Place of birth

"Birthplace" redirects here. For the Henry James short story, seeThe Birthplace.

Theplace of birth(POB) orbirthplaceis the place where a person wasborn.This place is often used in legal documents, together withnameand date of birth, to uniquely identify a person. Practice regarding whether this place should be a country, a territory or a city/town/locality differs in different countries, but often city or territory is used for native-born citizen passports and countries for foreign-born ones.

As a general rule with respect to passports, if the place of birth is to be a country, it's determined to be the country that currently hassovereigntyover the actual place of birth, regardless of when the birth actually occurred.The place of birth is not necessarily the place where the parents of the new baby live. If the baby is born in ahospitalin 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.

Some countries place less or no importance on the place of birth, instead using alternative geographical characteristics for the purpose of identity documents. For example,Swedenhas used the concept offödelsehemort( "domicile of birth" ) since 1947. This means that thedomicileof the baby's mother is the registered place of birth.The location of the maternity ward or other physical birthplace is considered unimportant.

Similarly,Switzerlanduses the concept ofplace of origin.A child born to Swiss parents is automatically assigned the place of origin of the parent with the same last name, so the child either gets their mother's or father's place of origin. A child born to one Swiss parent and one foreign parent acquires the place of origin of their Swiss parent. In aSwiss passportandidentity card,the holder's place of origin is stated, not their place of birth. In Japan, theregistered domicileis a similar concept.

In some countries(primarily in theAmericas),the place of birth automatically determines thenationalityof the baby, a practice often referred to by theLatin phrasejus soli.Almost all countries outside the Americas instead attribute nationality based on the nationality(-ies) of the baby's parents (referred to asjus sanguinis).

There can be some confusion regarding the place of birth if the birth takes place in an unusual way: when babies arebornon anairplaneor atsea,difficulties can arise. The place of birth of such a person depends on the law of the countries involved, which include the nationality of the plane or ship, the nationality(-ies) of the parents and/or the location of the plane or ship (if the birth occurs in theterritorial watersorairspaceof a country).

Some administrative forms may request the applicant's "country of birth". It is important to determine from the requester whether the information requested refers to the applicant's "place of birth" or "nationality at birth". For example, US citizens born abroad who acquire US citizenship at the time of birth, the nationality at birth will be USA (American), while the place of birth would be the country in which the actual birth takes place.

Reference list

• 8 FAM 403.4 Place of Birth