Fundamentals of Land Ownership Land Bou
Fundamentals of Land Ownership,
Land Boundaries, and Surveying
G J Donnelly
About the Paper
This paper has been prepared as an introductory paper to provide a general overview of key matters related to the ownership of land, and the boundaries which define the limitations of that ownership. The role of surveyors in the determination of land boundaries is also reviewed.
It has been commissioned by the Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and
Mapping (ICSM) to provide a guide for students and members of the general public who have an interest in the subject.
It is not a source of legal advice, nor is it intended as a complete and/or absolute treatise of the subject.
Contents
1.0
Introduction
2.0
Concepts of Land and Land Ownership
3.0
Land Boundaries
4.0
Surveyors and Surveying
5.0
References and Websites
6.0
Acknowledgements
7.0
About the Author
1.0 Introduction
1.1
Historical Perspective
The fundamentals of land ownership and land boundaries date back to the very roots of civilisation and matters relating to possession and control
(“ownership”) of land are well documented in historical records. Indeed, the territorial control of land has been a fundamental issue in the rise and fall of empires throughout history (eg the Roman Empire), and has been the cause of a great number of the world’s wars since civilisation began.
In the centuries BC, the importance of land ownership was focussed on arable lands used for productive agriculture, and even in those times there were issues associated with occupation and boundaries – “in 173 BC Lucius
Postumius Albinus, a statesman of the Roman Republic, was sent to
Campania (a region in Southern Italy) to separate the land of the state from that of private persons, because private land owners had slowly expanded their boundaries into public lands” (Lucius Postumius Albinus (Consul 173
BC) wiki 2011).
Biblical references to the Land of Israel, and its boundaries, can be found in
Genesis 15; Exodus 23;
Land Boundaries, and Surveying
G J Donnelly
About the Paper
This paper has been prepared as an introductory paper to provide a general overview of key matters related to the ownership of land, and the boundaries which define the limitations of that ownership. The role of surveyors in the determination of land boundaries is also reviewed.
It has been commissioned by the Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and
Mapping (ICSM) to provide a guide for students and members of the general public who have an interest in the subject.
It is not a source of legal advice, nor is it intended as a complete and/or absolute treatise of the subject.
Contents
1.0
Introduction
2.0
Concepts of Land and Land Ownership
3.0
Land Boundaries
4.0
Surveyors and Surveying
5.0
References and Websites
6.0
Acknowledgements
7.0
About the Author
1.0 Introduction
1.1
Historical Perspective
The fundamentals of land ownership and land boundaries date back to the very roots of civilisation and matters relating to possession and control
(“ownership”) of land are well documented in historical records. Indeed, the territorial control of land has been a fundamental issue in the rise and fall of empires throughout history (eg the Roman Empire), and has been the cause of a great number of the world’s wars since civilisation began.
In the centuries BC, the importance of land ownership was focussed on arable lands used for productive agriculture, and even in those times there were issues associated with occupation and boundaries – “in 173 BC Lucius
Postumius Albinus, a statesman of the Roman Republic, was sent to
Campania (a region in Southern Italy) to separate the land of the state from that of private persons, because private land owners had slowly expanded their boundaries into public lands” (Lucius Postumius Albinus (Consul 173
BC) wiki 2011).
Biblical references to the Land of Israel, and its boundaries, can be found in
Genesis 15; Exodus 23;
References: Collins English Dictionary, 1979, Collins Dictionary of the English Language (2001), Wm Geoscience Australia, 2010, State and Territory Borders, Australian Government http://www.ga.gov.au/education/geoscience-basics/dimensions/stateterritory-borders.html Geoscience Australia, 2011, Australia’s Jurisdiction, Australian Government