Parcelle

Parcelle refers to a clearly bounded portion of land that forms a discrete unit within a larger property, farm, or surveying grid. In many French-speaking countries, parcelles are the basic units used by land registries and cadastres to describe ownership and boundaries.

Parcelles are recorded on cadastral plans and mapped with precise boundaries. Each parcel receives an identifier, such as a parcel number, and an official area measurement, typically in square meters or hectares. The legal description of property relies on these parcel boundaries rather than vague tract descriptions.

Sizes vary widely: urban parcelles can be small lots, while rural parcelles may cover large fields. Parcelles can be subdivided into smaller lots for development, or several parcels can be combined for sale or transfer. Subdivision often requires planning or building permissions and must align with zoning and land-use regulations.

In agriculture, parcelles are used to manage crop rotations, fertilizers, and irrigation on a per-parcel basis. In real estate, the sale or mortgage refers to specific parcelles, sometimes with land-use restrictions or zoning requirements. The formal status of a parcel in a registry affects taxation, succession, and property rights.

The term is common in France, Belgium, Switzerland, and parts of Canada, where cadastre and land registration systems use parcel-based descriptions. In other languages, analogous terms include parzelle in German and perceel in Dutch; English uses parcel, though that term has a broader sense. Related topics include cadastral maps, land registry, property deeds, zoning, and land use planning.