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List of countries in the Eurovision Song Contest
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Broadcasters from fifty-two countries have participated in the Eurovision Song Contest since it started in 1956, with winning songs coming from twenty-seven of those countries. The contest, organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), is held annually between members of the union who participate representing their countries. Broadcasters submit songs to the event where they are performed live by the performer(s) they had selected and cast votes to determine the winning song of the competition.
Entered at least once
Never entered, although eligible to do so
Entry intended, but later withdrew
Participation in the contest is primarily open to all broadcasters with active EBU membership, with only one entrant per country allowed in any given year. To become an active member of the EBU, a broadcaster has to be from a country which is covered by the European Broadcasting Area—which is not limited only to the continent of Europe—or is a member state of the Council of Europe.[1] Thus, eligibility is not determined by geographic inclusion within Europe, despite the "Euro" in "Eurovision", nor does it have a direct connection with the European Union. Several countries geographically outside the boundaries of Europe have been represented in the contest: Israel, Cyprus, and Armenia, in Western Asia, since 1973, 1981, and 2006 respectively; Morocco, in North Africa, in the 1980 competition alone; and Australia making a debut in the 2015 contest. In addition, several transcontinental countries with only part of their territory in Europe have been represented: Turkey, from 1975 to 2012; Russia, from 1994 to 2021; Georgia, since 2007; and Azerbaijan, since 2008. Two countries that have previously sought to enter the competition, Lebanon and Tunisia, in Western Asia and North Africa respectively, are also outside of Europe. Australia, where the contest has been broadcast since the 1970s, has been represented every year since its debut in 2015, as its broadcaster is an EBU associate member and had received special approval from the contest's Reference Group.
The number of countries represented each year has grown steadily, from seven in 1956 to over twenty in the late 1980s. A record forty-three countries participated in 2008, 2011, and 2018. As the number of contestants has risen, preliminary competitions and relegation have been introduced, to ensure that as many countries as possible get the chance to compete. In 1993, a preliminary show, Kvalifikacija za Millstreet ("Qualification for Millstreet"), was held to select three Eastern European countries to compete for the first time in the main contest.[2] After the 1993 contest, a relegation rule was introduced: the six lowest-placed countries in the contest would not compete in the following year.[3] In 1996, a new system was introduced. Audiotapes of all twenty-nine entrants were submitted to national juries. The twenty-two highest-placed songs after the juries voted reached the contest. Norway, as the host country, directly qualified for the final.[4] From 1997 to 2001, a system was used whereby the countries with the lowest average scores over the previous five years were relegated.[5]
The relegation system used in 1994 and 1995 was used again between 2001 and 2003. Since 1999, the winning country in the previous year's contest automatically qualifies for the following year's final, along with the "Big Four/Five" — those countries whose broadcasters are the largest financial contributors to the EBU.[a] In 2004, a semi-final was introduced. In addition to the Big Four, the countries that were in the top 10 the previous year received a bye and qualified directly for the final. A further ten countries qualified from the semi-final, making a total of 24 in the final.[6] Since 2008, two semi-finals are held with all countries, except the previous year's winner and the "Big Four/Five", participating in one of the semi-finals.[7]
Some countries, such as Germany, France, Belgium, and the United Kingdom, have entered most years, while Morocco has only entered once. Two countries, Tunisia and Lebanon, have attempted to enter the contest but withdrew before making a debut.
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Participants
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Statistics by country
The following table lists the countries with a broadcaster that have participated in the contest at least once, up to 2025. Planned entries for the cancelled 2020 contest and entries that failed to qualify in the qualification rounds in 1993 or 1996 are not counted.
Shading indicates countries whose broadcaster have withdrawn from the contest or former participants that are unable to compete in future contests. Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro were both dissolved, in 1991 and 2006 respectively. Serbia and Montenegro participated in the 1992 contest as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which consisted of only those two republics. Montenegro and Serbia have each competed as separate countries since 2007.[8] The Belarusian broadcaster BTRC was expelled from the EBU in July 2021, preventing them from competing in future editions of the contest, or any EBU event indefinitely.[9] Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and subsequent exclusion of Russia from the 2022 contest, the Russian broadcasters VGTRK and Channel One announced their intention to withdraw their EBU membership in February 2022 and were suspended from the union in May, preventing Russia from competing in future editions of the contest, or any EBU event for an indefinite period of time.[10] Two countries have made failed attempts to participate in the contest, but in both cases withdrew their planned appearances at a late stage: Tunisia in 1977; and Lebanon in 2005.[11] A planned entry from Liechtenstein in 1976 was prevented, due to a lack of an EBU member broadcaster from the country with which to compete.[12][13]
| † | Inactive – countries which participated in the past but did not appear in the most recent contest, or will not appear in the upcoming contest |
| ◇ | Ineligible – countries whose broadcasters are no longer part of the EBU and are therefore ineligible to participate |
| ‡ | Former – countries which previously participated but no longer exist |
Participating countries by year
Seven countries participated in the first contest. Since then, the number of entries has increased steadily. In 1961, three countries debuted, Finland, Spain, and Yugoslavia, joining the thirteen already included. Yugoslavia would become the only socialist country to participate in the following three decades. In 1970, a Nordic-led boycott of the contest reduced the number of countries entering to twelve.[17] By the late 1980s, over twenty countries had become standard.
In 1993, the collapse of the USSR in Eastern Europe and the subsequent merger of EBU and the International Radio and Television Organisation (OIRT) gave numerous broadcasters from new countries the opportunity to compete. Three countries—Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, all of them former Yugoslav republics—went through a pre-qualifier round to compete. After the 1993 event, a relegation system was introduced, allowing more Eastern European countries to compete, with seven more making their debut in 1994.
In 2003, broadcasters from four countries applied to make their debut: Albania, Belarus, Bulgaria, and Ukraine. In addition, Serbia and Montenegro, who had not competed since 1992 when they competed as Yugoslavia, applied to debut. The EBU, having originally accepted the five countries' applications, later rejected all but Ukraine; allowing five further countries to compete would have meant relegating too many countries. [18][19] The semi-final was introduced in 2004 in an attempt to prevent situations like this. The EBU set a limit of forty countries,[20] but by 2005, thirty-nine were competing. In 2007, the EBU lifted the limit, allowing forty-two countries to compete. Two semi-finals were held for the first time in 2008.[7]
Line graph showing the number of countries participating in each Eurovision Song Contest. View source data.
Participating countries by decade
The following table lists the participating countries in each year since the first Eurovision Song Contest was held in 1956, sorted by each decade:
# | Debutant | The country made its debut during the decade. |
1 | Winner | The country won the contest. |
2 | Second place | The country was ranked second. |
3 | Third place | The country was ranked third. |
X | Remaining places | The country placed from fourth to second last in the final. |
◁ | Last place | The country was ranked last in the final. |
W/D | Withdrawn/disqualified before the contest | The country was to participate in the contest but either withdrew or got disqualified before the contest took place. |
Ӿ | Disqualified during the contest | The country had already participated in at least one show but was disqualified before the completion of the contest. |
† | Non-qualified for the final | The country did not qualify for the final (2004–present). |
‡ | Non-qualified for the contest | The country did not qualify from the pre-qualifying round (1993, 1996). |
? | Unknown | The country's placing in the contest is unknown (1956). |
R | Relegated | The country was relegated from the contest due to poor results in the previous years (1994–1995; 1997–2003). |
C | Cancelled | The contest was cancelled after the deadline for submitting songs had passed (2020). |
U | Upcoming | The country has confirmed participation for the next contest, however, the contest has yet to take place. |
| No entry | The country did not enter the contest. |
1956–1959
1960–1969
1970–1979
1980–1989
1990–1999
2000–2009
2010–2019
2020–2025
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Other potential participants
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For any broadcaster wishing to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest, it must be an active member of the EBU. Associate members can be invited by the EBU in order to take part since 2015,[21] with only one associate broadcaster, Australia's SBS, being invited into the competition to date.
Among the countries which have been discussed as potential new entrants are Canada,[22] China,[23] the Faroe Islands,[24] Kazakhstan,[25][26] Kosovo,[27] New Zealand,[28][29] and Qatar,[30] some of which are inelegible to parcitipate due to a lack of an active or associate member broadcaster of the EBU.
Current EBU members
As of 2025, the following broadcasters[31] have never taken part in the contest, despite being eligible to compete as current members of the EBU:
Past attempts
In 1977, Tunisia's former broadcaster ERTT was set to take part and perform in position 4 in the final, but later withdrew with no reason given.[32] In 2005, Lebanese broadcaster TL was set to take part in the semi-final with the song "Quand tout s'enfuit" by Aline Lahoud.[33][34] The country withdrew in March 2005[11][35] due to Lebanese law restricting Israeli content being aired on television, with Israel also set to take part in the semi-final. Following a three-year ban from the contest incurred by the late withdrawal, TL has not made another attempt since.[36]
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Notes
- Namely France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom (the initial "Big Four"); with Italy joining them when it returned to the contest in 2011.
- Most recent year in which the country obtained this position.
- Responsibility for organising ARD's entry rests with one of its member broadcasters, and has changed hands over the years. Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) is currently representing Germany since 1996.[15] See Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest § Organisation for full history of German participating broadcasters.
- Represented by Radiodiffusion-Télévision Marocaine (RTM) in 1980. Société Nationale de Radiodiffusion et de Télévision (SNRT) is the current EBU member in the country, thus eligible to participate in the contest.
- RTR and C1R alternated responsibilities for the contest.
- In 2011 and 2012; previously represented by Slovenská televízia (STV) between 1994 and 2010. Slovenská televízia a rozhlas (STVR) is the current EBU member in the country since 2024, thus eligible to participate in the contest.
- The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) competed as "Yugoslavia" in 1992.
- Each country was represented by two songs in the 1956 contest; Switzerland's win in this contest was with one of their two songs.
- Serbia and Montenegro kept their voting rights after they withdrew.
- The 2020 contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The Netherlands kept their voting rights in the final after they were disqualified.
- Previously the Libyan Jamahiriya Broadcasting Corporation (LJBC) from 1982 until 2011.
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References
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