National Olympic Committee

A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a group that represents a country in the worldwide Olympic movement. Each country has its own NOC. It works under the guidance of the International Olympic Committee.

NOCs help choose and prepare athletes from their country to compete in the Olympic Games. They also support the growth of sports by helping train coaches and officials. Sometimes, NOCs suggest cities in their country to host future Olympic Games.

National Olympic Committees

As of 2023, there are 206 National Olympic Committees. These include each of the 193 member states of the United Nations, one UN General Assembly observer state (Palestine), two states without UN recognition (Kosovo and Taiwan) and one associated state of New Zealand (the Cook Islands).

There are also nine dependent territories with recognized NOCs: four territories of the United States (American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands), three British Overseas Territories (Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, and the Cayman Islands), one constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Aruba) and one special administrative region of China (Hong Kong).

For those countries and territories that are part of the Commonwealth of Nations, their National Olympic Committees usually also serve as the members of the Commonwealth Games Association. The ANOC members are eligible to enter the Olympic Games. Some National Olympic Committees who are members of a continental Olympic association but not ANOC members compete in continental-level and subregional-level tournaments. These committees, however, are not allowed to participate in the Olympic Games.

The five continental Olympic associations are:

• Africa – Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA)
• America – Pan American Sports Organization (PASO)
• Asia – Olympic Council of Asia (OCA)
• Europe – European Olympic Committees (EOC)
• Oceania – Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC)

The IOC runs the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games as competitions in which all IOC-recognized NOCs can participate. Each continent also runs its own championships for their members:

• ANOCA – African Games
• PASO – Pan American Games and Pan American Winter Games
• OCA – Asian Games and Asian Winter Games
• EOC – European Games
• ONOC – Pacific Games

Listed NOCs