FIG is the premier international organization representing the interests of surveyors worldwide. It is a federation of the national member associations and covers the whole range of professional fields within the global surveying, geomatics, geodesy and geo-information community. It provides an international forum for discussion and development aiming to promote professional practice and standards. FIG was founded on July 18 1878 in Paris by delegates from seven national associations - Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Spain and Switzerland - and was known as the Fédération Internationale des Géomètres. This has become anglicized to the International Federation of Surveyors. It is a UN-recognized non-government organization (NGO), representing more than 120 countries throughout the world, and its aim is to ensure that the disciplines of surveying and all who practise them meet the needs of the markets and communities that they serve. Surveying is a modern profession acting worldwide for a better infrastructure for our society and planet earth. The International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) wants to keep, and even improve, its role as the premier non-governmental organisation that represents the interests of surveyors worldwide.