Nigeria and other 188 countries with fewer gold medals than Michael Phelps

Having won his 21st gold in the 4 x 200m freestyle relay with Conor Dwyer, Townley Haas, and Ryan Lochte on Tuesday, Phelps now equals Ethiopia’s total, having already surpassed Argentina and Austria (countries with populations of 41.4m and 8.5m respectively) during this Games.

Ahead of him are some countries which no longer exist, such as Yugoslavia, Unified Team of Germany, Czechoslovakia, West Germany, East Germany and the Soviet Union.

Behind him are 189 present or historical countries.

Here are all the countries with fewer golds than Phelps:

Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
American Samoa
Andorra
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Aruba
Australasia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belize
Benin
Bermuda
Bhutan
Bohemia
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
British Virgin Islands
British West Indies
Brunei
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Cayman Islands
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
Colombia
Comoros
Congo
Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Fiji
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Ghana
Grenada
Guam
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Hong Kong
Iceland
Independent Olympic Participants
India
Individual Olympic Athletes
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Ivory Coast
Jamaica
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kiribati
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaya
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Micronesia
Mixed team
Moldova
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
Netherlands Antilles
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
North Borneo
North Korea
North Yemen
Oman
Pakistan
Palau
Palestine
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Qatar
Republic of China
Russian Empire
Rwanda
Saar
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
San Marino
Sao Tome and Principe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Serbia and Montenegro
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
Somalia
Somaliland
South Sudan
South Yemen
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Suriname
Swaziland
Syria
Taipei
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Timor-Leste
Togo
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkmenistan
Tuvalu
Uganda
United Arab Emirates
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Vietnam
Virgin Islands
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe

Phelps is the most decorated Olympian of all time, having won six golds in Athens, eight in Beijing, four in London and three so far in Rio.

He accounts for roughly 2.13 per cent of all the United States’ Olympic gold medals for all time.

Only 31 countries that are still recognised are ahead of him in the all-time medal table – if he wins two more golds this Games he will equal South Africa and the hosts, Brazil.