In what order do the countries enter for the 2004 Parade of Nations?

Answer

COuntries enter in alphabetical order of the name of the countries, accordiing to the name as spelled by the host country. The language and alphabet of the host country is also used. Greece enteres first, and the host country enters last, irregardless of the alphabetization. In 2004, with Greece hosting, the Grecian flag entered first and the Grecian delegation enters last.

Answer

They enter alphabetically. The alphabetical order is based on the language of the host country.

This year, the countries entered alphabetically in the order of the Greek alphabet, according to the name of the country in Greek.

This gets interesting in that there have been several different Greek alphabets throughout history. For instance, the letters "v" and "b" are synonymous, as are "ph" and "f", and "e" and "i". This means France entered after the "a" and "b" and "v" countries, and before the "g" countries, rather than near the end where "ph"/"f" fall in the Greek alphabet. Spain entered with the "e" countries. (Espanola?.)

For more on the Greek alphabet, you can go to http://www.ancientscripts.com/greek.html

For more on the countries participating in the Olympics, there's http://www.nbcolympics.com/countries/index.html

I'm still looking for a link as to the actual order of all 200+ countries.

Hope this helps!

Answer

I found a link!

athens2004.com

First answer by Jari. Last edit by Frodo. Question popularity: 148 [recommend question]

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