According to statistical information published by Statistics Sweden, the following number of individuals were registered in the Population Register as “stateless”, as having “unknown” nationality or as having their nationality “under investigation” at the end of 2015: nn 21,580 stateless persons; nn 5,523 persons with “unknown” nationality; and nn 119 with their nationality “under investigation”. Furthermore, the following number of asylum-seekers were registered in the Register of the SMA as stateless, or as having “unknown” nationality or “under investigation” at the end of 2015: nn 7,771 stateless asylum-seekers; nn 317 asylum-seekers with “unknown” nationality; and nn 918 asylum-seekers with their nationality “under investigation”. In addition, 382 stateless persons and 165 persons with “unknown” nationality were pending return at the end of 2015 (see Section 3.4.1.2 below). This brings the total number of stateless person known to the authorities to be on Swedish territory, by the end of 2015, to 29,733; while the number of persons with “unknown” nationality was 6,005; and the number of persons with nationality “under investigation” was 1,037. Around 18 per cent of the stateless persons holding a residence permit were born in Sweden. In view of the above, UNHCR would recommend incorporating the definition of a stateless person in the national legislation and developing common guidelines for the authorities involved in the assessment of an individual’s citizenship status and potential statelessness. As elaborated in further detail below, in Section 3, UNHCR moreover recommends establishing a procedure within which an individual’s status as stateless is consistently determined based on set definitions and clear guidelines. Even before such a procedure is established, it will be important to undertake activities aimed at raising the awareness of government officials and, in particular SMA and Swedish Tax Agency staff, about the international standards pertaining to the identification and determination of statelessness, and Sweden’s obligations in this regard. UNHCR also recommends that a system be devised to enable the automated, or systematic, updating and alignment of information in the Population Register and Register of the SMA, to avoid inconsistencies. 30 M A P P I N G S TAT E L E S S N E S S I N S W E D E N