Orienteering
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Orienteering is a family of sports that requires
navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point
to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain, and normally
moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map,
usually a specially prepared orienteering map, which they use to
find control points. Originally a training exercise in land
navigation for military officers, orienteering has developed
many variations. Among these, the oldest and the most popular is
foot orienteering. For the purposes of this article, foot
orienteering serves as a point of departure for discussion of all
other variations, but basically any sport that involves racing
against a clock and requires navigation using a map is a type of
orienteering.
Control description sheet
Orienteering is included in the programs of world sporting
events including the World Games (see Orienteering at the World
Games) and World Police and Fire Games.
The history of orienteering begins in the late 19th
century in Sweden, the actual term "orienteering" was first used in
1886 and meant the crossing of unknown land with the aid of a map
and a compass. In Sweden, orienteering grew from military training
in land navigation into a competitive sport for military officers,
then for civilians. The first orienteering competition open to the
public was held in Norway in 1897.
From the beginning, locations selected for orienteering have
been chosen in part for their beauty, natural or man made. For the
first public orienteering competition in Sweden, in 1901, control
points included two historic churches, Spånga kyrka and Bromma
kyrka (a round church).
With the invention of inexpensive yet reliable compasses, the
sport gained popularity during the 1930s. By 1934, over a quarter
million Swedes were participants, and orienteering had spread to
Finland, Switzerland, the Soviet Union, and Hungary. Following
World War II, orienteering spread throughout Europe and to Asia,
North America and Oceania. In Sweden in 1959, an international
orienteering conference was held. Representatives from 12 countries
(Austria, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, East and West
Germany, Hungary, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Yugoslavia)
participated. In 1961, orienteering organizations representing 10
European nations founded the International Orienteering Federation
(IOF). Since then, IOF has supported the founding of many national
orienteering federations. By 2006, 67 national orienteering
federations were member societies of the International Orienteering
Federation. These federations enabled the development of national
and world championships. World championships were held every two
years until 2003, then every year.
Throughout this time, orienteering has remained most popular in
Sweden. There, the two oldest recurring orienteering meets have
been held since the 1940s, and the single largest orienteering meet
has been held every year since 1965 and attracts around 15,000
competitors (see Jukola relay, Tiomila, and O-Ringen).
Source: Wikipedia