The Amazing Race is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselves in foreign areas, interact with locals, and perform physical and mental challenges that often highlight aspects of a location's culture, history, or economy.

Over the course of the Race, teams travel by airplanes, helicopters, trucks, bicycles, taxicabs, cars, trains, buses, boats and by foot.

Created by Elise Doganieri and Bertram van Munster, the original series has aired in the United States since 2001 and has earned thirteen Primetime Emmy Awards, ten of them for "Outstanding Reality-Competition Program".

Original show rules required that teammates have a pre-existing relationship of more than three years and no previous acquaintance with other racers during that cycle.

The twenty-sixth and twenty-ninth seasons included teams made up of people who met for the first time just prior to the start of the race.

When teams start a leg, arrive at route markers, or complete tasks, they normally receive a yellow letter-sized tear-away envelope with the series' logo that contains their next clue inside a vertical-fold folder.

Teams are generally required to collect every clue during each leg and keep that information with them until they reach the next Pit Stop, surrendering them once they have checked in.

In some cases, clues – most often of the Route Information type – have been provided by more unorthodox means, such as in an advertisement in a local newspaper or on some item related to the task just performed.

The destination may be given in a cryptic manner, such as a flag representing the country whose capital they are to fly to, or an obfuscation such as the "westernmost point in mainland Europe".

In Seasons 7, 15 and 31 and some foreign versions of the show however, the four-hour penalty was served at the Roadblock location and ended before they could continue racing.

Teams that win a Fast Forward pass are not guaranteed a first-place finish for that leg and still face elimination if they arrive at the Pit Stop last.

The fifth Australian season, which intended to feature the T-Junction had teams to join up to form two super-teams and perform all tasks in one leg as a group.

The sixth Australian season reintroduced the teams that recovered from COVID-19 as well, and those had to complete a task with a Speed Bump aspect on the leg in which they returned.

[19] Introduced in the 32nd American season, teams complete a series of tasks while racing in the city before returning to the starting point, doubling as the leg's Pit Stop.

Once teams have arrived there and checked in, they are given lodging (which can range from simple accommodations such as tents or cots to complete hotel service) and food free of charge as they wait for the next leg to begin.

When filming resumed 19 months later, four teams were unable to return due to extenuating circumstances and were subsequently removed from the race.

[29] In the eighth season of The Amazing Race Canada, this twist was introduced as the On Ramp Pass to bring back two out of three teams temporarily removed due to COVID-19.

A typical feature of the final leg is what is unofficially dubbed the "Final Memory Challenge" – an often elaborate challenge which tests the contestants on their time spent during the race, with common examples including memory-based tasks proving their observation skills (such as finding items which they encountered along the race in sequential order) or how well they know their partner.

A similar twist was included on the sixth Vietnamese season without the mid-leg elimination, making it the first time in the franchise's history four teams crossed the Finish Line.

If it is impossible to correct the action, the team is instead asked to wait at a nearby spot to serve a penalty period before being allowed to officially check-in.

Among the difficult duties that producers face, scouting out locations, designing tasks, selecting teams, and planning logistics for the entire course are the most important to accomplish in pre-production.

"[citation needed] However, in recent American seasons, CBS had released a map to show the locations that the racers would be visiting.

[45] Through its efforts, the American version has received many accolades, including Primetime Emmy Awards and nominations in categories for audio and video production and editing.

[49] On April 8, 2008, Israeli television network Reshet announced their own their version of the show, HaMerotz LaMillion ('The Race to the Million').

The first four seasons of the show was a co-production by Reshet and activeTV, an Australian production company that had also produced the Asian version of the race.

In March 2010, a Chinese version of the show, The Amazing Race: China Rush, was announced by the Disney–ABC International Television Asia Pacific.

[71] The fourth season also aired on Space in September 2012, but solely composed of Brazilian teams with Paulo Zulu as the host, replacing Whitbeck.

The show premiered on July 15, 2013, with Olympic gold medalist Jon Montgomery as host and has since aired ten seasons.

The most recent winners are childhood friends Metti Forssell and Hanna Launonen from Amazing Race Suomi season 2.

These are selected clips from the actual American TV show; usually featuring notable clips selected from the first 15 seasons, such as extremely dramatic moments (examples are Uchenna & Joyce could not pay their taxi driver at the final Pit Stop and Chris & Alex making the closest finish in The Amazing Race 2) or funny moments (such as when Fran & Barry kept walking past a clue that was within arm's length).