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 rivalled 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 African, Central American, Central Asian, Middle Eastern, or South Asian city has ever been chosen to host an Olympics.
Typically, the decision is made at an IOC Session approximately seven years prior to the games; for example, the 2016 Summer Olympics were awarded to Rio de Janeiro on 2 October 2009, the 2018 Winter Olympics were awarded to Pyeongchang on 6 July 2011, the 2020 Summer Olympics were awarded to Tokyo on 7 September 2013, and the 2022 Winter Olympics were awarded to Beijing on 31 July 2015.
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), was chosen 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.