Flathead Tim Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 I'm researching the current popularity of geocaching for a magazine article and have searched unsuccessfully for some information. I'm hoping the community can help me with the answers. I'd like to have the accurate count of how many countries currently have geocaches in them and how many handheld GPS receivers have been sold worldwide. Any other numbers-based statistics are much appreciated. This is a sample of the information I have researched so far: 797,190 Number of geocaches hidden worldwide 1978 Year the first GPS satellite was launched 1995 Year the fully operational GPS system was in place 2000 Year the first geocache was hidden 60 GPS satellites launched 31 Current number of GPS satellites in service 12-20 Number of satellite channels a new GPS receiver can monitor Your help is greatly appreciated! Flathead Tim Quote Link to comment
+legacypac Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 There are geocaches in pretty much all the major countries now but popularity varies by country. Some points: On geocaching.com for example, there are only 165 in China right now, even though China is a huge country. When I visited Kuwait a couple years ago I found the only cache in the country at the time. However the sport is growing there - 65 listed today. Quote Link to comment
Andronicus Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 The numbers you gave are cool and all, but realy, it was in 2000 that the Selective Availability was turned off, enablin Geocaching to exsist. As for countries, continents ect, Geocaching.com's getting started section has lots of interesting info. Quote Link to comment
Flathead Tim Posted May 12, 2009 Author Share Posted May 12, 2009 I previously wrote an article for this same magazine explaining in detail the start of geocaching, including the selective availability issue being the reason the first cache could be found with any accuracy. The year 1995 was when the full system was in place, albeit watered down for civilian use. I know that hundreds of countries have geocaches. I'm not really concerned whether they have thousands or just a few. I'd just like an accurate count of how many countries have them as of 2009. This used to be listed on the home page of geocaching.com, but is no longer. I'd love to hear of any interesting stats you may have. Thanks for the help! Quote Link to comment
Flathead Tim Posted May 12, 2009 Author Share Posted May 12, 2009 (edited) Sorry. This was a duplicate post. I received an error from Groundspeak.com that my reply wasn't accepted. Edited May 12, 2009 by Flathead Tim Quote Link to comment
Flathead Tim Posted May 12, 2009 Author Share Posted May 12, 2009 (edited) Sorry. This was a duplicate post. I received an error from Groundspeak.com that my reply wasn't accepted. Edited May 12, 2009 by Flathead Tim Quote Link to comment
+wimseyguy Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 (edited) These are just forums where active cachers talk about stuff. If you want truly accurate numbers you should be contacting the marketing or media relations department at Groundspeak.com, not asking in the forums. According to the front page at this moment "There are 798,101 active geocaches around the world." and " There are 798,101 active caches worldwide. In the last 7 days, there have been 632,630 new logs written by 83,766 account holders. Check out the recent logs or photos." That is the best any of us could offer for truly accurate statistics worthy of publication in a respected magazine. Edited May 12, 2009 by wimseyguy Quote Link to comment
Flathead Tim Posted May 12, 2009 Author Share Posted May 12, 2009 Thanks for the advice. I'll try to reach the Groundspeak media relations folks. However, I've spoken to them in the past for simple things such as high res logos without any luck. Because geocachers in general are a very diverse group of people from many backgrounds, I figured someone may have covered this topic before or has access to statistical data that I haven't found. Quote Link to comment
+StarBrand Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 A few notes: The number of Geocaches you have is the current number of "active" caches - Far more have been placed and archived over time. Define country?? A few years back the site used to list all of the countries that had caches but then some "locals" got upset at the name for thier region. Or they asked why Groundspeak recognized them as a country when entity xyz didn't. Or they didn't want to be lumped in with abc. Yikes - got out of hand for a while. I think it is accurate enough to say that there is a high probability that every country has at least 1 geocache. But then dictator so-and-so will cut off some region and...... (you get the picture). New units can simutaneously monitor anywhere from 8 to 24 sats. Quote Link to comment
Flathead Tim Posted May 12, 2009 Author Share Posted May 12, 2009 A few notes: The number of Geocaches you have is the current number of "active" caches - Far more have been placed and archived over time. Define country?? A few years back the site used to list all of the countries that had caches but then some "locals" got upset at the name for thier region. Or they asked why Groundspeak recognized them as a country when entity xyz didn't. Or they didn't want to be lumped in with abc. Yikes - got out of hand for a while. I think it is accurate enough to say that there is a high probability that every country has at least 1 geocache. But then dictator so-and-so will cut off some region and...... (you get the picture). New units can simutaneously monitor anywhere from 8 to 24 sats. Thanks. Your explanation is very insightful. And thanks for correcting the monitoring fact. I'll be sure and update my info. Quote Link to comment
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