A complete register or record of property ownership and land boundaries, especially for tax assessment purposes; a land registry.
From French 'cadastre,' derived from Italian 'catastro,' which came from Greek 'kata' (down) and 'stichon' (line), literally meaning 'down-line' or inventory. The system originated in Ottoman taxation methods.
Cadasters are the unsung infrastructure of civilization—without accurate land records, governments can't tax fairly, people can't prove ownership, and development grinds to a halt. Many developing nations are rushing to digitize cadasters as a path to economic stability.
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