According to the UN Ad Hoc group of experts on cadastral surveying and land information (1985) land is defined as an area of the surface of the earth together with the water, soil, rocks, minerals beneath or upon it and the air above it. It embraces all things related to a fixed area of the surface of the earth. Land in relation to land registration and cadastre and in general to land information systems to which they belong, concerns not only abstract or thematic attributes (legal status, value, tax data) but also physical, spatial or topographic attributes (location, dimensions, area, use).
LAND REGISTRATION
Land registration is a process of official recording of rights in land as title or through deeds on properties. It means that there is an official record (Land Register, Grundbuch) of rights on land or of deeds concerning changes in the legal situation of defined units of land. It gives an answer to the questions on who is the right holder and how are the rights established.
LAND CADASTRE
Land cadastre is a methodically arranged public inventory of data concerning properties within a certain country or district, based on a survey of their boundaries. The properties are systematically identified by means of some designation. The outlines of the property and the parcel identifier normally are shown on large scale maps, which, together with the inventory, may show the nature, size, value and legal rights associated with each parcel. It gives an answer to the questions where is the property located and what are the characteristics of the property. The Land Cadastre consists of a descriptive part and a cartographic part.
LAND ADMINISTRATION
Land registration and land cadastre usually complement each other. Land registration puts in principle the accent on the relation subject - right, whereas land cadastre puts the accent on the relation right - object. Because land registration and land cadastre complement each other the term land administration is used for the combination of them.
CADASTRE and LAND REGISTRY
The name Land Registry is used for the organization that is responsible for the land registration, while the name Cadastre is often used for the organization that is responsible for keeping the land cadastre. In some countries the name Cadastre is used for the organization that is responsible for the land administration because both registrations are in one hand.
In this paper the name Cadastre is used according to the last definition.
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This paper was prepared in oktober 1997 and presented by the author at a workshop in Bled (Slovenia) in the framework of a world bank project on the organisation of land and geo-information in Slovenia.