List of IOC country codes
The International Olympic Committee uses three-letter abbreviation country codes to refer to each group of athletes that participate in the Olympic Games. Each geocode usually identifies a National Olympic Committee, 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.
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. However, the codes used at the next few Games were often based on the host nation's language or based on the French name for the nation. 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 at the Paralympic Games requires standardised IOC codes, such as Macau and the Faroe Islands, coded MAC and FRO respectively.
Current NOCs
There are 206 current NOCs 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 |
| ANO | |||
| AMS | |||
| current code from French Autriche | |||
| BAD | |||
| BSH, BOS | |||
| HBR as [|British Honduras] Also BHO | |||
| BHR | |||
| VOL as [|Upper Volta] Also BKF | |||
| AFC | |||
| CHD | |||
| PRC as People's Republic of China | |||
| current code from French Côte d'Ivoire | |||
| CKI | |||
| CVD | |||
| COS | |||
| previous codes taken from Italian Danimarca, French Danemark and Spanish Dinamarca | |||
| DMN | |||
| previous codes taken from Italian Repubblica Araba Unita, French République Arabe Unie and Spanish República Árabe Unida | |||
| SAL | |||
| current code taken from French Espagne or Spanish España | |||
| FIG from Italian Figi | |||
| GUT | |||
| BGU | |||
| , China | HOK | ||
| INS | |||
| current code from Islamic Republic of Iran | |||
| current code taken from French Irlande | |||
| current code taken from French Islande, Icelandic Ísland or Spanish Islandia | |||
| current code taken from French Îles Vierges | |||
| current code taken from French Îles Vierges britanniques | |||
| previous code taken from Italian Corea, French Corée and Spanish Corea | |||
| current code from Kingdom of Saudi Arabia | |||
| LIT | |||
| MAG | |||
| MRC ; current code from French Maroc | |||
| MAL | |||
| MLD | |||
| MON | |||
 North Macedonia | current code taken from Macedonian Македонија/Makedonija | ||
| MAT | |||
| current code taken from Dutch Nederland | |||
| NGR | |||
| current code from People's Republic of Korea | |||
| current code from French Roumanie | |||
| SAF current code from Republic of South Africa | |||
| SGL | |||
| SIN | |||
| SLA | |||
| SMA | |||
| current code from French Suisse | |||
| SIR from Spanish Siria | |||
| TON | |||
| current code taken from Timor Leste | |||
| URG | |||
| NRH as [|Northern Rhodesia] | |||
| RHO as [|Rhodesia] |
Current NPCs
Most National Paralympic Committees 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 |
| , China | Associação Recreativa dos Deficientes de Macau | |
Historic NOCs and teams
Codes still in use
Fourteen historical NOCs or teams have codes that are still used in the IOC results database to refer to past medal winners from these teams.| Code | Nation/Team | Other codes used |
| code from French Antilles hollandaises | ||
| Also AUA | ||
| GER code taken from French Équipe unifiée d'Allemagne | ||
| code from the French Équipe unifiée or Spanish Equipo Unificado | ||
| code FRG taken from Federal Republic of Germany | ||
| ADE from Spanish Alemania Democrática code GDR taken from German Democratic Republic | ||
| code from Serbian Србија и Црна Гора / Srbija i Crna Gora | ||
| code taken from French Tchécoslovaquie | ||
| SOV code from French Union des républiques socialistes soviétiques | ||
Obsolete codes
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