We describe the spectroscopic target selection for the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey. The input catalogue is drawn from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS). The initial aim is to measure redshifts for galaxies in three 4°× 12° regions at 9, 12 and 14.5 h, on the celestial equator, with magnitude selections r 0.2. From 2 yr out of a 3-yr AAOmega program on the Anglo-Australian Telescope, we have obtained 79 599 unique galaxy redshifts. Previously known redshifts in the GAMA region bring the total up to 98 497. The median galaxy redshift is 0.2 with 99 per cent at z < 0.5. We present some of the global statistical properties of the survey, including K-band galaxy counts, colour-redshift relations and preliminary n(z
