Surveying is the apportionment of land by measuring and mapping. It is employed to determine boundaries and property lines, and to plan construction projects. Surveying instruments are designed to precise (repeatable) and accurate apportionment measurements.

Throughout history, civilizations with high levels of sophistication in construction methods required surveys to ensure that work came out according to plan. Formal surveying on a large scale is thought to have originated in ancient Egypt as early as 2700 B.C., with the construction of the Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza, though the first recorded evidence of boundary surveying dates from 1400 B.C. in the Nile River valley.

The Roman Empire relied heavily on surveying. In order to forge an empire that stretched from the Scottish border to the Persian Gulf, a large system of roads, bridges, aqueducts, and canals was built, binding the country economically and militarily. Surveying was...