Olympics opening ceremony by the numbers: How many athletes, countries, boats and more on the Seine River?

Dan Treacy

Olympics opening ceremony by the numbers: How many athletes, countries, boats and more on the Seine River? image

The opening ceremony at the 2024 Paris Olympics will be unlike any other, if only for one simple reason.

This is the first time in Olympic history that the ceremony won't be taking place inside an Olympic stadium. Instead, the ceremony will travel through the heart of Paris with the Seine River at the center of the festivities.

Fans are expected to line the Seine and watch athletes from each participating country travel through the city. Because of the unique setup, more fans than ever will be able to watch the ceremony.

Here's a look at the Olympics opening ceremony in Paris by the numbers, from athletes and countries to boats and security personnel.

MORE OPENING CEREMONY: Order of countries | Inside the route | Who will light the torch?

Olympics opening ceremony, by the numbers

Gone (for now) are the days of Olympic athletes walking around the floor of an arena in front of cheering fans. In Paris, they won't have to walk at all, as they will instead float through the city on boats with hundreds of thousands of fans lining the Seine River.

Roughly 94 boats are expected to travel through Paris carrying Olympic athletes. The full parade figures to have even more boats, with fireworks and other festivities in store around the parade of athletes.

The full ceremony will span 3.7 miles, or six kilometers, down the Seine River. As many as 300,000 fans are expected to line the river and watch the ceremony, a massive increase from the number of fans that would be able to watch in a traditional indoor venue.

As many as 75,000 police officers, security personnel, and military members will ensure that the ceremony can be carried out safely. While the festivities have a chance to be among the most unique in Olympic history, taking the ceremony out of an indoor venue makes it much more difficult to secure the vicinity.

As of April, Paris was looking for 22,000 private security forces in addition to the 35,000 police officers and 18,000 military members expected to be on hand to ensure everyone's safety.

The opening ceremony will kick off the 33rd Summer Olympics and third Summer Olympics hosted by Paris.

MORE: Event schedule for Paris Olympics

How many countries are in the Olympics?

There will be 206 countries represented at the Olympics in Paris. Each of the International Olympic Committee's 206 member nations is sending an athlete to the Summer Games.

How many athletes are in the Olympics?

About 10,500 athletes from around the world are heading to the Olympics, with the majority participating in the opening ceremony.

While 10,500 sounds like a large number, just 0.0001 percent of the world population has earned the right to compete at the Olympics this year. That's one in every 757,143 people. There will be what seems like an endless stream of athletes parading through Paris, but it's still a remarkably exclusive honor for =every individual competing in the games. 

Order of countries in the Olympics opening ceremony

Here's the complete order for the parade of nations:

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

Dan Treacy

Dan Treacy Photo

Dan Treacy is a content producer for Sporting News, joining in 2022 after graduating from Boston University. He founded @allsportsnews on Instagram in 2012 and has written for Lineups and Yardbarker.