Participation
Further information: List of countries in the Eurovision Song ContestEligible participants include Active Members (as opposed to Associate Members) of the EBU. Active members are those who are located in states that fall within the European Broadcasting Area, or are member states of the Council of Europe.
The European Broadcasting Area is defined by the International Telecommunication Union:
- The "European Broadcasting Area" is bounded on the west by the western boundary of Region 1 (see below), on the east by the meridian 40° East of Greenwich and on the south by the parallel 30° North so as to include the western part of the USSR, the northern part of Saudi Arabia and that part of those countries bordering the Mediterranean within these limits. In addition, Iraq, Jordan and that part of the territory of Turkey lying outside the above limits are included in the European Broadcasting Area.
The western boundary of Region 1 is defined by a line running from the North Pole along meridian 10° West of Greenwich to its intersection with parallel 72° North; thence by great circle arc to the intersection of meridian 50° West and parallel 40° North; thence by great circle arc to the intersection of meridian 20° West and parallel 10° South; thence along meridian 20° West to the South Pole.
Active members include broadcasting organisations whose transmissions are made available to at least 98% of households in their own country which are equipped to receive such transmissions.
If an EBU Active Member wishes to participate, they must fulfil conditions as laid down by the rules of the contest (of which a separate copy is drafted annually). As of 2012, this includes the necessity to have broadcast the previous year's programme within their country, and paid the EBU a participation fee in advance of the deadline specified in the rules of the contest for the year in which they wish to participate.
Eligibility to participate is not determined by geographic inclusion within the continent of Europe, despite the "Euro" in "Eurovision" — nor does it have any relation to the European Union. Several countries geographically outside the boundaries of Europe have competed: Israel, Cyprus and Armenia in Western Asia (Cyprus and Armenia are members of the Council of Europe and Cyprus is a member state of the European Union), since 1973, 1981, 2006 respectively; and Morocco, in North Africa, in the 1980 competition alone. In addition, several transcontinental countries with only part of their territory in Europe have competed: Turkey, since 1975; Russia, since 1994; Georgia, since 2007; and Azerbaijan, which made its first appearance in the 2008 edition.
Fifty-one countries have participated at least once. These are listed here alongside the year in which they made their début:
| Year | Country making its début entry |
|---|---|
| 1956 | Belgium, France, Germanya, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland |
| 1957 | Austria, Denmark, United Kingdom |
| 1958 | Sweden |
| 1959 | Monaco |
| 1960 | Norway |
| 1961 | Finland, Spain, Yugoslaviab |
| 1964 | Portugal |
| 1965 | Ireland |
| 1971 | Malta |
| 1973 | Israel |
| 1974 | Greece |
| 1975 | Turkey |
| 1980 | Morocco |
| 1981 | Cyprus |
| 1986 | Iceland |
| 1993 | Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia |
| 1994 | Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia |
| 1998 | Macedonia |
| 2000 | Latvia |
| 2003 | Ukraine |
| 2004 | Albania, Andorra, Belarus, Serbia and Montenegro |
| 2005 | Bulgaria, Moldova |
| 2006 | Armenia |
| 2007 | Czech Republic, Georgia, Montenegro, Serbia |
| 2008 | Azerbaijan, San Marino |
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