What is the order of the countries in the 2018 Olympics opening ceremony?

By Elizabeth entenman

February 9, 2018

By Elizabeth entenman

February 9, 2018

The 2018 Winter Olympics are FINALLY here! In the early hours of Friday, February 9th, (well, early in the Eastern time zone, at least) PyeongChang kicked off this year’s games with a beautiful opening ceremony. But don’t worry. If you didn’t set your alarms for 6 a.m., you can still watch the 2018 Olympics opening ceremony on Friday night at 8 p.m. Eastern on NBC. This year’s opening ceremony included a gorgeous White Tiger, exciting performances, and lots of dancing. And of course, the traditional Parade of Nations. Every moment was well thought-out to highlight this year’s theme: peace, history, and modern culture. But as you watch the Parade of Nations, you might be wondering: What is the order of countries in the 2018 Olympics opening ceremony?

The order of countries in the Parade of Nations changes every year. Three rules were determined for the 1928 Olympics Parade of Nations in Amsterdam that we still follow to this day. One, that Greece will march first, to honor that the first Olympics were held in Greece. Two, that the host nation will march last. (This year, in PyeongChang, South and North Korea will march together under the unified Korean flag.) And third, that the rest of the countries will follow in alphabetical order of the host nation’s native language.

At the 2018 Olympics opening ceremony, after the delegation from Greece marched, the rest followed suit in alphabetical order, starting with Ghana.

Here’s the full order of countries for the 2018 opening ceremony.

1. Greece
2. Ghana
3. The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
4. Nigeria
5. South Africa
6. Netherlands
7. Norway
8. New Zealand
9. Denmark
10. Germany
11. Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste
12. Latvia
13. Olympic Athletes from Russia
14. Lebanon
15. Romania
16. Luxembourg
17. Lithuania
18. Liechtenstein
19. Madagascar
20. Malaysia
21. Mexico
22. Monaco
23. Morocco
24. Montenegro
25. Republic of Moldova
26. Malta
27. Mongolia
28. United States of America
29. Bermuda
30. Belgium
31. Belarus
32. Bosnia and Herzegovina
33. Bolivia
34. Bulgaria
35. Brazil
36. San Marino
37. Serbia
38. Sweden
39. Switzerland
40. Spain
41. Slovakia
42. Slovenia
43. Singapore
44. Armenia
45. Argentina
46. Iceland
47. Ireland
48. Azerbaijan
49. Andorra
50. Albania
51. Eritrea
52. Estonia
53. Ecuador
54. Great Britain
55. Australia
56. Austria
57. Uzbekistan
58. Ukraine
59. Islamic Republic of Iran
60. Israel
61. Italy
62. India
63. Japan
64. Jamaica
65. Georgia
66. People’s Republic of China
67. Chinese Taipei
68. Czech Republic
69. Chile
70. Kazakhstan
71. Canada
72. Kenya
73. Kosovo
74. Colombia
75. Croatia
76. Kyrgyzstan
77. Cyprus
78. Thailand
79. Turkey
80. Togo
81. Tonga
82. Pakistan
83. Portugal
84. Poland
85. Puerto Rico
86. France
87. Finland
88. Philippines
89. Hungary
90. Hong Kong, China
91. Korea