While some competitions have been underway for a few days now, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics officially kicked off Friday with the Opening Ceremony.
All 206 teams from across the world marched through the Olympic Stadium to show their pride, a dazzling drone show and the Tongan flag bearer stole the show.
While it aired live on NBC Friday morning, the Opening Ceremony will re-air Friday night during primetime at 7:30 p.m. Eastern.
Why isn't the Parade of Nations in alphabetical order?
That's a trick question. It is, just not alphabetical in English.
According to the International Olympic Committee, the order for the Tokyo Olympics Parade of Nations is alphabetical according to the language of the host country.
Since these Olympic Games are being hosted in Japan, the order is determined by the Japanese alphabet. And even then there are some exceptions.
What are the exceptions?
There two traditional exceptions to the alphabetical order. First, Greece always leads the pack. Greece created the modern Olympic games. Second, the host country is always the last country in the Parade of Nations.
What's new this year?
Following Greece in this Opening Ceremony's Parade of Nations is the Refugee Olympic Team. The Refugee team was first introduced in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This summer 29 athletes from across the world will represent the Refugee team under the Olympic flag.
Also for the first time this year, the Parade of Nations will honor host countries for upcoming games as well. Those countries will march just ahead of the host country at the back of the pack. That means France and the United States (hosts of the 2024 and 2028 games, respectively) will march at the end with Japan.
Opening Ceremony Country Order for Tokyo Olympics
Here is the full order of the country appearances for the Opening Ceremony's Parade of Nations in Tokyo:
- Greece
- Refugee Olympic Team
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Azerbaijan
- Afghanistan
- United Arab Emirates
- Algeria
- Argentina
- Aruba
- Albania
- Armenia
- Angola
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Andorra
- Yemen
- Israel
- Italy
- Iraq
- Islamic Republic of Iran
- India
- Indonesia
- Uganda
- Ukraine
- Uzbekistan
- Uruguay
- Great Britain
- Virgin Islands, British
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- Estonia
- Eswatini (Swaziland)
- Ethiopia
- Eritrea
- El Salvador
- Australia
- Austria
- Oman
- Netherlands
- Ghana
- Cape Verde
- Guyana
- Kazakhstan
- Qatar
- Canada
- Gabon
- Cameroon
- Gambia
- Cambodia
- North Macedonia
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Cyprus
- Cuba
- Kiribati
- Kyrgyzstan
- Guatemala
- Guam
- Kuwait
- Cook Islands
- Grenada
- Croatia
- Cayman Islands
- Kenya
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Costa Rica
- Kosovo
- Comoros
- Colombia
- Congo
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Saudi Arabia
- Samoa
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Zambia
- San Marino
- ROC (Russian Olympic Committee)
- Sierra Leone
- Djibouti
- Jamaica
- Georgia
- Syrian Arab Republic
- Singapore
- Zimbabwe
- Switzerland
- Sweden
- Sudan
- Spain
- Suriname
- Sri Lanka
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Seychelles
- Equatorial Guinea
- Senegal
- Serbia
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- St Vincent and the Grenadines
- Saint Lucia
- Somalia
- Solomon Islands
- Thailand
- Republic of Korea
- Chinese Taipei
- Tajikistan
- United Republic of Tanzania
- Czech Republic
- Chad
- Central African Republic
- People's Republic of China
- Tunisia
- Chile
- Tuvalu
- Denmark
- Germany
- Togo
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Turkmenistan
- Turkey
- Tonga
- Nigeria
- Nauru
- Namibia
- Nicaragua
- Niger
- New Zealand
- Nepal
- Norway
- Bahrain
- Haiti
- Pakistan
- Panama
- Vanuatu
- Bahamas
- Papua New Guinea
- Bermuda
- Palau
- Paraguay
- Barbados
- Palestine
- Hungary
- Bangladesh
- Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste
- Fiji
- Philippines
- Finland
- Bhutan
- Puerto Rico
- Brazil
- Bulgaria
- Burkina Faso
- Brunei Darussalam
- Burundi
- American Samoa
- Virgin Islands, US
- Vietnam
- Benin
- Venezuela
- Belarus
- Belize
- Peru
- Belgium
- Poland
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Botswana
- Bolivia
- Portugal
- Hong Kong, China
- Honduras
- Marshall Islands
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Mali
- Malta
- Malaysia
- Federated States of Micronesia
- South Africa
- South Sudan
- Myanmar
- Mexico
- Mauritius
- Mauritania
- Mozambique
- Monaco
- Maldives
- Republic of Moldova
- Morocco
- Mongolia
- Montenegro
- Jordan
- Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos)
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Libya
- Liechtenstein
- Liberia
- Romania
- Luxembourg
- Rwanda
- Lesotho
- Lebanon
- United States of America
- France
- Japan