1. INTRODUCTION

2. PHOTOMETRIC MEAN MAGNITUDES  
2.1. Absolute Calibration of NIR P-W Relations  
2.2. Comparison with Published LMC P-L and P-W Relations  

3. AN INDEPENDENT DISTANCE TO THE LMC USING GALACTIC P-L AND P-W RELATIONS  
3.1. Absolute Calibration of NIR Galactic Relations  
3.2. Distance to the LMC  

4. A DISTANCE TO THE ANDROMEDA GALAXY (M31)  
4.1. NIR P-L and P-W Relations  
4.2. The Distance to M31  

5. DISTANCES TO LOCAL GROUP GALAXIES

6. CONCLUSIONS