"participated as the Independent Olympic Participants. Following Montenegro's referendum to become a free nation, Serbia was declared the successor state and inherited the joint nation's National Olympic Committee. The admittance of Montenegro, along with Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands, brings the total number of nations competing in the 2008 Olympics to 204. Milorad Gajović qualified in the heavyweight class at the second European continental qualifying tournament. Nikola Šaranović participated in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China at the age of 39. He ranked 40 in the Men's Air pistol 10 metres event. Šaranović also competed in the Men's Free"
"193 member states out of the 196 total nations of the world. The United Nations gather regularly in order to solve big problems throughout the world. There are six official languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. The United Nations is also financed by some of the wealthiest nations. The flag shows the Earth from a map that shows all of the populated continents. A United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (UNPA) is a proposed addition to the United Nations System that would allow for participation of member nations' legislators and, eventually, direct election of United Nations (UN) parliament members by"
"United Nations was only made up of 51 member states, but after the surge of decolonisation’s, beginning in the late 1940s, the UN is now made up of 193 nations. Since 1948, many Eastern Asian countries who were formally colonised have since achieved independence and have joined the UN, therefore acknowledging the UDHR and other major human rights treaties. There is currently no human rights body governing the Eastern Asian region, however the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) issued the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration in 2012. ASEAN Human Rights Declaration The first five articles of ASEAN Human Rights Declaration"
"Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics Great Britain, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The United Kingdom was represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), and the team of selected athletes was officially known as Team GB. Britain is one of only five NOCs to have competed in every modern Summer Olympic Games since 1896. The delegation of 547 people included 311 competitors – 168 men, 143 women – and 236 officials. The team was made up of athletes from the whole United Kingdom including Northern Ireland (whose people"
"Summer Olympics. Eighteen nations made their Olympic debut: Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, British Virgin Islands, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Grenada, Mauritania, Mauritius, North Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Rwanda, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and the United Arab Emirates. Zaire had previously competed at the 1968 Summer Olympics as ""Congo-Kinshasa"". The People's Republic of China made its first appearance in a Summer Olympics since 1952, while for the first time the Republic of China team participated under the politically contrived name of ""Chinese Taipei"". The Soviet Union led the Warsaw Pact members and other Communist and Socialist countries in a boycott of the Los"
"Montenegro (who participated as Serbia and Montenegro at the 2004 Summer Olympics) and Tuvalu the following year, brought the total number of nations competing in the 2008 Olympics to 205. The 2008 Summer Olympics were held from 8 to 24 August 2008. The Marshall Islands were represented by a male athlete and a female athlete in athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics, Roman William Cress and Haley Nemra. This was the first appearance for either athlete at the Olympics. Neither Nemara or Cress met the qualification criteria for their events, however they were accepted as wildcard entries into the Olympics."
"2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and commonly known as Beijing 2008, was an international multi-sport event that was held from 8 to 24 August 2008 in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) competed in 28 sports and 302 events (one event more than those scheduled for the 2004 Games). This was the first time that China had hosted the Summer Olympics, but the third time that the Games had been held in East Asia, following the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo,"
"United States at the 2008 Summer Olympics The United States, represented by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. U.S. athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games in the modern era, except the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, which was boycotted by the US team and many others. The USOC sent a total of 588 athletes to Beijing (310 men and 286 women), and competed in all Olympic sports except handball. The USOC selected San Jose State University in San Jose, California, as the primary processing center for all Team USA"
"were 88 members (down from previous membership due to the withdrawal of Greece effective from 30 June 2013). Current (2013) members are: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chile, People's Republic of China, Republic of the Congo, Costa Rica, Ivory Coast, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark (which also acts as the Kingdom with the Faroe Islands and Greenland), Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Eritrea, Estonia, Finland, France, Gabon, the Gambia, Germany, Grenada, Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Republic of Korea, Kiribati, Laos, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mali, Republic"
"the United States. Russia entered the third largest team, with 467 athletes. More than 100 sovereigns, heads of state and heads of government as well as 170 Ministers of Sport attended the Beijing Olympic Games. Athletes from the Republic of China (Taiwan) competed at the 2008 Games as Chinese Taipei (TPE) under the Chinese Taipei Olympic flag and used the National Banner Song as their official anthem. The participation of Taiwan was briefly in doubt because of disagreements over the name of their team in the Chinese language and concerns about Taiwan marching in the Opening Ceremony next to the"
"members. The five permanent members are the People's Republic of China (which replaced the Republic of China in 1971), France, Russia (which replaced the defunct Soviet Union in 1991), the United Kingdom, and the United States. The term ""resolution"" does not appear in the text of the United Nations Charter. It contains numerous formulations, such as ""decision"" or ""recommendation"", which imply the adoption of resolutions which do not specify the method to be used. The UN Charter is a multilateral treaty. It is the constitutional document that distributes powers and functions among the various UN organs. It authorizes the Security"
"is currently the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to the United Nations in New York. The Council has 54 member states out of the 193 UN member states, which are elected each year by the United Nations General Assembly for overlapping three-year terms. Seats on the Council are based on geographical representation with 14 allocated to African states, 11 to Asia-Pacific states, 6 to East European states, 10 to Latin American and Caribbean states and 13 to West European and other states. Current Previous Participation on a continuing basis: Participation on an ""ad hoc"" basis:"
"291 athletes and 18 countries from the 2008 Games, which had 4,011 athletes from 146 countries. Fourteen countries made their Paralympic début: Antigua and Barbuda, Brunei, Cameroon, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mozambique, North Korea, San Marino, the Solomon Islands and the US Virgin Islands. Trinidad and Tobago returned to the Games for the first time since 1988. Andorra made its début in the Summer Paralympics, having already made three appearances at the Winter Paralympics. Malawi, which would have been making its debut at the Games, and Botswana, were both due to send"
"from a 42-event competition with fewer than 250 male competitors from 14 nations in 1896, to 306 events with 11,238 competitors (6,179 men, 5,059 women) from 206 nations in 2016. The Summer Olympics has been hosted on five continents by a total of nineteen countries. The United States has hosted the Games four times (in 1904, 1932, 1984 and 1996); this is more times than any other nation. The Games have been held three times in the United Kingdom (in 1908, 1948 and 2012); twice each in Greece (1896, 2004), France (1900, 1924), Germany (1936, 1972) and Australia (1956, 2000);"
"143 member states at this time (for a timeline of UN membership, see Enlargement of the United Nations). Delegates were given ballot papers; they were to write the names of the five states they wished elected to the Council on them. Any ballot paper containing more than five names was declared invalid. The first six rounds of balloting were held on 20 October 1983 at the 2384th and 2385th plenary meetings of the General Assembly. Dahomey, Libya, Panama, and Romania were elected in the first round, leaving only the Asian seat vacant. As India and Pakistan were the states with"
"Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Sweden, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Arab Republic, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America. As of 2017, the Committee has 87 members , and is one of the largest committees of the General Assembly of the United Nations. The member States of the Committee are: Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belgium, Belarus, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canada, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, France, Germany, Hungary, Ghana, Greece, India, Indonesia,"
"anniversary in 2008. As part of the celebrations, the 2008 World Championship was held in Canada for the first time (the tournament was co-hosted by the cities of Halifax and Quebec City). The number of members continues to grow. Chile (2000), Bosnia and Herzegovina (2001), Liechtenstein (2001), Macedonia (2001), the United Arab Emirates (2001), Macau (2005), Malaysia (2006), Moldova (2008), Georgia (2009), Kuwait (2009; had originally joined in 1985, but was expelled in 1992), Morocco (2010), Kyrgyzstan (2011), Jamaica (2012), Qatar (2012), Oman (2014), Turkmenistan (2015), Indonesia (2016), Nepal (2016), and the Philippines (2016) all have joined since the turn"
"one gold medal, both of these figures setting new records for Olympic Games. There were 117 participating countries that did not win any medals. Athletes from China won the highest number of gold medals of any nation at these Games, with 48, thus making China the seventh nation to rank top in the medal table in the history of the modern Olympics, along with the United States (fifteen times), France (in 1900), Great Britain (in 1908), Germany (in 1936), the Soviet Union (six times), and the Unified Team (in 1992). The United States team won the most medals overall, with"
"several different events, completing the 100 m final with a time of 9.69 seconds, beating his own previous world record. Russian-born American gymnast Nastia Liukin won the all-around gold medal in artistic gymnastics, becoming the third American female to do so, following in the footsteps of Mary Lou Retton in 1984 and Carly Patterson in 2004. These are the top ten nations that won medals in the 2008 Games. All but one of the 205 recognized National Olympic Committees (NOCs) that existed participated in the 2008 Summer Olympics, the exception being Brunei. Three countries participated in the Olympic Games for"
"199 nations entered the stadium, the only missing IOC member being Afghanistan (which was suspended due to the Taliban regime's prohibition against practicing any kind of sports). Most remarkable was the entering of North and South Korea as one team, using a specially designed unification flag: a white background flag with a blue map of the Korean Peninsula; however, the two teams competed separately. Four athletes from East Timor also marched in the parade of nations. Although the country-to-be had no National Olympic Committee then, they were allowed to compete under the Olympic Flag. Every nation entered under a music"
"member states of the UN should make available to the Security Council necessary armed forces and facilities. Since 1948, about 130 nations have contributed military and civilian police personnel to peace operations. While detailed records of all personnel who have served in peacekeeping missions since 1948 are not available, it is estimated that up to one million soldiers, police officers and civilians have served under the UN flag in the last 56 years. As of March 2008, 113 countries were contributing a total 88,862 military observers, police, and troops. Despite the large number of contributors, the greatest burden continues to"
"in predominantly Muslim counties, countries where there are no NSAs include where most any religious institution is illegal such as in North Korea. In 2008 there were 184 National Spiritual Assemblies and in 2006, there are 192 United Nations member states. 1923: British Isles, Germany, India 1924: Egypt 1925: United States of America & Canada, Philippines 1931: Iraq 1934: Australia and New Zealand, Persia 1948: Canada 1953: Italy and Switzerland 1956: Central & East Africa, North West Africa, South & West Africa 1957: Alaska; Arabia; New Zealand; North East Asia (Japan), Pakistan, South East Asia; Mexico and the Republics of"
"while the Democratic Republic of Congo entered under its former name, Zaire. Iran, Moldova, Laos, Brunei and the United States all entered under their formal names, respectively ""Islamic Republic of Iran"", ""Republic of Moldova"", ""Lao People's Democratic Republic"", ""Brunei Darussalam"" and ""United States of America"". A record of 197 nations entered the stadium with a combined total of 10,318 athletes. Twenty-four nations made their Olympic debut, including eleven of the former Soviet republics, namely Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia (although it had been competed independently in 1912 under the Russian Empire), Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan, that"
"the United Nations Security Council (the Republic of China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States) and a majority of the other signatories. A total of 51 original members (or founding members) joined that year; 50 of them signed the Charter at the United Nations Conference on International Organization in San Francisco on 26 June 1945, while Poland, which was not represented at the conference, signed it on 15 October 1945. The original members of the United Nations were: France, the Republic of China, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, Argentina, Australia, Belgium,"
"of the century. The federation has 56 full members: Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Mongolia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States. Full members have a national body dedicated to the sport, and participate annually in the international championships. Only"
"most nations winning a medal at a single edition of the Olympics. However, following reallocation due to doping sanctions, an 87th country was later awarded a medal at the 2008 Olympics, tying the record. Athletes from 59 nations earned gold medals at these games, also breaking the record for the most number of nations winning gold at a single games. Great Britain became the first country in the history of the modern Olympics to increase their tally of medals in the subsequent games after being the host nation – winning 67 total medals (with 27 golds) at these games compared"
"BBC can choose not to do so). Radio coverage was provided by BBC Radio 5 Live, and BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra on digital radio. Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics Great Britain, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The United Kingdom was represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), and the team of selected athletes was officially known as Team GB. Britain is one of only five NOCs to have competed in every modern Summer Olympic Games since 1896. The delegation of 547 people included 311 competitors"
"2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony flag bearers The flag bearers of 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) arrived into the main Olympic Stadium, during the closing ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing on 24 August 2008. The flag bearers from each participating country entered the stadium informally in single file, and behind them marched all the athletes without any distinction or grouping by nationality. The blending of all the athletes is a tradition that dates from the 1956 Summer Olympics, after a suggestion by Australian-born British student John Ian Wing, who thought it would be a way of"
"the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Israel, Thailand, and Saarland made their Olympic debuts in Helsinki 1952. Helsinki was chosen as the host city over bids from Amsterdam and five American cities at the 40th IOC Session on June 21, 1947, in Stockholm, Sweden. Minneapolis and Los Angeles finished tied for second in the final voting. The voting results in chart below: For the first time, a team from the Soviet Union participated in the Olympics. The first gold medal for the USSR was won by Nina Romashkova in"
"1991. The Committee is made up of 18 members from different countries and legal systems who are of 'high moral standing' and experts in the field of human rights. Although members are nominated and elected by States party to the Convention, Committee members act in a personal capacity. They do not represent their countries' governments or any other organization to which they might belong. Members are elected for a four-year term and can be re-elected if nominated. The 195 states that have ratified the Convention (""States party to the Convention"") (which includes all UN member states except Somalia and the"
"China at the 2008 Summer Olympics China was the host nation of the 2008 Summer Olympics. China was represented by the Chinese Olympic Committee (COC), and the team of selected athletes were officially known as ""Team China"". As the host country, China had a total of 639 athletes qualified for places on the national team, being the largest in its Olympic history. Chinese athletes qualified to compete in all 28 Olympic sports for the first time. Among these athletes, 469 had competed at their first Olympics, 165 in Athens 2004, and 37 in Sydney 2000. Diver Guo Jingjing, shooter Tan"
"United Nations until 1966, the regional groups were: British Commonwealth, Eastern Europe and Asia, Latin America, Middle East and Western Europe. In 1966, in response to changes in the UN's membership, decolonisation and strategic realignment, the groups were reorganised as: Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa, Latin America and Caribbean, and Western Europe and Others. In 2011, the Asia Group was renamed Asia-Pacific. As of May 2014, 192 of the 193 UN member states are divided into five regional groups: Kiribati is not included in any of the above-mentioned regional groups (see below for more details). Apart from allowing member states with"
"Bhutan, British Virgin Islands, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Grenada, Mauritania, Mauritius, North Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Rwanda, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and the United Arab Emirates. The People's Republic of China made its first appearance at the Summer Olympics since 1952, while the Republic of China participated for the first time under the name ""Chinese Taipei"" as a result of the IOC agreement. Thirteen countries, namely Afghanistan, Angola, Bulgaria, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Ethiopia, German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Laos, Mongolia, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Poland, and Vietnam, joined the Soviet Union on a boycott of these Games, in retaliation for the U.S.-led"