WEB DESK: RIO DE JANEIRO - When Rio de Janeiro opens the Olympic Games on August 5, they will be the first ever staged in South America. And here are 20 more eye-catching statistics:

17,000 -- number of Olympic athletes and officials.

78,000 -- the capacity of Maracana stadium, where the opening and closing ceremonies will be held.

206 -- countries competing in the August 5-21 Games.

1 -- team of refugees competing under the Olympic banner for the first time.

7.5 million -- tickets on sale.

10 -- miles (16 kilometers), length of the extension of the underground metro system, the biggest infrastructure project in preparation for the Games.

4 -- zones across Rio where events will unfold: the Olympic Park in Barra da Tijuca, Deodoro, Copacabana beach, and the Maracana and Olympic stadiums in the north.

25,000 -- number of journalists covering the Games.

500,000 -- estimate of tourists expected to attend the Games.

61 -- percentage of Rio residents in a recent poll who said the Games will be great. Another 27 percent fear a mess.

31 -- number of tower blocks making up the Olympic Village

The 3,604 apartments will be sold off after the Games.

60,000 -- meals per day to be served at the huge Olympic Village dining hall.

5 -- number of jumbo jets you could fit into that dining hall.

80,000 -- chairs for the Olympic Village.

7 -- players in rugby sevens, which brings the oval ball game to the Olympics for the first time ever.