lantmäteri

Lantmäteri refers to the Swedish practice and field of land surveying and the public authority responsible for land surveying, cadastral registration and mapping in Sweden. As a discipline, lantmäteri deals with determining and documenting property boundaries, measuring land areas, and providing the geospatial information needed for land administration, planning and construction. In addition to surveying, the term is used for the Swedish government agency Lantmäteriet (The Swedish Mapping, Cadastral and Property Register Authority), which maintains the land register, carries out cadastral procedures, and produces official geographic data such as maps and topographic information.

Lantmäteriet's tasks include registering property boundaries and ownership, registering new properties through subdivision and merger of parcels (fastighetsbildning), maintaining the national coordinate reference system, producing and distributing maps and geographic data, and providing services to authorities, municipalities, businesses and the public. The agency collaborates with municipalities on urban planning, infrastructure planning and environmental management, and with the national property market.

Historically, lantmäteri grew from early state surveying efforts in the 17th century, established to support taxation, military defense and land administration. Today, lantmäteri operates as a government agency and is part of the national infrastructure for e-government and spatial data. It emphasizes openness, standardized data formats and digital services.