Population (national level) (demo_pop)

National Reference Metadata in Euro SDMX Metadata Structure (ESMS)

Compiling agency: Italian National Institute of Statistics – ISTAT


Eurostat metadata
Reference metadata
1. Contact
2. Metadata update
3. Statistical presentation
4. Unit of measure
5. Reference Period
6. Institutional Mandate
7. Confidentiality
8. Release policy
9. Frequency of dissemination
10. Accessibility and clarity
11. Quality management
12. Relevance
13. Accuracy
14. Timeliness and punctuality
15. Coherence and comparability
16. Cost and Burden
17. Data revision
18. Statistical processing
19. Comment
Related Metadata
Annexes (including footnotes)
 



For any question on data and metadata, please contact: Eurostat user support

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1. Contact Top
1.1. Contact organisation

Italian National Institute of Statistics – ISTAT
1.2. Contact organisation unit

Population register, demographic statistics and life conditions
1.5. Contact mail address

Viale Liegi 13

00198 Rome

ITALY


2. Metadata update Top
2.1. Metadata last certified 11/12/2023
2.2. Metadata last posted 11/12/2023
2.3. Metadata last update 09/02/2024


3. Statistical presentation Top
3.1. Data description

Data and metadata are transmitted to Eurostat by the Member States in the framework of the Unified Demographic Data Collection which is in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 862/2007 and Regulation (EU) No 1260/2013 and their implementing regulations.

This Euro SDMX Metadata Structure is used for the purpose of quality reporting. The definition of the quality concepts and guidelines are described in the European Statistical System Handbook for Quality Reports.
3.2. Classification system

The regional breakdown of the Member States in the regional demographic tables is done under the most recent NUTS classification. There are agreements between Eurostat and Candidate countries as well as between Eurostat and EFTA countries, for which statistical regions have been coded in a way that resembles NUTS.

For more information on the versions in force, please see: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/nuts/.
3.3. Coverage - sector

Not applicable.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
3.4.1 Statistical concepts and definitions used in the statistics transmitted to Eurostat
  1.Usually Resident Population  2. Legal Residence Population  3. Registered Residence Population 4. Other 
Population  X      
Live births  X      
Deaths  X      
Immigrants  X      
Emigrants  X      
Acquisitions of citizenship  X      
Loss of citizenship  Not available.   
Legally induced abortions  X      
Late foetal deaths  Not available.   
Infant deaths  X      
Marriages  X      
Divorces  X      

 

3.4.2 Statistical concepts and definitions used in the statistics disseminated in the National Statistical Institute's website
Population

As far as population is concerned it is obtained from the Census results of the Permanent Population Census. It is based on the combination of sample surveys and data from administrative sources; it is carried out every year and it is included in the Integrated System of Statistical Registers managed by the ISTAT. The fulcrum of the whole system is the Basic Register of Individuals (RBI) which constitutes the basic infrastructure for the production of demographic statistics and the universe for the extraction of the surveys’ samples envisaged for the Permanent Census (see Census Law and Plan General Census) and all samples surveys on families. The RBI is “consolidated” annually with reference to 31 December. This consolidation is achieved through a demographic accounting model (MIDEA - Micro-DEmographic Accounting) based on the count of microdata (data on births, deaths and internal and international migration).

The alignment with Census data occurs following an adjustment of the RBI’s over and under-coverage by means of weights produced by the Permanent Census. The "corrected" RBI ensures the alignment of Census data with those of demographic statistics and allows to provide timely estimates of the main outputs on the population.
Live births Live birth means the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a result of conception, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy, which after such separation, breathes or shows any other evidence of life, such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord or definite movement of voluntary muscles, whether or not the umbilical cord has been cut or the placenta is attached: each result of such a birth is considered live-born, regardless of gestational age.
Deaths Death means the permanent disappearance of all evidence of life at any time after live birth has taken place (postnatal cessation of vital functions without capability of resuscitation).
Immigrants Persons establishing their usual residence in Italy for a period that is expected to be of at least 12 months, having previously been usually resident in another Member State or a third country.
Emigrants Persons establishing their usual residence abroad for a period that is expected to be of at least 12 months, having previously been usually resident in Italy. 
Acquisitions of citizenship

Persons having their usual residence in Italy and having acquired during the reference year the Italian citizenship and having formerly held the citizenship of another Member State or a third country or having formerly been stateless.
Loss of citizenship Statistics are not available.
Legally induced abortions Any interruption of pregnancy with a dead foetus, initiated by deliberate action, in conformity with the national laws, undertaken with the intention of terminating pregnancy.
Late foetal deaths Statistics are not available.
Infant deaths

Deaths of live-born infants who have not yet completed 1 year of life.
Marriages The acts, ceremonies or processes by which the legal relationship of the partners is constituted. The legality of the union may be established by civil or religious mean.
Divorces A divorce is the final legal dissolution (ending) of a marriage. A divorce is the type of separation between spouses that confers on both parties the right to remarry.

 

3.4.3 Differences in statistical concepts and definitions between the statistics transmitted to Eurostat and those disseminated in the National Statistics Institute's website
Population No differences.
Live births No differences.
Deaths No differences.
Immigrants No differences.
Emigrants No differences.
Acquisitions of citizenship No differences.
Loss of citizenship No differences.
Legally induced abortions No differences.
Late foetal deaths No differences.
Infant deaths No differences.
Marriages No differences.
Divorces No differences.
3.5. Statistical unit

Individuals and events.
3.6. Statistical population
  Statistical population
Population Not applicable.
Live births Not applicable.
Deaths Not applicable.
Immigrants Not applicable.
Emigrants Not applicable.
Acquisitions of citizenship Not applicable.
Loss of citizenship Not applicable.
Legally induced abortions Not applicable.
Late foetal deaths Not applicable.
Infant deaths Not applicable.
Marriages Not applicable.
Divorces Not applicable.
3.7. Reference area

Data on population and flows (natural and migration flows) are available at Municipality level.
3.8. Coverage - Time

Population: since 1926.

Live births: since 1926.

Deaths: since 1926.

Immigrants: since 1926.

Emigrants: since 1926.

Acquisition of citizenship: since 1993.

Legally induced abortions: since 1979.

Marriage: since 1995.

Divorces: since 1971.
3.9. Base period

Not applicable.


4. Unit of measure Top

Data refer to individuals and events.


5. Reference Period Top

The reference date for population statistics is the end of the reference period (midnight of 31 December).
The reference period for vital statistics and migration flows is the calendar year in which the event occurred.


6. Institutional Mandate Top
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements

The Italian National Statistical System (SISTAN) is the network of public and private subjects that provides official statistical information.

Established by Law n. 322 of 1989, SISTAN includes: the National Statistical Institute (ISTAT); public statistical bodies and organizations (INEA, ISFOL); the statistical offices of the State administrations and other public bodies, the territorial Offices of the Government, the Regions and Autonomous Provinces, the Provinces, the Chambers of Commerce (CCIAA), the Municipalities, individual or associated, and the statistical offices of other public and private institutions that perform functions of public interest.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing

Law No 322 of 1989 establishes how data can be shared between members of SISTAN.


7. Confidentiality Top
7.1. Confidentiality - policy

Law 196/2003 on privacy protection.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment

Not applicable.


8. Release policy Top
8.1. Release calendar

Only some demographic statistics have a fixed calendar. Among them, data on Birth and fertility (October) and on Census of Population and demographic trend (December).

The other demographic statistics follow a variable release schedule: Migrations, Deaths, Marriages et al. are disseminated at the end of the year. 

 

 
8.2. Release calendar access

https://www.istat.it/it/informazioni-e-servizi/per-i-giornalisti/appuntamenti/calendario-diffusioni-ed-eventi
8.3. Release policy - user access

The calendar of releases and events, complete with press releases for the entire year, is updated on a weekly basis with the dates of all press releases, publication of editorial products, events and database updates.

The releases are simultaneously distributed by e-mail to institutions, all media and press members and research institutes, and are published on institutional website.


9. Frequency of dissemination Top

Data on population and demographic statistics are disseminated annually.


10. Accessibility and clarity Top
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
Population https://www.istat.it/it/archivio/282316.
Live births https://www.istat.it/it/archivio/289772; https://www.istat.it/it/archivio/278826.
Deaths https://www.istat.it/it/archivio282316.
Immigrants Not available.
Emigrants Not available.
Acquisitions of citizenship Not available.
Loss of citizenship Not available.
Legally induced abortions Not available.
Late foetal deaths Not available.
Infant deaths Not available.
Marriages Not available.
Divorces Not available.
Surface in Km2 Not available.
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications

https://dati.istat.it

https://demo.istat.it/?l=en
10.3. Dissemination format - online database

DEMO Demography in figures: https://demo.istat.it/?l=en.

I.Stat the warehouse of statistics produced by the NSI of Italy: https://dati.istat.it/Index.aspx.
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access

Not applicable.
10.5. Dissemination format - other

Not applicable.
10.6. Documentation on methodology
  Documentation on methodology
Population

https://www.istat.it/it/censimenti/popolazione-e-abitazioni/risultati
Live births

http://siqual.istat.it/SIQual/sintesi.do?id=0019100
Deaths

http://siqual.istat.it/SIQual/visualizza.do?id=8888988
Immigrants

http://siqual.istat.it/SIQual/sintesi.do?id=0019400
Emigrants http://siqual.istat.it/SIQual/sintesi.do?id=0019400
Acquisitions of citizenship http://www.istat.it/it/files/2012/12/Istat_Integration_DEF_merged.pdf
Loss of citizenship Not available.
Legally induced abortions

http://siqual.istat.it/SIQual/sintesi.do?id=0038900
Late foetal deaths Not available.
Infant deaths Not available.
Marriages http://siqual.istat.it/SIQual/visualizza.do?id=0019200
Divorces

Not available.
Surface in km2

http://siqual.istat.it/SIQual/visualizza.do?id=7779962
10.7. Quality management - documentation

http://siqual.istat.it/SIQual/lang.do?language=UK


11. Quality management Top
11.1. Quality assurance
   Quality assurance
Citizenship Data on citizenship refer to the nationality of each individual on data on population, deaths and migration; referring to live birth, the citizenship is the one of the mother.
Country of birth Data on country on birth of each individual is referred to the country where each individual was born.
Country of birth of the mother Data on country on birth of the mother is referred to the country where each mother was born.
Country of previous usual residence Data are available on tables referred to 862/2007.
Country of next usual residence Data are available on tables referred to 862/2007.
Deaths Data refer to resident population.
Divorce Not available.  
Emigrants Data refer to resident population.
First-time marrying person Data refer to present population.
First-time registering partner Data refer to present population.
Foetal death Not available.
Foreign-born Data refer to resident population.
Immigrants Data refer to resident population.
Infant death Not available.
Late foetal death Not available.
Legally induced abortions Not available.
Level of development Not available.
Live birth Data refer to resident population.
Live birth order Data refer to resident population.
Marriage Data refer to present population.
Native born Data refer to resident population
Person contracting legal union for first-time Data refer to resident population.
Regional Not available.  
Registered partnership Data refer to resident population.
Registered partnership legally dissolved Data refer to resident population.
Separation Not available.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
11.2.1. Quality assessment: Type of duration of stay used when counting a person as a migrant according to Article 2(b) of Regulation (EC) No 862/2007
  1. Actual duration of stay of at least 12 months 2. Intended duration of stay of at least 12 months 3. Actual and intended duration of stay of at least 12 months 4. Other. Please specify
Nationals Immigrants X      
Emigrants X      
EEA citizens Immigrants X      
Emigrants X      
Non EEA citizens Immigrants X      
Emigrants X      

 

11.2.2. Quality assessment of the definition of acquisitions of citizenship according to Article 3(d) of Regulation (EC) No 862/2007
  1. Acquisitions of citizenship granted to persons having their usual residence in the territory of the Member State 2. Other. Please specify
Acquisitions of citizenship

X (information on age and previous citizenship are completed through record linkage and probabilistic imputation models. The probabilistic imputation has concerned less than 3 % of records)

  


12. Relevance Top
12.1. Relevance - User Needs

Not applicable.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction

Not applicable.
12.3. Completeness

Not applicable.


13. Accuracy Top
13.1. Accuracy - overall
  Overall accuracy and special cases (Inclusion/exclusion of asylum seekers and refugees, persons living on unauthorised or irregular basis, international students, persons who do not register/deregister, ...)
Population

As far as population is concerned it is obtained from the Census results of the Permanent Population Census.

It is based on the combination of sample surveys and data from administrative sources; it is carried out every year and it is included in the Integrated System of Statistical Registers managed by the ISTAT.

The fulcrum of the whole system is the Basic Register of Individuals (RBI) which constitutes the basic infrastructure for the production of demographic statistics and the universe for the extraction of the surveys’ samples envisaged for the Permanent Census (see Census Law and Plan General Census) and all samples surveys on families. The RBI is “consolidated” annually with reference to 31 December. This consolidation is achieved through a demographic accounting model (MIDEA - Micro-DEmographic Accounting) based on the count of microdata (data on births, deaths and internal and international migration)

The alignment with Census data occurs following an adjustment of the RBI’s over and under-coverage by means of weights produced by the Permanent Census. The "corrected" RBI ensures the alignment of Census data with those of demographic statistics and allows to provide timely estimates of the main outputs on the population.

Following the general principle that persons seeking refuge from Ukraine should be treated in the statistics in the same way as any other population group, with regard to the application of usual residence definitions and in the production of European population and migration statistics, as well as statistics on events. Therefore, refugees from Ukraine are considered as usually residents only if they are enrolled in population register at the end of 2022.
Live births

As far as flows (usually resident population events: births, deaths, immigrants, emigrants, marriages) are concerned, the overall accuracy has substantially improved over time by completely de-materializing the data collection. This allows to incorporate quality controls directly in the data transmission as well as, due to the increased timeliness, a more effective real-time monitoring of the capturing coverage. On the side of the overall accuracy of the accounting procedure, this results in a progressive decrease between provisional monthly data and definitive data (obviously excluding discontinuities induced by purely administrative adjustments).

Following the general principle that events should be counted according to the place of usual residence of the person to which the event occurred. Therefore, events that occurred to Ukrainian refugees who are part of the usual resident population are included in the population statistics reported by Italy. This includes live births to habitually resident women, fetal deaths, deaths, marriages, and divorces.
Deaths

As far as flows (usually resident population events: births, deaths, immigrants, emigrants, marriages) are concerned, the overall accuracy has substantially improved over time by completely de-materializing the data collection. This allows to incorporate quality controls directly in the data transmission as well as, due to the increased timeliness, a more effective real-time monitoring of the capturing coverage. On the side of the overall accuracy of the accounting procedure, this results in a progressive decrease between provisional monthly data and definitive data (obviously excluding discontinuities induced by purely administrative adjustments).

Following the general principle that events should be counted according to the place of usual residence of the person to which the event occurred. Therefore, events that occurred to Ukrainian refugees who are part of the usual resident population are included in the population statistics reported by Italy. This includes live births to habitually resident women, fetal deaths, deaths, marriages, and divorces.
Immigrants

As far as flows (usually resident population events: births, deaths, immigrants, emigrants, marriages) are concerned, the overall accuracy has substantially improved over time by completely de-materializing the data collection. This allows to incorporate quality controls directly in the data transmission as well as, due to the increased timeliness, a more effective real-time monitoring of the capturing coverage. On the side of the overall accuracy of the accounting procedure, this results in a progressive decrease between provisional monthly data and definitive data (obviously excluding discontinuities induced by purely administrative adjustments).

Refugees and asylum seekers are included if they are enrolled in the resident population register.
Emigrants

As far as flows (usually resident population events: births, deaths, immigrants, emigrants, marriages) are concerned, the overall accuracy has substantially improved over time by completely de-materializing the data collection. This allows to incorporate quality controls directly in the data transmission as well as, due to the increased timeliness, a more effective real-time monitoring of the capturing coverage. On the side of the overall accuracy of the accounting procedure, this results in a progressive decrease between provisional monthly data and definitive data (obviously excluding discontinuities induced by purely administrative adjustments).

Refugees and asylum seekers are included if they are enrolled in the resident population register.
Acquisitions of citizenship Not available.
Loss of citizenship Not available.
Legally induced abortions Not available.
Late foetal deaths Not available.
Infant deaths Not available.
Marriages As far as flows (usually resident population events: births, deaths, immigrants, emigrants, marriages) are concerned, the overall accuracy has substantially improved over time by completely de-materializing the data collection. This allows to incorporate quality controls directly in the data transmission as well as, due to the increased timeliness, a more effective real-time monitoring of the capturing coverage. On the side of the overall accuracy of the accounting procedure, this results in a progressive decrease between provisional monthly data and definitive data (obviously excluding discontinuities induced by purely administrative adjustments).
Divorces Not available.
13.2. Sampling error
  Sampling error
Population Not applicable.
Live births Not applicable.
Deaths Not applicable.
Immigrants Not applicable.
Emigrants Not applicable.
Acquisitions of citizenship Not applicable.
Loss of citizenship Not applicable.
Legally induced abortions Not applicable.
Late foetal deaths Not applicable.
Infant deaths Not applicable.
Marriages Not applicable.
Divorces Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
  Non-sampling error (coverage error, measurement error, non-response error, processing error, model assumption error)
Population Not available.
Live births Not available.
Deaths Not available.
Immigrants Not available.
Emigrants Not available.
Acquisitions of citizenship Not available.
Loss of citizenship Not available.
Legally induced abortions Not available.
Late foetal deaths Not available.
Infant deaths Not available.
Marriages Not available.
Divorces Not available.


14. Timeliness and punctuality Top
14.1. Timeliness

According to Article 4 (2) of the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 205/2014, each year Member States shall provide the Commission (Eurostat) with data at national and regional level as described in Annex II and related standard reference metadata (in the metadata structure definition defined for the Euro SDMX Metadata Structure) for the reference year within 12 months of the end of the reference year. According to Article 3 (2) of the Commission Regulation (EC) No 862/2007, Statistics on international migration, usually resident population and acquisition of citizenship shall be supplied to the Commission (Eurostat) within 12 months of the end of the reference year.
14.2. Punctuality

Not applicable.


15. Coherence and comparability Top
15.1. Comparability - geographical

Full comparability.
15.2. Comparability - over time
  Comparability - over time
Population At national level full comparability since 1956. With regard to NUTS-1, NUTS-2, NUTS-3 – full comparability since 2002.
Live births See under population.
Deaths See under population.
Immigrants See under population.
Emigrants See under population.
Acquisitions of citizenship See under population.
Loss of citizenship Not available.
Legally induced abortions Not available.
Late foetal deaths Not available.
Infant deaths Not available.
Marriages Not available.
Divorces Not available.
Surface in km2 Not available.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain

The differences between Residence Permits (RP) and International Migration (IM) Statistics are due:

1) to the different length of stay: RP consider only long-term permits, while even people holding a short-term permit can be enrolled in the Population register. Many people with a short permit (<12 months) stay more than 1 year since they renew the permit.

2) RP are granted only to non EU citizens.
15.4. Coherence - internal

See Data revision.


16. Cost and Burden Top

Cost of data collection and cost of data production.

Legal and institutional burden for Municipalities.


17. Data revision Top
17.1. Data revision - policy

The overall – not only internal, but also cross-domain – coherence of the population data (point 17), as well as the revision policy of the population series (point 19), are strictly consistent with the overall accuracy requirements recalled at point 14, as to resetting the base vector of the post-censual population accounting procedure.

 
17.2. Data revision - practice

See 17.1.


18. Statistical processing Top
18.1. Source data
  List of data sources
Population Basic Register of Individuals alligned with Census.
Live births

Basic Register of Individuals alligned with Census.
Deaths Basic Register of Individuals alligned with Census.
Immigrants Basic Register of Individuals alligned with Census.
Emigrants Basic Register of Individuals alligned with Census.
Acquisitions of citizenship Basic Register of Individuals alligned with Census.
Loss of citizenship Not available.
Legally induced abortions Registration for induced abortions in the register of public and private hospitals.
Late foetal deaths Not available.
Infant deaths Not available.
Marriages Registration of marriages in the civil status register.
Divorces Registration of divorces in the civil status register and in court.
Surface in km2 LAU2s surfaces such as calculated by GIS software. NUTS-1, NUTS-2, NUTS-3 and IT surfaces have been obtained by sum of elementary data classified in each upper level.
18.2. Frequency of data collection

Data are collected on daily basis.
18.3. Data collection
Data collection:
Population Data capturing by means of in-house and outsourcing system. 
Live births

Data capturing by means of in-house and outsourcing system.
Deaths

Data capturing by means of in-house and outsourcing system.
Immigrants Data capturing by means of in-house and outsourcing system.
Emigrants Data capturing by means of in-house and outsourcing system. 
Acquisitions of citizenship Data capturing by means of in-house and outsourcing system and data collected by the Ministry of the Interior.
Loss of citizenship Not available.
Legally induced abortions Data capturing by means in-house and outsourcing system.
Late foetal deaths Not available.
Infant deaths Not available.
Marriages

Data capturing by means in-house and outsourcing system.
Divorces Not available.
Surface in km2 The process starts from implementation of territorial basis (LAU2 cartography) on a GIS. The union of single LAU2 minimal territorial units (census areas) forms a closed polygon. Starting from that, system returns in output LAU2s surfaces.
18.4. Data validation
Data validation:
Population

As far as population is concerned it is obtained from the Census results of the Permanent Population Census.

It is based on the combination of sample surveys and data from administrative sources; it is carried out every year and it is included in the Integrated System of Statistical Registers managed by the ISTAT.

The fulcrum of the whole system is the Basic Register of Individuals (RBI) which constitutes the basic infrastructure for the production of demographic statistics and the universe for the extraction of the surveys’ samples envisaged for the Permanent Census (see Census Law and Plan General Census) and all samples surveys on families. The RBI is “consolidated” annually with reference to 31 December. This consolidation is achieved through a demographic accounting model (MIDEA - Micro-DEmographic Accounting) based on the count of microdata (data on births, deaths and internal and international migration)

The alignment with Census data occurs following an adjustment of the RBI’s over and under-coverage by means of weights produced by the Permanent Census. The "corrected" RBI ensures the alignment of Census data with those of demographic statistics and allows to provide timely estimates of the main outputs on the population.
Live births

1. Identification and elimination of duplication through individual identifying variables.

2. Deterministic data editing for ensuring consistency among intra-record variables.
Deaths

1. Identification and elimination of duplication through individual identifying variables.

2. Deterministic data editing for ensuring consistency among intra-record variables.

3. Imputation of missing data with “Nearest neighbour imputation” technique.
Immigrants

1. Identification and elimination of duplication through individual identifying variables.

2. Deterministic data editing for ensuring consistency among intra-record variables.

3. Imputation of missing data with “Nearest neighbour imputation” technique.
Emigrants

1. Identification and elimination of duplication through individual identifying variables.

2. Deterministic data editing for ensuring consistency among intra-record variables.

3. Imputation of missing data with “Nearest neighbour imputation” technique.
Acquisitions of citizenship

Check for coherence among different sources.
Loss of citizenship Not available.
Legally induced abortions 1. Identification and elimination of duplication through individual identifying variables.

2. Deterministic data editing for ensuring consistency among intra-record variables.

3. Imputation of missing data with “Nearest neighbour imputation” technique.
Late foetal deaths Not available.
Infant deaths Not available.
Marriages Not available.
Divorces

Deterministic data editing for ensuring consistency among intra-record variables.
Surface in km2 Sheet excel to control: completeness of microdata (LAU2 surfaces); correctness of codes and denominations; correctness of totals.
18.5. Data compilation
Data compilation:
Population See point 18.4.
Live births

See point 18.4.
Deaths See point 18.4.
Immigrants See point 18.4.
Emigrants See point 18.4.
Acquisitions of citizenship The various data sets were linked with each other using record linkage techniques. The estimation process was concluded through the use of probabilistic techniques to complete the missing information.
Loss of citizenship Not available.
Legally induced abortions See point 18.4.
Late foetal deaths Not available.
Infant deaths Not available.
Marriages See point 18.4.
Divorces See point 18.4.
Surface in km2 Data are automatically captured by GIS system and imported in excel sheets. The integration between geographical and alphanumerical databases is currently checked.
18.6. Adjustment

Not applicable.


19. Comment Top

No comment.


Related metadata Top


Annexes Top