IARU World Amateur Radio Day
2024-04-18 - 2024-04-19
Every April 18, radio amateurs worldwide take to the airwavesin celebration of World Amateur Radio Day. It was on this day in 1925 thatthe International Amateur Radio Union was formed in Paris.

Amateur Radioexperimenters were the first to discover that the short wavespectrum — far from being a wasteland — could support worldwidepropagation. In the rush to use these shorter wavelengths, Amateur Radiowas “in grave danger of being pushed aside,” the IARU’s history hasnoted. Amateur Radio pioneers met in Paris in 1925 and created the IARU tosupport Amateur Radio worldwide.

Just two years later, at theInternational Radiotelegraph Conference, Amateur Radio gained theallocations still recognized today — 160, 80, 40, 20, and 10meters. Since its founding, the IARU has worked tirelessly to defend andexpand the frequency allocations for Amateur Radio. Thanks to the supportof enlightened administrations in every part of the globe, radio amateursare now able to experiment and communicate in frequency bands strategicallylocated throughout the radio spectrum. From the 25 countries that formedthe IARU in 1925, the IARU has grown to include 160 member-societies inthree regions. IARU Region 1 includes Europe, Africa, the Middle East,and Northern Asia. Region 2 covers the Americas, and Region 3 is comprisedof Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific island nations, and most of Asia.The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has recognized the IARU asrepresenting the interests of Amateur Radio.

Today, Amateur Radio ismore popular than ever, with more than 3,000,000 licensed operators!
