Summer Olympics host countries
The 19 countries that have hosted the Summer Olympic Games, from Greece in 1896 to France in 2024, with the United States the most often and Africa still waiting for its first.
19 countriesAs of September 2026Short notes, not sourcedSuggest a correction
The modern Olympics began in Athens in 1896, revived by the French educator Pierre de Coubertin, and have been held every four years since, except in 1916, 1940 and 1944, when war cancelled them, and 2020, when the pandemic pushed Tokyo’s Games back a year. The International Olympic Committee awards them to a city, not a country, usually seven years ahead.
Until 1964 they were held only in Europe, the United States and, once, Australia. Tokyo in 1964 was the first in Asia and Mexico City in 1968 the first in Latin America. Rio de Janeiro in 2016 was the first in South America, and Africa has never hosted.
Europe11
GreeceAthens held the first modern Games in 1896, and again in 2004.
FranceParis hosted in 1900, 1924 and 2024, the second city to host three times.
United KingdomLondon hosted in 1908, 1948 and 2012, the first city to host three times.
SwedenStockholm hosted in 1912, and the horse-riding events of 1956, which Australia’s quarantine rules kept out of Melbourne.
BelgiumAntwerp hosted in 1920, where the Olympic flag and the athletes’ oath were first used.
NetherlandsAmsterdam hosted in 1928, the first Games with an Olympic flame.
GermanyBerlin hosted in 1936 under the Nazis, and Munich in 1972, when Palestinian militants killed eleven members of the Israeli team.
FinlandHelsinki hosted in 1952, after its 1940 Games were cancelled.
ItalyRome hosted in 1960, where Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia won the marathon barefoot.
RussiaMoscow hosted in 1980, in the Soviet Union. The United States and dozens of other countries boycotted it over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
SpainBarcelona hosted in 1992.
The Americas4
United StatesSt. Louis in 1904, Los Angeles in 1932 and 1984, Atlanta in 1996, and Los Angeles again in 2028, more than any other country.
MexicoMexico City hosted in 1968, the first Games in Latin America, at over 2,200 m, where Bob Beamon’s long jump stood as a world record for 23 years.
CanadaMontreal hosted in 1976 and took about thirty years to pay off the stadium.
BrazilRio de Janeiro hosted in 2016, the first Games in South America.
Asia and Oceania4
AustraliaMelbourne hosted in 1956 and Sydney in 2000, and Brisbane will in 2032.
JapanTokyo hosted in 1964, the first Games in Asia, and the 2020 Games, held in 2021 with almost no spectators because of COVID-19.
South KoreaSeoul hosted in 1988.
ChinaBeijing hosted in 2008, and in 2022 became the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Games.
Close calls
Africa and the Middle East
No Summer Olympics has been held in Africa or the Middle East. Cape Town and Cairo have bid before, and Qatar, Egypt and others are among the countries interested in the Games of 2036 and later.
Games that never happened
Berlin was due to host in 1916, Tokyo in 1940 (the Games were then moved to Helsinki) and London in 1944, but the world wars cancelled all three.
The Soviet Union
Moscow was in the Soviet Union in 1980, and Russia, its successor, is counted as the host, just as Bosnia and Herzegovina is for Sarajevo’s Winter Games in Yugoslavia in 1984.
More country lists
- Amazon rainforest countries
- Andean countries
- Arab League member states
- Arctic Ocean countries
- ASEAN member countries
- Atlantic Ocean countries
- Baltic Sea countries
- Black Sea countries
- BRICS member countries
- Caribbean Sea countries
- Commonwealth member countries
- Countries in the Arctic Circle
- Countries in the European Union
- Countries of the former Yugoslavia
- Countries on the Equator
- Countries that drive on the left
- Countries that use the euro
- Countries with a monarch
- Countries with nuclear weapons
- Danube countries
- FIFA World Cup host countries
- Former Soviet republics
- G20 member countries
- Indian Ocean countries
- Island nations
- Landlocked countries
- Mediterranean countries
- Mekong countries
- NATO member countries
- OECD member countries
- OPEC member countries
- Pacific Ocean countries
- Persian Gulf countries
- Red Sea countries
- Sahara Desert countries
- Schengen Area countries
- Winter Olympics host countries