Bids for Olympic Games
Bids for Olympic Games is the process where National Olympic Committees select from within their national territory cities to put forward bids to host an Olympic Games. The staging of the Paralympic Games is automatically included in the bid. Since the creation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894, which successfully appropriated the name of the Ancient Greek Olympics to create a modern sporting event, interested cities have rivaled for selection as host of the Summer or Winter Olympic Games.

What follows is a list of the cities that have bid to host any of the Summer and Winter Olympics. 50 cities (including repeats) have been chosen to host the Olympics since their "rebirth"; two in Eastern Europe, five in East Asia, one in South America, two in Oceania and the remainder in Western Europe and North America. No Central American, African, Central Asian, Middle Eastern, South Asian, or Southeast Asian city has ever been chosen to host an Olympics. That is a result of the fact that Western countries are more prepared to host the Olympics and are able to stage profitable Games. Furthermore, Western countries are democracies, and that is also a factor.

The decision is made at an IOC Session seven years and eleven years to the games; for example, the 2020 Summer Olympics were awarded to Tokyo on 7 September 2013, the 2022 Winter Olympics were awarded to Beijing on 31 July 2015, the 2024 Summer Olympics were awarded to Paris on 13 September 2017, the 2026 Winter Olympics were awarded to Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo on 24 June 2019 and the 2028 Summer Olympics were awarded to Los Angeles on 13 September 2017.

IOC – IPC co-operation
In June 2001, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) signed an agreement that would ensure that the staging of the Paralympic Games is automatically included in the bid for the Olympic Games. The agreement came into effect at the 2008 Paralympic Summer Games in Beijing, and the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver.  However, the Salt Lake 2002 Organizing Committee (SLOC), chose to follow the practice of "one bid, one city" already at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City, with one Organizing Committee for both Games, which was followed up by the 2004 Games in Athens and Turin in 2006.  The agreement was adjusted in 2003. An extension was signed in June 2006.

Summer Olympics bids

Winter Olympics bids

Summer Youth Olympics bids

Winter Youth Olympics bids

All-time Summer Olympics bids

Total bids by country

All-time Winter Olympics bids

Total bids by country

All-time Summer Youth Olympics bids

All-time Winter Youth Olympics bids

Combined total bids by country

Olympic Games

Youth Olympic Games

Trivia
 London is the only city to have bid more than once and still hold a 100% record.
 Dakar is the only city to host an Olympic event of any kind in Africa.
 Detroit has had the most bids whilst failing to win the rights to host the games once.
 Hungary has had the most bids in the Summer Games that have failed to win the rights to host the games at least once.
 Sweden has had the most bids in the Winter Games that have failed to win the rights to host the games at least once.
 Beijing is the only city to host both the Summer and Winter Games.
 Los Angeles is the only city to host the Games more than once, being selected as the only bid that applied for the Olympics.

Notes