National Olympic Committees (NOC) exist in various countries of the world. NOC are one of the three constituents of the Olympic Movement together with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Federations. The mission of the NOCs is to develop, promote and protect the Olympic Movement in their respective countries, in accordance with the Olympic Charter. The jurisdiction of an NOC must coincide with the limits of the country in which it is established and has its headquarters. In the Olympic Charter, the expression “country” means an independent State recognized by the international community. Today there are 205* NOCs, 192 of which coincide with independent states recognized by the United Nations and 13 representing sport territories recognized before 1996. *Kuwait Olympic Committee is suspended as of 1 January 2010.