By custom, it was applied in the original Thirteen Colonies that became the United States and in many other land jurisdictions based on English common law, including Zimbabwe, South Africa, India and Bangladesh.
Typically the system uses physical features of the local geography, along with directions and distances, to define and describe the boundaries of a parcel of land.
A typical description for a small parcel of land would be: "Commencing at a corner at the intersection of two stone walls near an apple tree on the north side of Muddy Creek road one mile above the junction of Muddy and Indian Creeks, thence north for 150 rods to the end of the stone wall bordering the road, thence northwest along a line to a large standing rock on the corner of the property now or formerly belonging to John Smith, thence west 150 rods to the corner of a barn near a large oak tree, thence south to Muddy Creek road, thence down the side of the creek road to the point of commencement."
Where watercourses form part of the bounds their meander is generally taken as a straight line between the established corners and their monuments.
Such mapping generally uses streets and their intersections to define the boundaries of election districts, wards, precincts, inter alia.
E.g.: "From the intersection of Main Street and John Doe Boulevard, thence north to ABC Drive, thence generally east along the median of ABC Drive to 123rd Street, thence..." In Canada, metes and bounds are frequently used to officially define the territory of electoral districts, particularly in urban areas where the districts may subdivide municipalities or otherwise not conform to municipal boundaries.
For example, the definition for the federal electoral district of Ottawa Centre in the 2012 representation order reads (in part): Consisting of that part of the City of Ottawa described as follows: commencing at the intersection of the interprovincial boundary between Ontario and Quebec with a line running 45°00'W from the mouth of the Rideau Canal; thence S45°00'E along said line to the mouth of the Rideau Canal; thence generally southeasterly along said canal to the northeasterly production of Frank Street; thence northeasterly along said production to the intersection of Greenfield Avenue with Nicholas Street; thence southeasterly along Nicholas Street to Highway No.
417; thence easterly along said highway to the Rideau River; thence generally southerly along said river to the easterly production of Borden Side Road; thence westerly along said production to Prince of Wales Drive; [...][5]The difficulty with permanency of features on the ground does not arise because the electoral districts are redistributed every ten years, allowing districts to be brought into conformity with any features that have changed in the intervening time.