The 2016 South Asian Games, officially the XII South Asian Games, is a major multi-sport event which took place from 5 February to 16 February 2016 in Guwahati and Shillong, India. A total of 2,672 athletes competed in 226 events over 22 sports. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 2016 South Asian Games in Guwahati on 5 February 2016. The sporting giant of the region, India continued its dominance in the game's medal tally with a staggering 308 medals including 188 gold medals.

The games were originally scheduled to be held in 2012 in Kathmandu, but were postponed to Delhi for 2013 but again, were postponed to late 2015 because of the suspension of the Indian Olympic Association. In 2015 it was decided to further postpone the competition to early 2016, because participating countries felt the December dates did not present enough time for preparation.

On 19 December 2015, Tikhor the baby Indian Rhino was unveiled to the public as the official mascot for the 2016 South Asian Games. According to the organising committee, Tikhor carries the message of Peace, Progress, and Prosperity in the South Asian region. This is in line with the official motto, "Play for Peace, Progress and Prosperity".

The anthem the games was chosen to be a famous Assamese song, "Ei Prithibi Ek Krirangan" (The world is a playground) by Bhupen Hazarika, an Indian lyricist, musician, singer, poet and film-maker from Assam.

There are 228 events in 23 sports scheduled to be held. A total of 764 medals (228 gold, 228 silver and 308 bronze medals) are on offer in 2016 South Asian Games.

8 countries will compete.
The numbers in parenthesis represents the number of participants each country has provisionally entered.

Competition scheduled accurate as of 5 February 2016.

Initially, the Games were expected to be held in October, 2012. However, during the General Body meeting of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on December 16, 2011, it was decided to postpone the Games to February, 2013. The primary concern highlighted was that the original plan meant that the Games would be held only two months after the 2012 Summer Olympics, a fact which made athletes uncomfortable. In addition, the Delhi Government had stated that "accommodation would be a problem during October-November". In April 2012, the IOA sent letters to all the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) of South Asia, announcing that the Games will be held for eight days beginning from February 13, 2013; further discussions would take place at an all-NOC meeting in Moscow. President of the Nepal Olympic Committee Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan also reported about the proposed additions of fencing, equestrian, gymnastics and the triathlon to the Games schedule. As of January 2013, host city and dates of the games were not yet confirmed.

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