National sport
|
Map of the World showing the most popular sports by nation. |
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.
*
Afghanistan -
Buzkashi (traditional) and
football*
Albania -
Football*
Antigua -
Cricket*
Angola -
Football,
Basketball*
Argentina -
Football is the national passion.
Rugby Union and
Basketball are also popular.
Pato is the national traditional sport.
*
Australia -
Cricket is the traditional summer sport. Different football codes are the most popular winter sports in different parts of the country.
Australian rules football is the most popular in
Victoria,
South Australia,
Western Australia,
Northern Territory and
Tasmania, while
rugby league and/or
Rugby Union are more popular in
New South Wales,
Queensland and the
Australian Capital Territory. Australian rules football is considered by some a national sport due to its origins in Australia, despite being only popular in 50% of the country.
Football attracts far more players, and with the growing interest
A-League is also considered a major sport.
*
Austria -
Football,
Alpine skiing*
Bangladesh -
Kabaddi is the National Game.
Cricket is the most popular game.
Football also popular.
*
Barbados -
Cricket*
Belgium -
Cycling is the most popular sport in Belgium: during winter a variant of
cycling called
Cyclocross ("veldrijden") is the pastime for most Belgians (certainly in
Flanders).
Football is also quite popular.
*
Bhutan -
Archery*
Bolivia -
Football*
Brazil -
Football is considered the national sport,
Futsal a indoor variant of Football is the most practiced and
volleyball also has a large number of participants.
*
Bulgaria -
Football. Competitively
weightlifting and in
chess.
*
Canada -
Lacrosse is the official summer sport and
ice hockey is the official winter sport, but hockey is by far the sport most closely followed, and most closely linked to national identity. Lacrosse is a national sport for primarily historical reasons: sports like
basketball,
Canadian football (but probably also
American football),
soccer,
golf,
baseball,
tennis are all much more popular. Canada also fields one of the major national teams in the sport of
curling.
*
Cambodia -
Kickboxing*
Cameroon -
Football*
Chile -
Football.
Tennis is also very popular.
*
People's Republic of China -
Table tennis,
basketball and
football. Many people also practise
kung fu.
*
Hong Kong -
Dragon boat racing,
badminton,
windsurfing,
rugby,
fencing and
Cricket,
football is the most widely followed televised sport.
*
Republic of China (Taiwan) -
baseball*
Colombia -
Tejo is the traditional sport, as is
bullfighting, but
football (soccer) is the main attraction, followed by
baseball and
basketball.
*
Costa Rica -
Football*
Croatia -
Football.
Handball,
water polo and
basketball are also widely popular.
*
Cuba -
Baseball*
Czech Republic -
Ice hockey and
football are almost equally popular.
*
Denmark -
Football*
Dominican Republic -
Baseball*
Egypt -
Football*
Estonia -
Basketball followed by
football[
2]
*
Fiji -
Rugby union, particularly
Sevens*
Finland -
Pesäpallo (or Finnish baseball) is the de-facto national sport, but
ice hockey is most followed.
*
France -
Football, but
rugby union is popular in the south.
Basketball is also played and
Cycling is widely followed.
*
Gambia -
Wrestling*
Georgia -
Football and
Rugby Union.
*
Germany -
Football*
Greece -
Football is most popular, closely followed by
basketball and
volleyball.
*
Grenada -
Football is most popular, with
cricket close behind.
*
Guyana -
Cricket, with
football being the next popular sport[
3]
*
Haiti -
Football*
Iceland -
Glima, but
football is the most popular.
*
India -
Field Hockey is the National Game of India while
Cricket is the most popular.
Football is the major game in
Kerala,
West Bengal ,
Goa and
Manipur.
*
Indonesia -
football,
badminton*
Iran -
Football (soccer)*
Ireland - of indigenous games promoted by the
Gaelic Athletic Association,
hurling is the most ancient (featuring in such pre-Christian legends as
Cúchulainn) but
Gaelic football is more widely played and popular.
Gaelic handball is increasingly rare.
Soccer is widely popular and
rugby union is increasing in popularity, particularly in the south-west and major cities.
*
Israel -
Football and
basketball*
Italy -
Football is the most practised sport by young men.
Volleyball is the most practised sport by young women.
Bocce is the most practised sport by seniors.
Cycling is also widely popular. However, only men's football has high TV coverage.
*
Jamaica -
Cricket and
football*
Japan -
Sumo wrestling and
Judo is traditionally viewed as Japan's national sport, but
baseball is today more popular, and
football is rapidly increasing in popularity.
*
Kazakhstan -
boxing*
Kenya -
Football is the most watched and followed sport with
Athletics being the most competitively successful.
Rugby and
cricket are rapidly gaining in popularity.
*
Korea -
Tae kwon do is the traditional national sport, though
baseball is highly popular as is
football. The computer game
StarCraft is so popular in South Korea that is commonly (and jokingly) referred to as a "national sport".
*
Latvia -
Basketball is the national sport while
Ice Hockey is considered the most popular sport followed by
football.
*
Lebanon -
Football*
Libya -
Football*
Lithuania -
Basketball is most closely linked to national identity, with
football also widely followed.
*
Malaysia -
Silat,
gasing, and
wau are traditional sports, but
football followed a close second by
badminton are the most popular sports today.
*
Mexico -
Charrería and
bullfighting are traditional sports, but
football is most popular by far.
Baseball and
American football are also widely played and followed.
*
Mongolia -
Wrestling and
archery.
*
Montenegro -
Football and
basketball.
*
Morocco -
Football,
athletics and
basketball*
Mozambique -
Football*
Myanmar/
Burma -
Football[
4]
*
Namibia -
Football.
Rugby union is also popular.
*
Nauru -
Australian rules football*
Nepal -
Football and
Cricket*
Netherlands -
Football has the largest following, but
cycling and
speed skating are seen as traditional sports;
volleyball,
baseball (known locally as
honkbal) and
field hockey are also played.
*
New Zealand -
Rugby union is the easily the most widely followed and most closely linked to national pride (
rugby league being very far behind), although more young children today play
soccer.
Netball is one of the most popular sports among girls and young women, and men have organised some teams of their own.
Cricket is played during summer and is the national summer sport. Yachting and rowing are also popular water sports.
**
Cook Islands -
Rugby Union*
Nicaragua -
Baseball*
Nigeria -
Football*
Norway -
Skiing, both
Nordic and
Alpine, but
football is the most popular sport.
*
Pakistan -
Field hockey is the official national sport while
Cricket is the most popular. Pakistan also has had a long history in the game of
squash.
*
Panama -
Baseball is the national and most practiced sport. They're also successful at
boxing and
basketball.
Soccer although is not so successful, it is growing in popularity.
*
Papua New Guinea -
Rugby league.
Australian rules football is also very popular.
*
Philippines -
Basketball is the de facto national pastime since the 1950s, attracting large crowds.[
5]
Boxing,
Billiards and
Bowling are the other sports with the largest number of participants.
Sipa is the traditional sport.
*
Poland -
Football*
Portugal -
Football,
rink hockey,
cycling and
diving are very popular and have a great tradition.
*
Romania -
Oina (very similar but unrelated to
baseball) is the traditional sport, but
football is much more popular nowadays.
Rugby also has a fairly strong following.
*
Russia -
Football,
ice hockey,
Sambo*
Samoa -
Rugby union*
Saudi Arabia -
Falconry and
horse racing are traditional, but
football draws the largest number of spectators.
*
Senegal -
Football*
Serbia -
Basketball, with
football not far behind.
*
Singapore -
Football,
swimming,
badminton,
basketball and
table tennis*
Slovakia -
Ice hockey and
football are almost equally popular.
*
Slovenia -
Alpine skiing, but
basketball is very popular.
*
South Africa -
Football has historically been most popular with black South Africans,
rugby union with
Afrikaners, and
cricket with British-descended whites. This ethnic division still exists to some degree, though considerably less so than during the
apartheid era.
*
Spain -
Football is very popular in Spain, followed by
basketball, the traditional sport is
bullfighting.
*
Sri Lanka -
Cricket is the most popular, having overtaken
Football in circa
1980.
*
Sudan -
Football*
Switzerland -
Schwingen, stone throwing and
Hornussen, all traditional games, are popular in rural Switzerland, although
football is most popular overall, and
ice hockey is rising in popularity.
*
Sweden -
Football and
ice hockey are almost equally popular. Bandy is the traditional Swedish winter sport. Although
floorball is the sport with the most active athletes.
*
Syria -
Football*
Thailand -
Muay Thai*
Tonga -
Rugby union*
Trinidad and Tobago-
Football is the most popular sport with
cricket a close second
*
Turkey -
Football, followed by
basketball.
*
Tuvalu -
darts*
Ukraine -
Football*
United Arab Emirates -
Camel racing is traditional, but
football is the most popular.
Cricket is also popular.
*
United Kingdom**
England -
Cricket is the national sport and
Football is the most popular.
Rugby union is also popular.
**
Scotland - Native sport is
Shinty, but
football attracts much larger crowds. Scotland was also the birthplace of
golf and
curling.
Rugby Union is also popular.
Cricket is played, but not like in England.
**
Wales - Traditionally
rugby union, but
football is played by more people. However, the
Welsh national rugby team attracts the most interest of any Welsh team, especially due to the weakness of Welsh soccer.
**
Overseas territories and
crown dependencies of the United Kingdom
***
Bermuda -
Cricket*
United States -
Baseball has historically been considered America's national pastime and a significant aspect of
American culture. However,
American football,
basketball, and
Stock car racing may also lay legitimate claim to being the country's most popular sport.
Soccer is also growing popularly.
**
American Samoa -
American football**
Puerto Rico -
Baseball*
Uruguay -
Football is by far the most popular, followed by
Basketball and
Rugby Union. The traditional national sports are
Pato and
Bocce.
*
Uzbekistan -
Kurash (traditional) and
football*
Venezuela -
Football is now the most popular, largely in thanks to Colombian, Portuguese, and Italian immigrants, without whom
baseball would probably have the most followers.
*
Vietnam -
Football is the dominant sport, followed by a number of sports including
tennis,
badminton,
volleyball,
table tennis and
martial arts.
*
Zimbabwe -
Football and
cricketBiggest sport for each plus one million populated country:
Football
Indonesia: 231Brazil: 176Russia: 144Nigeria: 129Mexico: 103Germany: 83Vietnam: 81Egypt: 70Ethiopia: 67Turkey: 67Iran: 66Thailand: 62France: 59Italy: 57Congo-Kinshasa: 55England: 49Ukraine: 48South Korea: 48South Africa: 43Myanmar: 42Colombia: 41Spain: 40Poland: 38Argentina: 37Tanzania: 37Sudan: 37Algeria: 32Morocco: 31Kenya: 31Peru: 27Afghanistan: 27Nepal: 25Uzbekistan: 25Uganda: 24Iraq: 24Saudi Arabia: 23Malaysia: 22Romania: 22North Korea: 22Ghana: 20Mozambique: 19Yemen: 18Syria: 17Ivory Coast: 16Kazakhstan: 16Madagascar: 16Cameroon: 16Netherlands: 16Chile: 15Ecuador: 13Guatemala: 13Burkina Faso: 12Zimbabwe: 11Mali: 11Malawi: 10Serbia: 10Greece: 10Niger: 10Angola: 10Senegal: 10Belarus: 10Belgium: 10Czech Republic: 10Portugal: 10Hungary: 10Zambia: 9Tunisia: 9Chad: 8Sweden: 8Bolivia: 8Austria: 8Azerbaijan: 7Guinea: 7Somalia: 7Bulgaria: 7Rwanda: 7Switzerland: 7Haiti: 7Benin: 6Tajikistan: 6Honduras: 6Burundi: 6El Salvador: 6Israel: 6Paraguay: 5Sierra Leone: 5Slovakia: 5Denmark: 5Libya: 5Scotland: 5Jordan: 5Togo: 5Georgia: 4Kyrgyzstan: 4Turkmenistan: 4Norway: 4Eritrea: 4Singapore: 4Moldova: 4Croatia: 4Bosnia-Herzegovina: 3Costa Rica: 3Lebanon: 3Central Africa: 3Albania: 3Palestine: 3Uruguay: 3Armenia: 3Liberia: 3Congo-Brazzaville: 2Mauritania: 2Oman: 2Emirates: 2Lesotho: 2Kuwait: 2Macedonia: 2Slovenia: 1Namibia: 1Botswana: 1Gambia: 1Guinea-Bissau: 1Gabon: 1Mauritius: 1Trinidad and Tobago: 1Swaziland: 1
Total: 2841 million
Cricket
India: 1045Pakistan: 147Bangladesh: 133Sri Lanka: 19Australia: 19Jamaica: 2
Total: 1365 million
Table Tennis
China: 1284
Total: 1284 million
Baseball
United States: 280Japan: 126Venezuela: 24Taiwan: 22Cuba: 11Dominican Republic: 8Nicaragua: 5Puerto Rico: 3Panama: 2
Total: 481 million
Basketball
Philippines: 84Lithuania: 3Latvia: 2
Total: 89 million
Ice Hockey
Canada: 31Finland: 5
Total: 36 million
Kickboxing
Cambodia: 12Laos: 5
Total: 17 million
Rugby
Papua New Guinea: 5New Zealand: 3Wales: 3
Total: 11 million
Horse Racing
Hong Kong: 7
Total: 7 million
Gaelic Football
Ireland: 4Northern Ireland: 1
Total: 4 million
Wrestling
Mongolia: 2
Total: 2 million
Archery
Bhutan: 2
Total: 2 million
Skiing
Estonia: 1
Total: 1 million
*
Soviet Union -
Chess,
Ice Hockey
