1980 Summer Olympics - Participating NOCs & Non-participating Countries and Regions

Participating NOCs & Non-participating Countries and Regions

A total of 80 nations were represented at the Moscow Games. Despite the large boycott, six nations made their first Olympic appearance in 1980: Angola, Botswana, Jordan, Laos, Mozambique, and Seychelles. Cyprus made its debut at the Summer Olympics, but had appeared earlier at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. Sri Lanka competed for the first time under its new name (previously as Ceylon), Benin had competed previously as Dahomey and Zimbabwe competed for the first time under that name (previously as Rhodesia).

65 countries and regions invited didn't take part in the 1980 Olympic Games. Many of these followed the United States' boycott initiative, while others cited economic reasons for not coming.

In the following list, the number in parentheses indicates the number of athletes from each nation that competed in Moscow. Nations in italics competed under the Olympic flag (or, in the cases of New Zealand, Portugal and Spain, under the flags of their respective National Olympic Committees).

Participating NOCs
  • Afghanistan (11)
  • Algeria (59)
  • Andorra (2)
  • Angola (13)
  • Australia (126)
  • Austria (89)
  • Belgium (61)
  • Benin (17)
  • Botswana (7)
  • Brazil (109)
  • Bulgaria (295)
  • Burma (2)
  • Cameroon (26)
  • Colombia (23)
  • Congo (23)
  • Costa Rica (30)
  • Cuba (216)
  • Cyprus (14)
  • Czechoslovakia (216)
  • Denmark (63)
  • Dominican Republic (6)
  • Ecuador (11)
  • Ethiopia (41)
  • Finland (124)
  • France (125)
  • East Germany (362)
  • Great Britain (231)
  • Greece (42)
  • Guatemala (10)
  • Guinea (9)
  • Guyana (8)
  • Hungary (279)
  • Iceland (9)
  • India (74)
  • Iraq (44)
  • Ireland (48)
  • Italy (163)
  • Jamaica (18)
  • Jordan (4)
  • North Korea (50)
  • Kuwait (58)
  • Laos (19)
  • Lebanon (17)
  • Lesotho (5)
  • Libya (32)
  • Luxembourg (3)
  • Madagascar (11)
  • Mali (7)
  • Malta (8)
  • Mexico (45)
  • Mongolia (43)
  • Mozambique (14)
  • Nepal (11)
  • Netherlands (86)
  • New Zealand (4)
  • Nicaragua (5)
  • Nigeria (44)
  • Peru (30)
  • Poland (320)
  • Portugal (11)
  • Puerto Rico (3)
  • Romania (243)
  • San Marino (17)
  • Senegal (32)
  • Seychelles (11)
  • Sierra Leone (14)
  • Spain (159)
  • Sri Lanka (4)
  • Sweden (148)
  • Switzerland (84)
  • Syria (69)
  • Tanzania (41)
  • Trinidad and Tobago (9)
  • Uganda (13)
  • Soviet Union (506) (host nation)
  • Venezuela (38)
  • Vietnam (30)
  • Yugoslavia (162)
  • Zambia (40)
  • Zimbabwe (46)
  • Liberia with seven athletes, withdrew after marching in the Opening Ceremony and took part of the boycott.

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