FamilySearch is the family history site of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It offers free access 8+ billion searchable names and 3.2+ billion digitised records worldwide. Resources include FamilySearch Catalog; FamilySearch Digital Library with 500,000+ digitised books and journals; online research courses and how-to video tutorials; Research Wiki with 97,181+ articles; user submitted genealogies plus access to family history centres and FamilySearch affiliate Libraries worldwide.
Other services include Family Tree – See what others have put online or create a tree; submit photos and stories; create a family booklet or portrait pedigree.
There is access to 3018+ Historical Record Collections arranged by region. These can include indexes and original images of birth, death and marriage records; census; probate and court; military; migration and naturalisation records and more. New material is being added all the time. Access to the original record is mostly free but fees do apply for some collections. The regions cover:
• Africa (45)
• Asia and Middle East (58)
• Australia and New Zealand (48)
• Canada (108)
• Caribbean and Central America (82)
• Continental Europe (658)
• Mexico (66)
• Other (11)
• Pacific Islands (24)
• South America (136)
• United Kingdom and Ireland (197)
• United States (1585)
Currently the 658 collections for Continental Europe cover: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Moldovia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Ukraine.
TIP: You can use the world map and click on a location, for example Africa, and you will be taken to the Africa research page. You can then choose a country, such as South Africa, and search all South Africa indexed historical records plus there are links to the Learning Center courses for South Africa, FamilySearch Catalog for South Africa and FamilySearch Wiki for South Africa.
Note: You need to log in with a free FamilySearch Account to use FamilySearch.