Host Cities of Olympic Game

Since the Modern Olympics began in 1896, there have been 27 Summer Olympic Games held in 22 different cities and 22 Winter Olympic Games held in 19 different cities. In addition, three summer and two winter editions of the Games were scheduled to take place but were later cancelled due to war: Berlin (summer) in 1916, Garmisch-Partenkirchen (summer) and Helsinki (winter) in 1940, and London (summer) and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy (winter) in 1944. The 1906 Summer Olympics, held in Athens, are no longer officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which refers to them as 1906 Intercalated Games, although they were at the time. Four cities have been chosen by the IOC to host upcoming Olympic Games: Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Summer Olympics, Pyeongchang for the 2018 Winter Olympics, Tokyo for the 2020 Summer Olympics, and Beijing for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

In 2022, Beijing will become the only city that has held both the summer and winter Olympic Games. Seven cities have hosted the Olympic Games more than once: Athens (1896 and 2004 Summer Olympics), Paris (1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics), London (1908, 1948 and 2012 Summer Olympics), St. Moritz (1928 and 1948 Winter Olympics), Lake Placid (1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics), Los Angeles (1932 and 1984 Summer Olympics), and Innsbruck (1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics). Tokyo will join this list in 2020, with the 1964 and 2020 Summer Olympics. In addition, Stockholm hosted the 1912 Summer Olympics and the equestrian portion of the 1956 Summer Olympics.London has become the first city to have hosted three Games as of the 2012 Summer Olympics. The United States has hosted a total of eight Olympic Games, more than any other country, followed by France with five editions. Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom have each hosted three Games.

The Games have primarily been hosted in the continents of Europe (30 editions) and Americas (12 editions); five Games have been hosted in Asia and two have been hosted in Oceania. In 2016, Rio de Janeiro will become South America's first Olympic host city, while the African continent is yet to host the Olympic Games. Other major geographic regions which have not hosted the Olympics include the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia.

Host cities are selected by the IOC membership, usually seven years in advance. The selection process lasts approximately two years. In a first stage, any city in the world may submit an application to become a host city. After 10 months, the Executive Board of the IOC decides which of these applicant cities will become official candidates as based on the recommendation of a working group that reviews the applications. In a second stage, the candidate cities are investigated thoroughly by an Evaluation Commission, which then submits a final short list of cities to be considered for selection. The host city is then chosen by vote of the IOC Session, a general meeting of IOC members.