Land navigation

{{about|overland navigation|the sport|Orienteering|the general concept|Navigation#Land navigation}}

File:US Army 52149 Sgt. Joines on the night course.jpg orienteering course during the 2009 Department of the Army Best Warrior Competition at Fort Lee, Virginia]]

Land navigation is the discipline of following a route through unfamiliar terrain on foot or by vehicle, using maps with reference to terrain, a compass, and other navigational tools.The Handbook Of The SAS And Elite Forces. How The Professionals Fight And Win. Edited by Jon E. Lewis. p.363-Tactics And Techniques, Personal Skills And Techniques. Robinson Publishing Ltd 1997. ISBN 1-85487-675-9 It is distinguished from travel by traditional groups, such as the Tuareg{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3d69BAAAQBAJ&dq=tuareg+desert+navigation&pg=PA24|title=Quo Vadis: Evolution of Modern Navigation: The Rise of Quantum Techniques|last=Major|first=F. G.|date=2013-10-16|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=9781461486725|language=en}} across the Sahara and the Inuit{{Cite web|url=https://www.sensorystudies.org/inuit-orienting-traveling-along-familiar-horizons/|title=Inuit Orienting: Traveling Along Familiar Horizons|last=Aporta|first=Claudio|date=2003|website=Sensory Studies|publisher=University of Alberta|language=en-US|access-date=2018-12-25}} across the Arctic, who use subtle cues to travel across familiar, yet minimally differentiated terrain.

Land navigation is a core military discipline, which uses courses or routes that are an essential part of military training. Often, these courses are several miles long in rough terrain and are performed under adverse conditions, such as at night or in the rain.

{{Citation

| last = Ministry of Defence

| author-link = Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

| title = Manual of map reading and land navigation

| place = Great Britain

| publisher = Ministry of Defense (United Kingdom)

| year = 1988

| pages = 255 }}

In the late 19th century, land navigation developed into the sport of orienteering.{{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}} The earliest use of the term 'orienteering' appears to be in 1886. Nordic military garrisons began orienteering competitions in 1895.{{cite web

|url=http://orienteering.org/about-the-iof/history/

|title=History : International Orienteering Federation

|access-date=2012-06-26

}}