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When does each country march during Olympics Opening Ceremony?

Here's the full order of countries for the Parade of Nations at the Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremony.

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: 

  1. Greece
  2. Refugee Olympic Team 
  3. Iceland 
  4. Ireland 
  5. Azerbaijan 
  6. Afghanistan 
  7. United Arab Emirates 
  8. Algeria
  9. Argentina
  10. Aruba
  11. Albania
  12. Armenia
  13. Angola
  14. Antigua and Barbuda
  15. Andorra
  16. Yemen
  17. Israel
  18. Italy
  19. Iraq
  20. Islamic Republic of Iran
  21. India
  22. Indonesia
  23. Uganda
  24. Ukraine
  25. Uzbekistan
  26. Uruguay
  27. Great Britain
  28. Virgin Islands, British
  29. Ecuador
  30. Egypt
  31. Estonia
  32. Eswatini (Swaziland)
  33. Ethiopia
  34. Eritrea
  35. El Salvador
  36. Australia
  37. Austria
  38. Oman
  39. Netherlands
  40. Ghana 
  41. Cape Verde
  42. Guyana
  43. Kazakhstan
  44. Qatar
  45. Canada
  46. Gabon
  47. Cameroon
  48. Gambia
  49. Cambodia
  50. North Macedonia
  51. Guinea
  52. Guinea-Bissau
  53. Cyprus
  54. Cuba
  55. Kiribati
  56. Kyrgyzstan
  57. Guatemala
  58. Guam
  59. Kuwait
  60. Cook Islands
  61. Grenada
  62. Croatia
  63. Cayman Islands 
  64. Kenya
  65. Côte d'Ivoire
  66. Costa Rica
  67. Kosovo
  68. Comoros
  69. Colombia
  70. Congo
  71. Democratic Republic of the Congo
  72. Saudi Arabia
  73. Samoa
  74. Sao Tome and Principe
  75. Zambia
  76. San Marino 
  77. ROC (Russian Olympic Committee)
  78. Sierra Leone 
  79. Djibouti
  80. Jamaica
  81. Georgia
  82. Syrian Arab Republic
  83. Singapore
  84. Zimbabwe
  85. Switzerland
  86. Sweden
  87. Sudan
  88. Spain
  89. Suriname
  90. Sri Lanka
  91. Slovakia
  92. Slovenia
  93. Seychelles
  94. Equatorial Guinea
  95. Senegal
  96. Serbia
  97. Saint Kitts and Nevis
  98. St Vincent and the Grenadines
  99. Saint Lucia
  100. Somalia
  101. Solomon Islands
  102. Thailand
  103. Republic of Korea
  104. Chinese Taipei
  105. Tajikistan
  106. United Republic of Tanzania
  107. Czech Republic
  108. Chad
  109. Central African Republic
  110. People's Republic of China
  111. Tunisia
  112. Chile
  113. Tuvalu
  114. Denmark
  115. Germany
  116. Togo
  117. Dominica
  118. Dominican Republic
  119. Trinidad and Tobago
  120. Turkmenistan
  121. Turkey
  122. Tonga
  123. Nigeria
  124. Nauru
  125. Namibia
  126. Nicaragua
  127. Niger
  128. New Zealand
  129. Nepal
  130. Norway
  131. Bahrain
  132. Haiti
  133. Pakistan
  134. Panama
  135. Vanuatu
  136. Bahamas
  137. Papua New Guinea
  138. Bermuda
  139. Palau
  140. Paraguay
  141. Barbados
  142. Palestine
  143. Hungary
  144. Bangladesh
  145. Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste
  146. Fiji
  147. Philippines
  148. Finland
  149. Bhutan
  150. Puerto Rico
  151. Brazil
  152. Bulgaria
  153. Burkina Faso
  154. Brunei Darussalam
  155. Burundi
  156. American Samoa
  157. Virgin Islands, US 
  158. Vietnam
  159. Benin
  160. Venezuela
  161. Belarus
  162. Belize
  163. Peru
  164. Belgium
  165. Poland
  166. Bosnia and Herzegovina
  167. Botswana
  168. Bolivia
  169. Portugal
  170. Hong Kong, China
  171. Honduras
  172. Marshall Islands
  173. Madagascar
  174. Malawi
  175. Mali
  176. Malta
  177. Malaysia
  178. Federated States of Micronesia
  179. South Africa
  180. South Sudan
  181. Myanmar
  182. Mexico
  183. Mauritius
  184. Mauritania
  185. Mozambique
  186. Monaco
  187. Maldives
  188. Republic of Moldova
  189. Morocco
  190. Mongolia
  191. Montenegro
  192. Jordan
  193. Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos)
  194. Latvia
  195. Lithuania
  196. Libya
  197. Liechtenstein
  198. Liberia 
  199. Romania 
  200. Luxembourg 
  201. Rwanda 
  202. Lesotho 
  203. Lebanon 
  204. United States of America 
  205. France 
  206. Japan

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