Modern competitive archery

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Modern competitive archery involves shooting arrows at a target for accuracy and precision from a set distance or distances. This is the most popular form of competitive archery worldwide and is called target archery. A form particularly popular in Europe, North America, and South America is field archery, shot at targets generally set at various distances in a wooded setting. There are also several other lesser-known and historical forms, as well as archery novelty games.

The World Archery Federation (WA, also and formerly known as FITA from the French Fédération Internationale de Tir à l'Arc), composed of 156 national federations and other archery associations, is the governing body recognized by the International Olympic Committee. Various other large organizations exist with different rules.