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NATIONAL SPORT

A national sport is a sport or game that is considered to be a culturally intrinsic part of a country or nation. In American English the term national pastime is often used.

Although there are normally no official parameters towards defining what is a national sport, there are some general characteristics that most national sports share:

  • The rules and objectives of the sport or game are known in fairly great detail in the country or nation.
  • The game or sport is widely played or watched in the country or nation.
  • The game or sport has a long history of popularity or extreme current popularity in the country or nation.

In some countries, sport or game can become the official national pastime by mandate of the government, such as with Canada and lacrosse in 1859. [1]

In other countries, where the sport or game has such a long history, such as with baseball in the United States or sumo wrestling in Japan, the sport or game is often considered a de facto "official" national pastime.

List of current countries' national sports

National sport for each country

Biggest sport for each plus one million populated country:

Football(soccer)

Indonesia: 231 Brazil: 176 Russia: 144 Nigeria: 129 Mexico: 103 Germany: 83 Vietnam: 81 Egypt: 70 Ethiopia: 67 Turkey: 67 Iran: 66 Thailand: 62 France: 59 Italy: 57 Congo-Kinshasa: 55 England: 49 Ukraine: 48 South Korea: 48 South Africa: 43 Myanmar: 42 Colombia: 41 Spain: 40 Poland: 38 Argentina: 37 Tanzania: 37 Sudan: 37 Algeria: 32 Morocco: 31 Kenya: 31 Peru: 27 Afghanistan: 27 Nepal: 25 Uzbekistan: 25 Uganda: 24 Iraq: 24 Saudi Arabia: 23 Malaysia: 22 Romania: 22 North Korea: 22 Ghana: 20 Mozambique: 19 Yemen: 18 Syria: 17 Ivory Coast: 16 Kazakhstan: 16 Madagascar: 16 Cameroon: 16 Netherlands: 16 Chile: 15 Ecuador: 13 Guatemala: 13 Burkina Faso: 12 Zimbabwe: 11 Mali: 11 Malawi: 10 Serbia: 10 Greece: 10 Niger: 10 Angola: 10 Senegal: 10 Belarus: 10 Belgium: 10 Czech Republic: 10 Portugal: 10 Hungary: 10 Zambia: 9 Tunisia: 9 Chad: 8 Sweden: 8 Bolivia: 8 Austria: 8 Azerbaijan: 7 Guinea: 7 Somalia: 7 Bulgaria: 7 Rwanda: 7 Switzerland: 7 Haiti: 7 Benin: 6 Tajikistan: 6 Honduras: 6 Burundi: 6 El Salvador: 6 Israel: 6 Paraguay: 5 Sierra Leone: 5 Slovakia: 5 Denmark: 5 Libya: 5 Scotland: 5 Jordan: 5 Togo: 5 Georgia: 4 Kyrgyzstan: 4 Turkmenistan: 4 Norway: 4 Eritrea: 4 Singapore: 4 Moldova: 4 Croatia: 4 Bosnia-Herzegovina: 3 Costa Rica: 3 Lebanon: 3 Central Africa: 3 Albania: 3 Palestine: 3 Uruguay: 3 Armenia: 3 Liberia: 3 Congo-Brazzaville: 2 Mauritania: 2 Oman: 2 Emirates: 2 Lesotho: 2 Kuwait: 2 Macedonia: 2 Slovenia: 1 Namibia: 1 Botswana: 1 Gambia: 1 Guinea-Bissau: 1 Gabon: 1 Mauritius: 1 Trinidad and Tobago: 1 Swaziland: 1

Total: 2841 million

Cricket

India: 1045 Pakistan: 147 Bangladesh: 133 Sri Lanka: 19 Australia: 19 Jamaica: 2

Total: 1365 million

Table Tennis

China: 1284

Total: 1284 million

Baseball

United States: 280 Japan: 126 Venezuela: 24 Taiwan: 22 Cuba: 11 Dominican Republic: 8 Nicaragua: 5 Puerto Rico: 3 Panama: 2

Total: 481 million

Basketball

Philippines: 84 Lithuania: 3 Latvia: 2

Total: 89 million

Ice Hockey

Canada: 31 Finland: 5

Total: 36 million

Kickboxing

Cambodia: 12 Laos: 5

Total: 17 million

Rugby

Papua New Guinea: 5 New Zealand: 3 Wales: 3

Total: 11 million

Horse Racing

Hong Kong: 7

Total: 7 million

Gaelic Football

Ireland: 4 Northern Ireland: 1

Total: 4 million

Wrestling

Mongolia: 2

Total: 2 million

Archery

Bhutan: 2

Total: 2 million

Skiing

Estonia: 1

Total: 1 million

List of former countries' national sports