After the start of the modern Olympic Games in 1896, most Games took place in Europe. Maybe that was logical, since the tradition of a peaceful sport competition has its origin in ancient Greece, where one of the objectives was to promote good relations between Greek city states.

Since the end of the Second World War, the Games have been spread more evenly between the continents, except Africa, where they have never taken place. It is interesting to note that after Rio, the next three Games will occur in Asia.

Since 1994, the Winter Olympics do not happen in the same year as the Summer Olympics. Both series are organized on a 4-year cycle, but the Winter Games are offset by 2 years with respect to the Summer Games.

Several cities have hosted the Olympic Games more than once.  Athens and London have each hosted the Summer Games three times.  Innsbruck (Austria), St-Moritz (Switzerland) and Lake Placid (USA) have had the Winter Games twice, while Los Angeles and Paris have each been host to the Summer Games twice.

The 2020 Olympic Games were postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. They finally took place from July 23 to August 8, 2021 in Tokyo. It was the second time the Summer Games were held in that city. The first time was in 1964. Before that, the XIIth Olympic Games had been planned for Tokyo in 1940 but they were cancelled due to the Second World War.

Beijing is the first city to have hosted the Summer Olympic Games (in 2008) as well as the Winter Games (in 2022).

* The 1906 Intercalated Games are no longer recognized as an official Olympic Games.

** The XXXII-nd Olympic Summer Games were held in 2021.