A land cadastre is the authoritative register of property parcels, documenting their geometry, ownership, value and use. Because jurisdictions pursue divergent fiscal, legal and planning goals, numerous cadastre types have emerged—legal (juridical), fiscal, multipurpose, marine, urban 3-D, and crowdsourced community cadastres among them. This paper reviews the historical evolution and design principles of these types, analyses the factors that drive their adoption, and presents a comparative synthesis drawn from 24 national case studies. Two original tables summarise (i) the defining characteristics, core data layers and governance institutions of each cadastre type, and (ii) the implementation status of those types across selected countries..