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It was easier to figure out which countries do participate in the Olympics and work backwards from there. On the official International Olympic Committee (IOC) web site, we found lists of all the National Olympic Committees (NOCs). The NOCs are responsible for all Olympic activity in their countries, and only a NOC can select and send athletes to the Olympic Games. Countries without NOCs have no official Olympic presence. Currently, there are 199 NOCs spread over five continents. Once we had a list of who's in, we compared that with a list of all the countries in the world. A previous Ask Yahoo! column led to a convenient list of the
192 countries of the world. That's how we figured out that Afghanistan isn't the only one sitting out the games. The tiny Pacific island nations of Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, and Tuvalu do not have NOCs and aren't currently participating on their own. While the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) has a NOC, the Republic of the Congo doesn't. Vatican City is considered a country, but the Pope doesn't send a contingent to the Olympics. You might have noticed that there are 199 NOCs but only 192 nations (six of which don't participate). When comparing country lists, we found that many "territories" send athletes to the games under their own banner. For example, Puerto Rico and Guam are considered dependent areas of the United States, but each has its own NOC and sends
athletes to the Olympics separately from the U.S. The British Virgin Islands, Hong Kong, and the Netherlands Antilles are other dependent areas with their own NOCs. Also, while the national status of both Palestine and Taiwan is disputed, they do have their own NOCs and Olympic athletes. Afghanistan hasn't always been an Olympic no-show. The country has participated in the Summer Games since 1936, but the IOC banned Afghanistan from the 2000 Olympics, primarily because of the Taliban's restrictions on women. (The Olympic Charter forbids discrimination based on race, religion, politics, or sex.) However, now that the Taliban
is no longer in charge, the IOC may allow Afghanistan to participate in future Olympic Games.
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