  The distance scale to gamma ray bursts has been a subject of scientific
debate for almost thirty years. Up to the discovery of afterglows only indirect
methods could be used to constrain the distance scale to this objects. I review
some of these results, and show the current limits on the spatial distribution
and luminosity function of GRBs. The results obtained with different methods
indicate that gamma-ray bursts lie at the typical redshifts $z_{ave}$ between 1
and 2, however there can exist a long tail of the distribution stretching to
higher redshifts. The width of the GRB luminosity function (the ratio of the
intrinsic brightness of the brightest to the dimmest observed burst) estimated
from Beppo SAX bursts with redshifts is almost $10^3$.
