Editing Orienteering (section)

==History==
{{main|History of orienteering}}

The history of orienteering begins in the late 19th century in [[Sweden]]. The actual term "orientering" (the original Swedish name for orienteering, lits. "orientation") was first used in 1886 at the [[Military Academy Karlberg|Swedish Military Academy Karlberg]] and meant the crossing of unknown land with the aid of a map and a compass.<ref name=iof_past_present>{{cite web|url=http://www.orienteering.org/i3/index.php?/iof2006/iof/past_present|title=Past & present|publisher=International Orienteering Federation|access-date=2008-09-28|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080802131200/http://www.orienteering.org/i3/index.php?%2Fiof2006%2Fiof%2Fpast_present|archive-date=2008-08-02}}</ref> In Sweden, orienteering grew from [[Military education and training|military training]] in [[land navigation (military)|land navigation]] into a competitive sport for military officers, then for civilians. The name is derived from a word root meaning to find the direction or location. The first civilian orienteering competition open to the public was held in [[Norway]] in 1897, when [[Norway]] was still a part of the [[Union_between_Sweden_and_Norway|Swedish Union]].<ref name=iof_past_present/>

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 Church|Spånga kyrka]] and [[Bromma Church|Bromma kyrka]] (a [[round church]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.orientering.se/t2.asp?p=3398 |title=Milstolpar i utvecklingen |publisher=Svenska Orienteringsförbundet |language=sv |access-date=2008-09-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926233231/http://www.orientering.se/t2.asp?p=3398 |archive-date=September 26, 2007 }}</ref>

[[File:World Orienteering Championships 2007 - middle distance 04.jpg|thumb|World Orienteering Championships 2007 in [[Kyiv]], [[Ukraine]]. Winners of middle-distance event: [[Simone Niggli-Luder]], [[Switzerland]], and [[Thierry Gueorgiou]], [[France]]]]

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 Germany|East]] and [[West Germany]], [[Hungary]], Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]]) participated.<ref name=iof_past_present/>  In 1961, orienteering organizations representing 10 European nations<!-- 10 national federations? --> founded the [[International Orienteering Federation]] (IOF). Since then, IOF has supported the founding of many national orienteering federations. By 2010, 71 national orienteering federations were member societies of the [[International Orienteering Federation]].<ref name=iof_nations>{{cite web|url=http://www.orienteering.org/i3/index.php?/iof2006|title=National Federations|publisher=International Orienteering Federation|access-date=2006-02-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061227191403/http://www.orienteering.org/i3/index.php?%2Fiof2006|archive-date=2006-12-27|url-status=dead}}</ref> These federations enabled the development of national and world championships. World championships were held every two years until 2003, then every year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.orienteering.asn.au/promotion/facts/History/|title=Orienteering: A Brief History|publisher=Orienteering Australia|access-date=2008-11-13|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080719230326/http://www.orienteering.asn.au/promotion/facts/History/|archive-date=2008-07-19}}</ref>

Throughout this time, orienteering has remained most popular in [[Scandinavia]]. There, the two oldest recurring orienteering meets have been held since the 1940s ([[Jukola relay]] and [[Tiomila]]), and the single largest orienteering meet has been held every year since 1965 and attracts around 15,000 competitors ([[O-Ringen]]).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hs.fi/english/article/The+Jukola+Relay+is+about+much+more+than+orienteering+/1135228145846|title=The Jukola Relay is about much more than orienteering|last=Pulkkinen|first=Sanna|newspaper=Helsingin Sanomat|access-date=2008-11-13|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070629121925/https://www.hs.fi/english/article/The+Jukola+Relay+is+about+much+more+than+orienteering+/1135228145846/|archivedate=2007-06-29}}</ref>

Typically, orienteering is run in wild terrain. In its Scandinavian origins, this typically meant in the [[forest]], but orienteering in open [[fell]], [[heathland]], [[moorland]] and other mixed terrain is also common. Orienteering in [[town]]s has been common for many years. Street-O has typically been a low-key affair; score events, often at night, normally as informal training events. The [[Venice]] street-O is notable for attracting a large international participation. With Park World Tour<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.parkworldtour.org/|title=Park World Tour|access-date=2021-06-25}}</ref> races and other (e.g. World championships) elite sprint races often being held in urban areas, and the development of a map specification for urban areas (ISSOM), from the mid-2000s, Street-O has been rebranded as urban orienteering, and has taken itself rather more seriously, with full colour maps and electronic punching, and may now be regarded as a serious competition with inclusion in national ranking lists.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.britishorienteering.org.uk/page/rankings|title=British Orienteering Rankings|access-date=2012-02-05}}</ref> Such urban races are often much longer than the sprint distance.