(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-08-14 08:52

BELGRADE - The 19th International Olympiad in Informatics will be held in the Croatian capital Zagreb starting this week, gathering nearly 300 best students from 77 countries, organizers said in Zagreb on Monday.

A total of 297 competitors and more than 500 participants will join the event to be held on August 16-21 under the auspices of Croatian President Stjepan Mesic, said Alen Spiegl, president of the Croatian Informatics Clubs Association which organized the event.

This is the first time Croatia is hosting the event, which is an annual, world-wide computer science competition, with high school students solving problems in a given program language, the Croatian news agency HINA reported.

The first International Olympiad in Informatics, which was proposed by the UNESCO, was held in Bulgaria's Pravetz in May 1989 with only 13 countries competing.

Each team could be represented by four students under the age of 20. The main purpose of the event is to encourage interest in information competence and technology and foster friendship among students from diverse cultures.