The BBC made its first regular overseas broadcast on 19 December 1932.

From the outset it insisted on the same freedom from Government control as the BBC's domestic services.

The policy was upheld when Government funding was introduced with the launch of the Arabic Service – the first foreign language service – in 1938.

Services to Latin America in Spanish and Portuguese were also launched in 1938 and, following the Munich Crisis in the autumn of that year, transmissions to Europe began in French, German and Italian.

During the Second World War parts of what is now the World Service moved into Bush House.

The historic building in the centre of London remains the organisation's radio headquarters today.

By the end of the war, the BBC was broadcasting in 45 languages.

Since the Forties – when Germany attempted to stop BBC programmes from being heard in Europe – BBC broadcasts have experienced jamming.

During the Cold War, the Russian Service was jammed for a total of 24 years, as were some other services to the former Soviet Bloc. Soviet jamming finally stopped in January 1988.

During the Nineties, Burma, China, Iraq and Libya have all attempted to jam BBC transmissions.

BBC World Service Mandarin short wave transmissions are still jammed in China.

In recent years, the World Service's role in bringing accurate, impartial information to audiences has been vividly demonstrated during a series of world events such as the conflicts in Kosovo and Chechnya, September 11, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the Asian tsunami.

This has coincided with a growing demand for the World Service's global perspective from the most highly advanced media societies such as the United States.

The development of the internet is rapidly giving new access to audiences all over the world.