Place of birth
The place of birth (POB) is the place where a person was born. This place is often used in legal documents, together with name and date of birth, to uniquely identify a person. The place of birth is not necessarily the place where the parents of the new baby live. If the baby is born in a hospital in another place, that place is the place of birth. In many countries, this also means that the government requires that the birth of the new baby is registered in the place of birth.
In other countries, e.g. in Sweden since 1947, there is a concept of födelsehemort ("domicile of birth"), which means that the domicile of the baby's mother is the registered place of birth.[1] The location of the maternity ward or other physical birthplace is considered unimportant.
Sometimes the place of birth automatically determines the nationality of the baby, a practice often referred to with the Latin phrase jus soli (it depends on the Law of the country to give the nationality). More often, this (also) depends on the nationality or nationalities of the parents (what is referred to as "jus sanguinis").
There can be some confusion on the place of birth if the birth takes place in an unusual way: when babies are born in an airplane or at sea, difficulties can arise. Generally, in those cases, the nationality of the children, under the statements of "Jus soli", follows the flag of the plane or ship.
References
- ↑ "Newborn children are registered as born in the parish where the mother was registered at the time of delivery." Tables on the population of Sweden 2006, page 430 ISBN 978-91-618-1383-4