUY)
HBR	British Honduras	1968–1972	Now  Belize (BIZ)
KHM	Khmer Republic	1972–1976	Now  Cambodia (CAM)
MAL	Malaya	1956–1960	Competed independently prior to the formation of Malaysia in 1963. Now  Malaysia (MAS)
NBO	North Borneo	1956
NRH	Northern Rhodesia	1964	Now  Zambia (ZAM)
RAU	United Arab Republic	1960	Now  Egypt (EGY) and  Syria (SYR)
RHO	Rhodesia	1960–1972	Now  Zimbabwe (ZIM)
ROC	Republic of China	1932–1976	Now competing under the name ' Chinese Taipei (TPE)'
SAA	Saar	1952	Competed independently prior to rejoining  West Germany (FRG) in 1957.
UAR	United Arab Republic	1964–1968	Now  Egypt (EGY)
VOL	Upper Volta	1972–1984	Now  Burkina Faso (BUR)
YAR	North Yemen	1984–1988	Competed independently prior to Yemeni unification in 1990. Now  Yemen (YEM)
YMD	South Yemen	1988
ZAI	Zaire	1972–1996	Now  DR Congo (COD)
——	Gold Coast	1952	Now  Ghana (GHA)

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

• ANZ is now used in the IOC's medal database^[6] 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.
• EUA is now used in the IOC's medal database^[6] 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 was 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 was used for Independent Olympic Participants in 1992, a designation used for athletes from Yugoslavia who could not compete as a team due to United Nations sanctions. IOP was also used during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi by Indian athletes due to the Indian Olympic Association suspension.
• IOA was used for Individual Olympic Athletes in 2000, 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, 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.
• IOC was used as the country code for Athletes from Kuwait at the 2010 Asian Games, as the Kuwait Olympic Committee was suspended.
• MIX is used as the country code for Mixed NOCs at the Youth Olympics.^[7]
• ZZX is used 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.

See also

• Comparison of IOC, FIFA, and ISO 3166 country codes
• List of FIFA country codes
• Lists of National Olympic Committees by continental association:
  • Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa
  • European Olympic Committees
  • Oceania National Olympic Committees
  • Olympic Council of Asia
  • Pan American Sports Organization
• List of participating nations at the Summer Olympic Games
• List of participating nations at the Winter Olympic Games

References

1. http://www.olympic.org/Documents/Commissions_PDFfiles/Olympic_Solidarity/2011_report_Moving_Forward.pdf
2. Mallon, Bill; Ove Karlsson (May 2004). "IOC and OCOG Abbreviations for NOCs" (PDF). Journal of Olympic History 12 (2): 25–28. Retrieved 2008-02-08.
3. Faroe Islands
4. Macau, China
5. Official name given to the Republic of China for Olympic competition
6. "Olympic Medal Winners". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 2008-02-08.
7. "Mixed NOCs".

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