Country |
Start |
Notes |
Akrotiri |
1960 |
bef 1960:
see Cyprus
from 1960: as for Cyprus |
Albania |
1929 |
Institute
of Statistics (Instituti
i Statistikës) from 1994; previously local municipalities;
also check Central
State Archives in Tiranë; as an alternative source
of births and marriages consider the Population registers and
censuses from 1831. |
Andorra |
no
civil registration |
Austria |
1938 |
regional Vital Statistics Office (Standesamt)
The boundaries of Austria have changed over time. Your ancestor
may have said he was from Austria, but actually he may have
come from any of the countries that once belonged to the
Hapsburg Monarchy or Austro-Hungarian Empire. See
map |
Belarus |
1917 |
regional registry offices (ZAGS);
to locate appropriate office seek information from National
Center for Archives and Records Management in Minsk LINK |
Belgium |
1796 |
local municipality with decennial indexes available
copies held by Archives Générales du Royaume
for Brussels,
or, Archives de l'État
for the provinces
Note: 1955 Privacy Act:means 100 yr embargo
on access |
Bosnia
and Herzegovina |
1946 |
local registry offices. See also
map |
Bulgaria |
1893 |
regional Registry Offices (28
across the country); records patchy before 1945 |
Croatia |
1946 |
local registry offices. See also
map |
Cyprus |
1895 |
regional registry offices; (marriages from
1923) |
Czech republic |
1921 |
Municipal and sub
district vital records offices (matricní
úrady)
earlier examples include:
1885 mixed marriages and the chn of such marriages
1918 for non-Christians |
Denmark |
no civil registration except 1851
Copenhagen marriages |
Dhekelia |
1960 |
bef 1960:
see Cyprus
from 1960: as for Cyprus |
Estonia |
varies |
before 1926: State Registry Office
from 1926: Office of Vital Records |
Faroe Islands |
See Denmark |
Finland |
1922 |
for non-Lutherans only at local town
hall |
France |
1792 |
>100 years: county (départémentales)
archives
<100 years: local town
hall (mairie)
1871 fire destroyed many Paris records |
Germany |
1874–6
1792 Alsace-Lorraine
1850 Anhalt
1792 Baden
1866 Hamburg
1809 Hanover
1792 Hesse
1803 Hessen-Nassau
1811 Lübeck
1811 Oldenburg
1792 Pfalz
1795 Rhineland
1808 Westphalia
|
local
Registry Offices (Standesämt)
Current privacy laws:
births 110 yrs; marriages 80 yrs; deaths 30 yrs
(some states previously had registration 1808–12) |
Gibraltar |
Oct 1848 births
1869 deaths
Apr 1862 marriages |
The Registry
of Births
Birth registration not compulsory till
Jan 1887
Death registration
not compulsory till Dec 1912
Marriage registration
not compulsory till Jul 1902 |
Greece |
1831 |
pre-1925: local town
hall (Dimarheion)
also check county offices for copies(Nomarhia)
from 1925:Government Registry (Lixiarheion) |
Hungary |
Oct 1895 |
regional Registry Offices
(Anyakönyvi hivatal) or town
halls(Állami Nyilvántartási Hivatal)
with duplicates to 1980 at county or municipal archives
or the National Centre of Archives. See
map |
Iceland |
no civil registration |
Ireland |
1864 |
General Register Office; Apr 1845 Protestant
marriages |
Italy |
1810–14,
1866
1809 Abruzzo
1839 Savoy
1820 Sicily
1809 Tuscany
|
Registrar of Vital Statistics (Ufficio
dello Stato Civile)
at local municipality
or commune with copy at the State Archives (Archivio di
Stato); embargoed for 75 years; Extracts contain more information
than a certificate.
(earlier starts
were partial registrations) |
Jan Mayen |
See Norway |
Kaliningrad |
Administered
by Russia |
Kosovo |
|
Municipal Centre
for Civil Registration |
Latvia |
1906 |
from
1921: local civil registration office
pre-1921: Registry Office Archives |
Liechtenstein |
1878 |
Civil Registry Bureau in Vaduz |
Lithuania |
1940 |
Lithuanian Central Registry Archive (Vilniaus
civilinés metrikacijos dokumentu archyvas) in Vilnius LINK |
Luxembourg |
1796 |
records
held in the commune;
indexes to State Archives after 10 years; 100 year embargo on
births and marriages |
Macedonia |
1946 |
local registry offices |
Malta |
1863 |
Public Registry Office in Valletta |
Moldova |
1832 |
local mayor's office and county civil registration
offices (ZAGS); to locate appropriate office seek information
from Archives of Ancient Acts (civil registrations) in Kishinev
LINK
|
Monaco |
1792 |
mayor's office-embargoed to public |
Montenegro |
1946 |
Ask the State Archives of Montenegro (Drzavni
arhiv Crne Gore) in Cetinje where the records are located |
Netherlands, The |
1811 |
Central Bureau for Genealogy |
Norway |
no civil registration available
to the general public |
Poland |
1809 |
before 1906: Polish State Archives (AGAD)
in Warsaw
from 1906: local town
hall (Urzad Stanu Cywilnego)
LINK |
Portugal |
1911 |
optional in some areas from 1832; avail
to non-Catholics
from 1878; compulsory 1911
<100 years: regional Registry
Offices (Conservatórias do Registo Civil)
>100 years: district archives (Arquivos Distritais)
with copy to National Archives in Lisbon |
Romania |
1895 Banat
1919 Bessarabia
1919 Bukovina
1919 Dobruja
1832 Moldavia
1895 Transylvania
1831 Wallachia |
<75 years: town branches of the Office of
Vital Statistics (Oficiul Starii Civile)
>75 years: births
National Archives (Arhivelor Statului din Republica Socialista
România) in Bucharest; marriages/deaths People’s
Council (Consiliul Popular Starea Civila) in Bucharest |
San Marino |
1806 |
State Archives (Archivio di Stato)
in San Marino (see Italy) |
Serbia |
1895 Vojvodina
1946
|
local registry offices |
Slovakia |
1894 |
Municipal and sub
district vital records offices (matricné
úrady);
copies held by the National Archives (Achní Správa)
in Bratislava |
Slovenia |
1868
Istria
1895 Prekmurje
1924 Julian Region
|
National Archives (Arhiv Slovenije)
in Ljubljana
(former Hungarian districts start from 1895) |
Spain |
1870 |
local court (Juzgado de la
Paz ) or local registry office (Oficinia del
Registro Civil) and remain housed in the local municipal
archives; some municipalities
may have civil registration records beginning as early as 1837 |
Svalbard |
See Norway |
Sweden |
no civil registration until
1990s (Skatteverket) |
Switzerland |
1849 Fribourg
1798 Genève
1825 Neuchatel
1853
Valais
1800 Vaud
Jan 1876 rest
|
Civil Registrar (Zivilstandsamt);
prior to 1926 each registrar maintained 2 sets of records–A:
births, marriages,
deaths within the community; B: births, marriages, deaths of
its citizens away from the community LINK |
Turkey |
Mostly in Asia |
Ukraine |
1917 |
>100 years: Civil Registration Office in Warsaw
(Polish regime) or State Archives in Kiev
<100 years: regional registry offices (RAGS)
LINK
|
United Kingdom |
Jul 1837
England/Wales
1842 Guernsey
1842 Jersey
1878 Isle of Man
1864 Northern Ireland
1855 Scotland |
England/Wales: General Register Office
Northern Ireland: General Register Office;
Apr 1845 Protestant marriages
Scotland: New Register House
Isle of Man:
1849 marriages;1878
births & deaths
Guernsey:
1842 births/deaths; 1919 marriages |
Vatican City (Holy See) |
no civil registration |