A national sport is a physical activity or sport that is culturally significant or deeply embedded in a nation, serving as a national symbol and an intrinsic element to a nation's identity and culture.

Several sovereign states and constituent states have formally recognized a specific activity as their national sport, typically favouring sports with origins stemming from their own countries. Conversely, in many other nations, the designation of a national sport is an informal acknowledgment bestowed upon an activity that is either widely embraced or holds historical and cultural significance to that nation.

Official national sports

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An official national sport is an activity that has been formally recognized and designated as a national sport of a particular nation by government authorities. This recognition often comes through legislation or decrees.

The following is a list official national sports:

Country/territory Sport Year of official recognition Basis Ref
Argentina Pato 1953 Argentina Decree Nº 17468 [1]
Canada Ice hockey (winter)
Lacrosse (summer)
1994 National Sports of Canada Act [2]
Chile Chilean Rodeo 1962 Official letter No. 269 of the Consejo Nacional de Deportes and Chilean Olympic Committee [3]
Colombia Tejo 2000 Colombia Law 613 [4][5]
Mexico Charrería 1933 Presidential decree by Abelardo L. Rodríguez [6]
Nepal Volleyball 2017 Cabinet of Nepal decision [7]
Philippines Arnis 2009 Republic Act No. 9850 [8]
Puerto Rico Paso Fino 1966 Puerto Rico Act 64 of 2000 [9]
South Korea Taekwondo 2018 National Sport Designation Act for Taekwondo [10][11]
Uruguay Destrezas Criollas 2006 National Law Nº 17958 [12][13]

Unofficial national sports

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An unofficial national sport is an activity that holds significant popularity or cultural and historical significance within a particular nation but lacks legal recognition as the official national sport. These informal national sports typically reflect a nation's preferences and their perceived connection to the nation's culture and identity. The designation of an unofficial national sport can be contentious, as it can vary within a nation based on regional preferences and traditions.

The following is a list of unofficial national sports:

Country/Territory Sport
Afghanistan Buzkashi[14]
Anguilla Boat racing[15]
Antigua and Barbuda Cricket[16]
Australia Cricket[17]
Austria Alpine skiing[18]
Bangladesh Kabaddi[19]
Barbados Cricket[20]
Bermuda Cricket[21]
Bhutan Archery[22][23]
Brazil Capoeira[24]
Cambodia Bokator[25]
China Table tennis[26]
Cook Islands Rugby league[27]
Cuba Baseball[28][29][30]
Czech Republic Ice Hockey[31]
Dagestan Wrestling[32]
Denmark Association football[33]
Dominican Republic Baseball[34]
England Association football[35][36] cricket[35]
Estonia Basketball,[37] Rallying[38]
Fiji Rugby union[39]
Finland Pesäpallo[40]
Georgia Rugby union[41]
Grenada Cricket[42]
Guyana Cricket[43][44]
Haiti Association football[45]
India Cricket,[46] field hockey,[47] kabaddi[47]
Indonesia Pencak silat[48]
Iran Freestyle wrestling[49]
Ireland Gaelic games[50][51][52]
Italy Association football[53][54]
Jamaica Cricket[55]
Japan Sumo[56][57]
Latvia Ice hockey[58]
Lithuania Basketball[59][60]
Madagascar Rugby union[61][62]
Malaysia Sepak takraw[63][64]
Mauritius Association football[65]
Mongolia Archery, horse racing, Mongolian wrestling[66][67]
Montenegro Water polo[68]
Nepal Kabaddi,[7] volleyball[69]
New Zealand Rugby union[70][71]
Norway Cross-country skiing[72][73]
Pakistan Field hockey[74][75]
Panama Baseball[74][75]
Papua New Guinea Rugby league[76][77]
Peru Paleta frontón[78]
Philippines Basketball,[79][80] sipa[81]
Poland Motorcycle speedway,[82] volleyball[83][84][85][86][87]
Romania Oina[88]
Russia Bandy[89]
Saudi Arabia Camel racing,[90] horse racing,[90] falconry[90]
Scotland Golf[91]
Serbia Basketball[92][93][94][95]
Slovenia Alpine skiing[96]
Spain Association football[97]
Sri Lanka Volleyball[98]
Taiwan Baseball[99][100]
Tajikistan Gushtigiri[101]
Thailand Muay Thai[102]
Turkey Cirit,[103] oil wrestling[104]
Turks and Caicos Islands Cricket[105]
United States Baseball,[106][107][108] American football[109]
Venezuela Baseball[108]
Wales Rugby union[110]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Argentina Decree Nº 17468 of 16 September 1953". Federación Argentina de Pato. Archived from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
  2. ^ "National Sports of Canada Act S.C. 1994, c. 16". Justice Laws Website. 12 May 1994. Retrieved 28 June 2021. The game commonly known as ice hockey is hereby recognized and declared to be the national winter sport of Canada and the game commonly known as Hockey and Lacrosse is hereby recognized and declared to be the national summer sport of Canada.
  3. ^ Moreira Recchione, Alberto (December 2007). "La Medialuna: un edificio para Chile". Revista de Urbanismo (in Spanish) (17). ISSN 0717-5051. Archived from the original on 13 February 2009. Retrieved 14 July 2008. A reconocerse, en 1962, el rodeo como deporte nacional y oficial [10 de enero de 1962, oficio N°269 del Consejo Nacional de Deportes y Comité Olímpico de Chile]
  4. ^ Sherriff, Lucy (9 September 2021). "Gunpowder and beer: Playing Colombia's national sport of tejo". CNN Travel. Retrieved 25 October 2021. The game originated amongst Colombian indigenous groups around 500 years ago and was declared the Latin American country's sport in 2000 under Law 613.
  5. ^ "Colombia Law 613 of 4 September 2000". Global Legal Information Network. Archived from the original on 13 February 2009. Retrieved 14 July 2008.
  6. ^ "La Charrería "Nuestro Deporte Nacional"" (in Spanish). Mexican Department of Tourism. Archived from the original on 8 February 2009. Retrieved 14 July 2008. El año de 1933 fue muy importante, ya que el general Abelardo L. Rodríguez, emite un decreto presidencial, dando a la Charrería el título de único Deporte Nacional.
  7. ^ a b "It's official: Volleyball is the national sport of Nepal". OnlineKhabar. 23 May 2017. Archived from the original on 23 May 2017. The government on Monday decided to recognize volleyball as the national sport of Nepal.
  8. ^ "Republic Act No. 9850: An Act declaring Arnis as the national martial art and sport of the Philippines". Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  9. ^ "Puerto Rico Act 64 of 2000, S.B. 1856" (PDF). Office of Legislative Services of Puerto Rico. 11 April 2000. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 14 July 2008. In 1966, the Public Parks and Recreation Administration and the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee awarded official recognition of the "paso fino" horse riding sport as the autochthonous sport of Puerto Rico.
  10. ^ "Taekwondo designated as South Korea's flagbearing national sport". insidethegames. 4 April 2018. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  11. ^ "Taekwondo is Korea's national martial art - now by law". The Korea Times. 2 April 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2021. The National Assembly on Friday passed a revised act on taekwondo promotion, which states that the sport is the South Korean national martial art. / Taekwondo has customarily been perceived as the national martial art but wasn't officially recognized by the law.
  12. ^ "Uruguay Law 17958 of 21 April 2006". Global Legal Information Network. Archived from the original on 21 June 2010. Retrieved 14 July 2008.
  13. ^ Aeberhard, Danny; Andrew Benson; Lucy Phillips; et al. (2001). The Rough Guide to Argentina. Rough Guides. p. 198. ISBN 978-1-85828-569-6. displays of traditional gaucho skills (destrezas criollas)
  14. ^ "Buzkashi: The National Game of Afghanis". Embassy of Afghanistan, Canberra. Archived from the original on 19 July 2008. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
  15. ^ "Boat Racing Season Officially Opens". The Anguillian. 3 March 2007. Archived from the original on 8 February 2009. Retrieved 21 July 2008. Director of Sports, Alkins Rogers, […] reported that the Government recognizes boat racing as the national sport of Anguilla and was giving financial resources for its development.
  16. ^ "Antiguans and Barbudans". everyculture.com. Retrieved 10 July 2008. Cricket, a left-over from the British rule, is the national sport of Antigua and Barbuda.
  17. ^ "Cricket - Australia's National Sport | UD Abroad Blog". Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  18. ^ "Teurer Pistenspaß: Das kostet unser Nationalsport". 7 December 2017.
  19. ^ Faroqi, Gofran (2012). "Kabadi". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Ha-du-du was given the name kabadi and the status of National Game in 1972.
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  21. ^ Luke, Will (March 2007). "Cricket by association". The Wisden Cricketer. Retrieved 21 July 2008. Bermuda are one of the few sides who count cricket as a national sport.
  22. ^ Bisht, Ramesh Chandra (January 2008). International Encyclopaedia of Himalayas. Mittal Publications. p. 134. ISBN 978-81-8324-265-3. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  23. ^ "In Bhutan, archery is a national sport with a difference | DW | 01.03.2011". DW.COM. Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 28 June 2021. However, it (archery) was only declared as a national sport in 1971
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  26. ^ Gao, Helen (8 August 2012). "China, Still the World Champ, Is Falling Out of Love With Table Tennis". The Atlantic. Retrieved 25 October 2021. Table tennis, China's unofficial national sport since the 1950s, has given millions of Chinese a taste of national glory and prestige long before their country's more recent rise." / "Mao Zedong decreed table tennis the national sport, and invested heavily in cultivating competitive players."
  27. ^ ABC News [dead link]
  28. ^ Gonzalez Echevarria, Roberto (1999). "A Cuban Belle Époque". The Pride of Havana: A History of Cuban Baseball. Oxford University Press. pp. 76. ISBN 978-0-19-514605-9. Baseball is so ingrained in Cuba that it has thrived as the "national sport" through forty years of a bitterly anti-American revolution.
  29. ^ Mckinley, James C. Jr (26 March 1999). "Baseball; Clash of Cultures, Pride and Passion". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 July 2008. Most Cubans, after all, consider baseball to be their national sport, a game entwined in history with their struggle for independence from Spain and the birth of their nation.
  30. ^ Castro, Fidel (13 August 1999). "Speech at a meeting with Pan American Games delegation members". cuba.cu. Retrieved 24 July 2008. the game that […] is […] our national sport […] I am talking of baseball
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  34. ^ "Some facts about the Dominican Republic". Embassy of the Dominican Republic, Washington. Retrieved 22 July 2008. Baseball is the Dominican Republic's national sport.
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  39. ^ "Sport". rugby (or Rakavi) is the national sport
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  42. ^ "Batting For Grenada". Grenada Life. Grenada Board of Tourism. March 2007. p. 38. Retrieved 21 July 2008. in the first Grenada Cricket Classics [, h]eroes such as Sir Viv Richards, Joel Garner and Curtley Ambrose came together to promote what is considered by many to be the national sport in Grenada.[permanent dead link]
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  44. ^ Wagg, Stephen; Andrews, David L., eds. (2007). East Plays West: Sport and the Cold War. London/New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-35926-9. [E]ven though soccer football was and is considered the Hungarian national pastime
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  47. ^ a b Ansari, Aarish. "Did you know that India does not have a national game!". Retrieved 11 February 2022. However, in contrast to common perception, hockey is not the national game of India. The next best answer, kabaddi, is also incorrect..." "...And those siding with the currently popular cricket are also mistaken.
  48. ^ "Pencak Silat: More Than Just A Fight". Indonesia Expat. 29 May 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
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  55. ^ "History of Jamaica". Jamaican Embassy, Washington. Archived from the original on 20 June 2008. Retrieved 21 July 2008. The legacy of Britain also lives on in Jamaica in many ways […] the game of cricket is the national sport.
  56. ^ "What Is Sumo?". Kids Web Japan sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
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  102. ^ "Q: Could you tell me more about the history of Muay Thai and is there a place where I can take up Muay Thai in Singapore?". Thai Embassy in Singapore. Muay Thai is the national sport of Thailand and is also known as 'The Art of Eight Limbs' as the hands, shins, elbows and knees are used extensively in this art.
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