Since its conception in 1907, the scout movement has spread from its native UK to 216 countries and territories around the world. There are over 28 million Scouters worldwide, with 153 National Organisations governed by the World Organization of the Scout Movement. A further 26 territories have Scouting, often as branches of other Organisations. 37 countries have Scouting but are not members of WOSM. 6 countries have no Scouting provision.

Countries with Scouting

Australia

The game of Scouting was played by boys in the Commonwealth of Australia as early as 1908, the year the first Boy Scout Training handbook Scouting for Boys was published in England. The visits made to Australia by Robert Baden-Powell in 1912 and in later years (1931–34) encouraged the extension of the Movement in Australia.

Austria

In 1910, the first Austrian Scout group—still in existence today—was founded in Wiener Neustadt. Girl Guide groups followed in 1913. Österreichischer Pfadfinderbund (Austrian Scout Federation), founded in 1914, joined WOSM in 1922. All Scout groups were disbanded in 1938 and scouting activities forbidden until 1945. A highlight of Austrian scouting history was the 7th World Scout Jamboree in Bad Ischl in 1951, with 12,884 participants from 61 countries. Today, Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen Österreichs (PPÖ, Austrian Scouts and Girl Guides) is the biggest of the national organisations.

Canada

Canada is the only country in the world that possesses two chairs at the World Organization of the Scout Movement: one for the Scouts Canada and another for the Association des Scouts du Canada (which is mostly for the French part of Canada).

Chile

In 1909, the second Scout Association of the world was founded in Chile. It was inspired by the direct influence of Robert Baden-Powell himself who visted the country that same year. The founder of the Chilean Scouting movement was Alcibíades Vicencio . The Girl Guide Association of Chile was founded in 1935. After a long process, the two national associations, The Chilean Scout Association and The Catholic Scout Federation merged in 1978 to form the Asociación de Guías y Scouts de Chile . An important milestone in Chilean Scouting was to be host of the 19th World Scout Jamboree in 1998/1999.

Czech Republic

In 1911 Professor Antonín_Benjamin_Svojsík founded the first Czech scout troop in what is now the Czech Republic. The following year the first camp was held and Svojsík, inspired by Baden-Powell, published a book, Základy junáctví, with his ideas about Czech scouting. In 1914, a formal organization, Junák-Česky skaut, was founded.

Finland

In Finland the scouting movement was viewed by some as a right-wing political youth organization, as opposed to the Pioneers, a left-wing youth organization. Today the Finnish scout organization asserts that it is a nonpolitical organization. Religious neutrality can be seen in the Finnish scout promise, which begins "I promise to love my god..." However, some still see a clear emphasis on Christianity.

Germany

In 1909 first scout groups formed in Germany. Scouting there met with the German Youth Movement, of which the Wandervogel is a part. Both influenced each other heavily, whose effects are still present today.

Hong Kong

Scout activities were first brought to Hong Kong by British merchants and military personnel. In 1913, the Hong Kong Branch was formally registered with the London Headquarters of the Boy Scouts Association (now "The Scout Association"). The first Scout group, St. Joseph's College group, was inaugurated in 1914. As more and more youngsters joined the Scouts activities, the Cub Scouts was formed in 1916. On 15th April 1977, the Hong Kong Branch was admitted as the 111th member of the World Organization of Scout Movement and known as "Scout Association of Hong Kong". As at December 2003, the membership of the Association stood at 95,615 with a total number of 2,495 Scout Groups. The Association is the largest youth uniformed organization in Hong Kong.

Israel

In Israel, the Scouting movement began in 1919 as a non-political organization but reflecting Zionist and Jewish-oriented ideas. However, in contrast to other places in the world, it never separated boys and girls. Despite an early attempt to have an integrated Jewish-Arab movement, the two are now separate.

Malaysia

Among the states in Peninsular Malaysia, Pahang (in a place called Pekan) was first to have started a scouting movement. The movement was founded by G.M. Laidlow. But the movement was inactive until 1927 when it was under the leadership of H.P. Hertslet and then Wheelr and Frisby from the Pahang Educational Office.

H.R.Cheeseman of the Penang Free School started the scouts movement in Penang in 1915. Cheeseman served in the Malayan scouts movement as a Malayan Scout Assistant Commisioner for thirteen years.

The founding of scouts movements in the other states of Malaysia were:

• 1913 - Sarawak (active only from 1930 onwards).
• 1915 - Sabah, in Sandakan.
• 1922 - Kedah, by E.A.G.Stuart, R.P.S. Walker and C.W.Bloomfield.
• 1926 - Perak, by I.R. Wheeler in the Maktab Melayu Kuala Kangsar.
• 1926 - Melaka, by Brunstone.
• 1926 - Negeri Sembilan, by Brunstone.
• 1926 - Selangor, by Ameen Akbar.
• 1927 - Terengganu, by A.J.Gracle.
• 1927 - Kelantan, by Y.M.Tengku Ahmad Temenggong.
• 1928 - Johor, by H.R. Cheeseman in the English College (now Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar).
• 1931 - Perlis.

The Malaysian Scouts Headquarters, the BP House, is located in Jalan Hang Jebat, Kuala Lumpur. BP House was opened on the 5th January 1957 to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the World Scouting Movement.

Philippines

The Boys Scout of the Philippines began in 1923 with the organization of the Philippine Council of the Boy Scouts of America (the Philippines being an American Commonwealth at the time). The Philippines became an independent Scouting nation in 1936 with the transition of the Philippine Council into the Boy Scouts of the Philippines. In 1940 the Girl Scouts of the Philippines was founded. In 1959, the 10th World Scout Jamboree held in Mt. Makiling, Los Baños, Laguna. First world scout jamboree held in Asia.

Poland

For more information on scouting in Poland see: Polish Scouting and Guiding Association

In Poland the scouting movement was started in 1910. In 1918, after Poland regained her independence, the Polish Scouting and Guiding Association was founded. It is currently the biggest of all the scouting associations in Poland.

Russia

In 1908, Baden-Powell’s book “Scouting for Boys” came out in Russia by the order of Tsar Nicholas II. It was called “Юный разведчик” (Yuniy razvedchik, or young scout). On April 30, 1909 a young officer Oleg Pantyukhov organized the first Russian scout unit “Бобр” (Bobr, or beaver) in Pavlovsk (a town near Tsarskoye Selo). In 1910, Baden-Powell visited Nicholas II in Tsarskoye Selo and they had a very pleasant conversation—that is how the Tsar remembered it. In 1914, they established a society called “Русский скаут” (Russkiy skaut, or Russian scout), which was supposed to cultivate devotion to monarchism in the hearts of the young, among other things. By 1916, there were about 50,000 scouts in Russia. Nicholas's son – Tsarevich Aleksei – was a scout himself.

After the October Revolution of 1917, some scouts took the Bolsheviks' side, which would later lead to the establishment of ideologically-altered scoutlike organizations, such as “ЮК” (Юные Коммунисты, or young communists; pronounced as yuk) and others.

During the Russian Civil War in 1918–1920, most of the scoutmasters and many scouts fought in the ranks of the White Army and interventionists against the Red Army.

Those scouts, who did not wish to accept new Soviet realities, either left Russia for good (like Pantyukhov and others) or went underground.

However, clandestine scoutism did not last long. Komsomol persistently fought with the remnants of the scout movement. Between 1918 and 1920, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th All-Russian Congresses of the Russian Union of the Communist Youth (Российский коммунистический союз молодёжи, or Rossiyski kommunisticheskiy soyuz molodyozhi) decided to eradicate the scout movement and create an organization of the communist type, that would take Soviet youth under its umbrella.

Nadezhda Krupskaya (Vladimir Lenin's wife) was one of the chief contributors to the cause of the pioneer movement. In 1922, she wrote an essay called “Russian Union of the Communist Youth and boy-scoutism”, which fully renounced the values of the original scout movement and advertised a communist approach to teenagers. Despite the ideological coloring, sports, games, tourism, and surviving skills have always played a significant role in the upbringing of the pioneers.

On May 19, 1922 the 2nd All-Russian Komsomol Conference decided to create pioneer units all over the country. This day is considered the birthday of the All-Soviet Pioneer Organization (Всесоюзная пионерская организация, or Vsesoyuznaya pionerskaya organizatsiya), named after Vladimir Lenin.

The scout movement was reformed in Russia only at the beginning of the 1990s.

Singapore

See also: The Singapore Scout Association

Scouting began in Singapore in 1908 (some say 1910) by Frank Cooper Sands (an English explorer), before it spread to other parts of the Straits Settlements. In Singapore, F.C. Sands started scouting activities for British youths in 1910. Scouting for local boys were only started in 1919 by Captain N.M. Hashim and A.Z. Alsagoff.

UK

a scout march in Oxford, 2004

In the UK, the Boy Scout Association was formed in 1908. It was granted a Royal Charter by King George V in 1912. That charter was an Imperial Charter which gave the Association legal effect throughout the Empire. Those under age eleven were named "Wolf Cubs" (often abbreviated to just "Cubs"), and graduated to "Boy Scout" at that age. Older members belonged to a section, established in 1919, named "Rover Scouts".

The Association changed its name to The Scout Association in 1967 as part of a package of radical reform and modernisation. "Boy" was dropped from the title, and a new uniform with long trousers was introduced to eliminate the "Boer War appearance". Senior Scouts and Rovers were abolished, and Venture Scouts were introduced for the older 15 to 20 age range.

In 1976 girls were allowed into the movement as Venture Scouts . This was extended as an option to all sections of the movement in the late 1980s, along with additional reforms to the uniform including the introduction of sweatshirts.

In the early 1980s, the leaders of children aged between 6 and 8 (called Beavers) were allowed to become members of the Association, while the children themselves were not. This changed on April 1, 1986, when Beavers became Beaver Scouts overnight. There was initially only one badge to be earned, but this had expanded to three by 1995, and was expanded further as part of the reform package below.

As a result of another review, 2003 effectively saw the reversal of one of the 1967 changes, with Venture Scouts being replaced with Explorer Scouts (14–18 age range) and the Scout Network (18–25). In 2004, completing this reform package, a new training procedure for Adult Members was introduced. This comprises 36 modules, with titles such as "Managing Challenging Behaviour" and "Valuing Diversity". New leaders must complete specific modules in order to gain the "Wood Badge" and be fully qualified. This system is intended to allow training to fit around the specific requirements of individules, with various methods of completion. Prior to this, there were two courses, Leadership One and Two, which were overnight courses, run over a number of weekends.

USA

Scouting in the USA began in 1910

In the United States, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), founded in 1910, and the Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) represent the Scouting movement.

References

Boy/Girl admission in National SOs

World Scouting Statistics

External links

WOSM