National Olympic Committees (or NOCs) are the national constituents of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, they are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games. They may nominate cities within their respective areas as candidates for future Olympic Games. NOCs also promote the development of athletes and training of coaches and officials at a national level within their geographies.
As of 2008, there are 205 NOCs, representing both sovereign nations and other geographical areas. All 192 United Nations member states have National Olympic Committees, as do 13 other territories:
- Taiwan ROC designated as Chinese Taipei by the IOC
- Palestinian territories, designated as Palestine by the IOC
- Four territories of the United States: American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and United States Virgin Islands (designated just Virgin Islands by the IOC)
- Three British overseas territories: Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, and Cayman Islands
- Two constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands: Aruba and Netherlands Antilles
- Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China
- Cook Islands, an associated state of New Zealand
The NOCs are all members of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), which is also split among five continental associations:
| Continent | Association | NOCs | Oldest NOC | Newest NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Africa | Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa | 53 | Egypt (1910) | Eritrea (1999) |
| America | Pan American Sports Organization | 42 | United States (1894) | Dominica (1993) Saint Kitts and Nevis (1993) Saint Lucia (1993) |
|
| Asia | Olympic Council of Asia | 44[1] | Japan (1912) | Timor-Leste (2003) | |
| Europe | European Olympic Committees | 49 | France (1894) | Montenegro (2007) | |
| Oceania | Oceania National Olympic Committees | 17 | Australia (1895) | Tuvalu (2007) | |
See the article for each continental association for the complete lists of all NOCs.
List of NOCs by recognition date
Below is a chronological list of the 205 NOCs recognized by the International Olympic Committee, since its foundation in 1894. Many of these committees were founded many years before their official recognition, while others were immediately accepted after being founded. Former states, nowadays non-extant (e.g. Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, etc.), are not listed, only the current states derived from them.
Unrecognized National Olympic Committee
Macau Sports and Olympic Committee: Founded in 1987, and has attempted to enroll to the IOC since its foundation, but still not officially recognized and thus no athlete has participated in the Olympic Games under the name "Macau, China". The Faroe Islands compete in the Paralympic Games, but have yet to participate in the Olympics themselves.
Other existing NOCs unrecognized by the IOC include Catalan[3], British Gilbraltar[4], French Polynesia[5], Niue[6], Kosovo[7], Somaliland[1] Iraqi Kurdistan [8], and Abkhazia [9].
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: National Olympic Committees |
- "National Olympic Committees". International Olympic Committee. http://www.olympic.org/uk/organisation/noc/index_uk.asp. Retrieved 2008-01-21.
- Association of National Olympic Committees website
- ^ The OCA includes 45 NOCs; the Macau Sports and Olympic Committee is not recognized by the IOC and Macau does not compete at the Olympic Games.
- ^ The Olympic Committee of Serbia
- ^ Freedom for Catalonia?: Catalan Nationalism, Spanish Identity and the Barcelona Olympic Games (Cambridge Cultural Social Sciences) (9780521586153): John Hargreaves: Books. Amazon.com. Retrieved on 2009-10-24.
- ^ http://www.the-rock-of-gibraltar.com/Gibraltar-Olympic-Committee/
- ^ Article: Miss Tahiti 2003 stripped of her title. | AccessMyLibrary - Promoting library advocacy. AccessMyLibrary (2005-06-03). Retrieved on 2009-10-24.
- ^ SportingPulse Homepage for Niue Island Sports Association and National Olympic Committee. Sportingpulse.com. Retrieved on 2009-10-24.
- ^ Olympic Committee of Kosovo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. En.wikipedia.org (2009-08-29). Retrieved on 2009-10-24.
- ^ http://www.sportcountries.org/fileadmin/user_upload/documents/conference_2008/INSCRITS_DEFINITIU.pdf
- ^ The ABC Republic: Abkhazia Attempts to Invent Itself - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International. Spiegel.de. Retrieved on 2009-10-24.
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