Shortwave listening, or
SWLing, is the
hobby of listening to
shortwave radio broadcasts located on
frequencies between 1700
kHz and 30
MHz. Listeners range from casual users seeking international news and entertainment programming, to hobbyists immersed in the technical aspects of radio reception and collecting official confirmations (
QSL cards) that document their reception of distant broadcasts (
DXing). In some developing countries, shortwave listening enables remote communities to obtain regional programming traditionally provided by local
medium wave AM broadcasters. One 2002 estimate placed the number of shortwave listeners worldwide in the hundreds of millions.