Surveying is the technique and science of accurately finding out the position of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually, but not always, associated with positions on the surface of the Earth. They are often used to make land maps and boundaries for ownership of land. A person who does the surveying is called a surveyor. In order to find the information they need, surveyors use geometry, engineering, trigonometry, mathematics, physics, and law.

Surveying has been very important in the development of the human environment since the beginning of recorded history (approximately 5000 years ago) and it is a requirement planning of nearly every form of construction. Its most common uses are in the fields of transport, building and construction, communications, mapping, and the making of legal boundaries for land ownership.

Surveying has existed throughout much of our history. In ancient Egypt, when the Nile River overflowed its banks and washed out farm boundaries, the boundaries were recreated by surveyors using simple geometry. The construction of many of the pyramids, including the Great Pyramids of Giza, built c. 2700 BCE, show us that the Egyptians always used surveying very efficiently.