The first item in this chapter is an explanation of how the exact distance to the centre of our galaxy, the Milky Way, is measured, using radio emission from astronomical masers close to the central supermassive black hole, This is followed by a description of the now famous observation, using a radio interferometer with its component telescopes all around the Earth, of the emission from immediately around this black hole. Next comes the first global map of the Galaxy disc made using the emission from interstellar atomic hydrogen, and also from the ionized hydrogen around clusters of hot stars, and thirdly from the carbon monoxide molecule, which acts as a tracer for molecular hydrogen. Next we take a look at the Galactic bar (the Milky Way is a barred spiral) and see how modern astrometric satellite studies show us that the disc is warped and flared at its edges. The shapes of the warp and the flare can be reproduced using a model in which the Galaxy has a large dark matter halo, with its axis tilted with respect to the disc spin axis. We are then shown the galaxy observed in X-rays and gamma rays. There follows an explanation of how the ages of different populations of stars are measured, and show the distinct origins of the two concentric discs: thin and thick. Finally we see how the Galaxy has evolved over time by absorbing local dwarf galaxies and interstellar gas clouds.