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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 April 2016
The review concerns the use of Miras and OH/IR stars as probes of Galactic structure and concentrates on groups of stars with both kinematic and luminosity data. The reliability of distance determinations for these stars is covered in some depth. Kinematic and scale height data for local Miras suggest that those with pulsation periods of around 200 day are members of the thick disk or inner halo. Longer-period stars are kinematically cooler and have smaller scale heights. Stars with moderate dust shells, which may be more evolved, seem to belong to the same population as thin-shelled sources with the same pulsation period. Our current knowledge of the structure of the Galactic Bulge is reviewed, as is our understanding of its rotation as derived from observations of SiO Masers from Mira variables. Infrared and radio surveys, in progress or planned, offer us the potential to extend the study of low-mass metal-rich stars well beyond the solar neighbourhood.