The London 2012 Olympics will be one of the biggest sporting events in the world. Here are some of the simple facts in words and numbers.

The Basics

There are 26 sports played by 204 countries. The games will start on the 27th of July and finish on the 12th of August. Events will take place at 26 different venues.

People

There will be more than 10,000 athletes from all over the world. The new Olympic village will be big enough for 16,000 people. 80,000 spectators will be able to sit in the new Olympic stadium. Every day 9000 police officers will keep athletes and spectators safe.

News and media

With 200 kilometres of electrical cables, 20,000 journalists will report on the 2012 Olympics 24 hours a day. More than 4 billion people around the world will watch the opening ceremony and the rest of the games on TV.

Looking to the future

The 2012 Olympics hope to develop one of the poorest parts of London and provide new homes, jobs and shops. Three-quarters of all the money will help to make East London a better place to live in the future. The games will make 2818 new homes for people to live in.

Anything else?

During the games people will eat 232 tonnes of potatoes!
There will be 8000 Olympic torch carriers.

To find out how many days before the London 2012 start, visit the official website>>