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Fifty-two countries have participated in the Eurovision Song Contest since it started in 1956. Winners of the contest have come from twenty-seven of those countries. The contest, organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), is held annually between members of the union. Broadcasters from different countries submit songs to the event and cast votes to determine the most popular in the competition.
Participation in the contest is primarily open to all broadcasters with active EBU membership. To become an active member of the EBU, a broadcaster has to be from a country which is covered by the European Broadcasting Area or a member state of the Council of Europe.[1] Eligibility to participate is not determined by geographic inclusion within the continent of Europe, despite the "Euro" in "Eurovision", nor does it have a direct connection with the European Union. Several countries geographically outside the boundaries of Europe have competed: Israel, and Armenia, in Western Asia, since 1973 and 2006 respectively; Morocco, in North Africa, in the 1980 competition alone; and Australia making a debut in the 2015 contest. In addition, several transcontinental countries with only part of their territory in Europe have competed: Turkey, from 1975 to 2012; Russia, from 1994 to 2021; Georgia, since 2007; and Azerbaijan, which made its first appearance in the 2008 edition. Two of the countries that have previously sought to enter the competition, Lebanon and Tunisia, in Western Asia and North Africa respectively, are also outside of Europe. The Persian Gulf state of Qatar, in Western Asia, announced in 2009 its interest in joining the contest in time for the 2011 edition.[2] However, this did not materialise, and there are no known plans for a future Qatari entry to the Eurovision Song Contest. Australia, where the contest has been broadcast since the 1970s, has participated every year since its debut in 2015.
The number of countries participating each year has grown steadily, from seven in 1956 to over twenty in the late 1980s. A record 43 countries participated in 2008, 2011 and 2018. As the number of contestants has risen, preliminary competitions and relegation have been introduced, to ensure that as many countries as possible get the chance to compete. In 1993, a preliminary show, Kvalifikacija za Millstreet ("Qualification for Millstreet"), was held to select three Eastern European countries to compete for the first time in the main contest.[3] After the 1993 contest, a relegation rule was introduced: the six lowest-placed countries in the contest would not compete in the following year.[4] In 1996, a new system was introduced. Audiotapes of all twenty-nine entrants were submitted to national juries. The twenty-two highest-placed songs after the juries voted reached the contest. Norway, as the host country, directly qualified for the final.[5] From 1997 to 2001, a system was used whereby the countries with the lowest average scores over the previous five years were relegated. Countries could not be relegated for more than one year at a time.[6]
The relegation system used in 1994 and 1995 was reused between 2001 and 2003. In 2004, a semi-final was introduced. The ten highest-placed countries in the previous year's contest qualified for the final, along with the "Big Four", the largest financial contributors to the EBU. All other countries entered the semi-final. Ten countries qualified from the semi, composing a final of twenty-four.[7] Since 2008, two semi-finals are held with all countries, except the host country and the "Big Four" or "Big Five" (after Italy's return in 2011), participating in one of the semi-finals.[8]
Some countries, such as Germany, France, Belgium and the United Kingdom, have entered most years, while Morocco has only entered once. Two countries, Tunisia and Lebanon, have attempted to enter the contest but withdrew before making a debut.
Participants
The following table lists the countries that have participated in the contest at least once, up to 2023. Planned entries for the cancelled 2020 contest and entries that failed to qualify in the qualification rounds in 1993 or 1996 are not counted.
Shading indicates countries that have withdrawn from the contest or former participants that are unable to compete in future contests. Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro were both dissolved, in 1991 and 2006 respectively. Serbia and Montenegro participated in the 1992 contest as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which consisted of only those two republics. Montenegro and Serbia have each competed as separate countries since 2007.[9] The Belarusian broadcaster BTRC was expelled from the EBU in July 2021, preventing them from competing in future editions of the contest, or any EBU event indefinitely.[10] Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and subsequent exclusion of Russia from the 2022 contest, the Russian broadcasters VGTRK and Channel One announced their intention to withdraw their EBU membership in February 2022 and were suspended from the union in May, preventing Russia from competing in future editions of the contest, or any EBU event for an indefinite period of time.[11]
| † | Inactive – countries which participated in the past but did not appear in the most recent contest, or will not appear in the upcoming contest |
| ◇ | Ineligible – countries whose broadcasters are no longer part of the EBU and are therefore ineligible to participate |
| ‡ | Former – countries which previously participated but no longer exist |
