# Volksmarching

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{{Short description|Fitness walking}}
'''Volksmarching''' (from German "{{Lang|de|Volksmarsch}}", ''people's march'') is a form of non-competitive [fitness walking](/source/fitness_walking) that developed in Europe in the mid-late 1960s. By 1968, the International Federation of Popular Sports (better known as the "IVV") was formed by Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. The national emblems of these four countries were placed in a wreath to form the symbol IVV.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sites.google.com/site/wiesbadeniwc/club-information/wiwc-creation|title=About Volksmarching |publisher=Wiesbaden International Wandering Club|access-date=29 April 2017}}</ref> The IVV Headquarters is located in Altötting, Germany (Bavaria) and the official languages of the IVV are English and German, though French is also used unofficially.<ref> [http://www.ivv-web.org/pages/en/pdf/The%20IVV%20-%20An%20Overview%20Dec%202016%20EN.pdf IVV Handbook, p. 2]</ref>

Though walking is the primary activity, the volkssporting movement also includes bicycling, swimming, cross-country skiing or snow-shoeing, and other approved activities.<ref name=IVV-5>[http://www.ivv-web.org/pages/en/pdf/The%20IVV%20-%20An%20Overview%20Dec%202016%20EN.pdf IVV Handbook, p. 5]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ava.org/policymanual/POLICY%20MANUAL%20-%20DO%20NOTE%20DELETE%20-%2011-11-2016.pdf|title=AVA Policy Manual, Section 4.02|pages= 20–23|access-date=29 April 2017}}</ref> Special provisions also allow for people with disabilities to participate in most events. Participants typically walk {{convert|5|km|mi|sp=us}}, {{convert|10|km|mi|sp=us}}, {{convert|20|km|mi|sp=us}} or longer, on a predetermined outdoor path or trail, with the aid of posted signs or markings, or a map and a set of written directions. Volksmarching associations offer [incentive](/source/incentive) awards (including certificates, [pins](/source/award_pin) and patches) for participating in a certain number of events and for covering different cumulative distances over time. Volksmarching participants enjoy recording distances and event participation in international record books.<ref>http://ava.org/about2.php – see "Facts & Figures"</ref>

IVV members around the world organize more than 7,500 events each year for an estimated participation of 10,000,000 people.<ref name=IVV-5/> People of all ages and abilities participate. As of 2019, IVV Membership includes 29 National Federations (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland/Liechtenstein, Southern Tyrol, Taiwan and the United States) as well as 12 additional "direct members" in Andorra, CapVerde, Croatia, Ireland, Indonesia, Lithuania, New Zealand, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia and Spain—representing 4,000 local clubs and making volkssporting available in at least 40 countries worldwide. Members are loosely organized under three geographic groupings: IVV-Europe, IVV-Asia and IVV-Americas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ivv-web.org/pages/en/directmembersclubs.en.php|title=International Federation of Popular Sports|access-date=29 April 2017}}</ref> Less frequently used terms are ''{{Lang|de|Volkswanderung}}'' and ''Volkswalk''.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.ivv-web.org/ Internationaler Volkssportverband – IVV (International Federation of Popular Sports)]
* [http://www.ava.org/ American Volkssport Association (AVA)]
* [https://www.bwf-ivv.org.uk/ British Walking Federation (BWF)]
* [http://www.walks.ca/ The Canadian Volkssport Federation (CVF)]
* [http://www.ffsp.fr/  French Volksport Federation (FFSP)] (IVV France)
* [http://www.dvv-wandern.de German Volkssportverband (DVV)] 
* [http://ivv-jva.com/ Japan Volkssport Association (JVA)](IVV-JAPAN)

Category:Walking
Category:Hiking

{{sport-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Volksmarching](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volksmarching) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volksmarching?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.