Geodesy from Mesopotamie to Global Geodetic Observing System

During the six millennia of the existence of the civilization on the Earth, surveying techniques have been experienced difficult foreseeable changes. The definition and role of geodesy have been changing accordingly. Geodesy has evolved from its original classic definition that "studying the movements of celestial bodies, the shape and dimensions of the Earth" in the "science which, beside it noted above, studies its changes and complex dynamic processes that ongoing inside the Earth, on the surface, above its surfaces, and evironment. The paper is overview of the geodetic techniques and the surveying instruments, cadastre and cartography in the ancien civilizations: Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt, antic Greece, ancient Rome, to the Europeans, from the 17th century to modern times. A detailed description devoted to surveying and geodetic works in Bosnia and Herzegovina, from the time of Ottoman Empire, through the Austro-Hungarian survey, to the modern achievements Global Geodetic Observing System-GGOS, the main component of the International Association of Geodesy described at the end.