The Olympics -- over 200 countries???

OK, I'm watching the Olympics opening ceremonies tonight, and something the commentators said struck me. "There are over 200 countries being represented at the Olympics this year!" the male commentator boasted...

Wait a minute! I thought that there were currently 191 countries on Earth! (192 if you count Palestine seperately from Israel.) Also, I thought that North & South Korea were playing as a 'unified' team, which would bring the number down to 190. Where did those other 10+ countries come from???


P.S. -- Am I the only person who thinks that the opening ceremony of the Olympics is the closest some Americans get to a World Geography education?

Well I know that the BBC has bureaux in 196 Countries and doesn't have one in North Korea or Iran... hmmm....

According to the CIA World Factbook there are 268 nations and dependant area's. So 200 wouldn't be to much.

www.cia.gov...

Don't forget they are counting some territories as countries, like Guam, American Somoa, and British Virgin Islands, to name a few.

That might explain the inflated number of countries, and give them something to brag about "Oh 200 + countries..."

I want them to shut up already.

I watching the march of Nations now its pretty cool. It was Nice to see Korea march out no North and South just Korea. Iraq got a nice amount of cheers from the crowd.

Originally posted by thematrix
According to the CIA World Factbook there are 268 nations and dependant areas. So 200 wouldn't be to much.

Ah, well it lists 192 sovereign nations (including Palestine), and 76 dependent areas (territories and commonwealths of some of those 192 nations). It also lists places owned by no one (such as Antarctica). But, BeingWatchedByThem, you're exactly right -- there are territories of nations, as well as disputed areas, playing as their own teams! The ones I saw were:

the Virigin Islands -- not an independent country; half owned by the U.S. and half owned by the U.K.
Puerto Rico -- a commonwealth of the U.S.
Guam -- a territory of the U.S.
American Samoa -- a territory of the U.S.

the Netherlands Antillies -- owned by the Netherlands

Bermuda -- a territory of the U.K.
Cook Islands -- a territory of the U.K.

Greenland -- owned by Denmark

Taiwan -- operates as if it's an independent country, but claimed by China
Hong Kong -- was a territory of the U.K. until 1997; is now a province of China

'Korea' -- the 'unified' North & South Korea team

This does bring up an interesting question, though: Why does the IOC allow this? Why don't they have a rule saying that only sovereign nations can have their own teams?

well wales, scotland, and england are unified as Great Britain when they could just as easily compete on their own like they do in football competetions .
i guess we have more chance of a medal this way!

[edit on 14-8-2004 by fitch]

I completely forgot this was on! I guess the threat of a cat 4 hurricane bearing down on us kind of overshadowed it a bit, hehe...

Man, that sucks....

The Olympic flame is burning and since a burning torch is known to be a Illuminati symbol, I bet something big is gonna happen soon and it won't be pretty!

200 countries is not too much of a push considering every year countries have areas trying to split off and form their own republics.

It was great to watch the teams come out! Learning about contries I've never heard of, and when the American Basketball team came out they have video cameras and looking thorugh them normally while the teams behind them are stretching their arms up and jumping trying to get over the USA Basketball team! But yes, it was nice to see Iraq get a bigger cheer and applause than America, might take some of the pressure off of the world to know that everyone supports them.

Iraq got the biggest applause from the crowd other than Greece.

That was very nice to see.

Originally posted by Olafski
The Olympic flame is burning and since a burning torch is known to be a Illuminati symbol, I bet something big is gonna happen soon and it won't be pretty!

Did anyone eles think the torch looked like a giant joint? Whats up with that when he was lighting it up I was like WTF. I thought Jamaica was hosting the Olympics.

After seeing the torch get lit with a flaming arrow it was alittle of a bore this year

Usually the torch looks more like a cauldren, instead of a giant torch. I think that it looks kinda funny this year.

Originally posted by ShadowXIX

Originally posted by Olafski
The Olympic flame is burning and since a burning torch is known to be a Illuminati symbol, I bet something big is gonna happen soon and it won't be pretty!

Did anyone eles think the torch looked like a giant joint? Whats up with that when he was lighting it up I was like WTF. I thought Jamaica was hosting the Olympics.

After seeing the torch get lit with a flaming arrow it was alittle of a bore this year

Kudos to the Greek fans. It was quite obvious they appreciate the athlete's dedication and sacrifice. They were able to put aside politics and applaud the athletes regardless of their country's "transgressions".