A village is a clustered

human settlement In geography, statistics and archaeology, a settlement, locality or populated place is a community in which people live. The complexity of a settlement can range from a minuscule number of dwellings grouped together to the largest of ci ...

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

, larger than a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

but smaller than a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

(although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Though villages are often located in

rural area In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descri ...

s, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighborhoods. Villages are normally permanent, with fixed

dwellings In law, a dwelling (also known as a residence or an abode) is a self-contained unit of accommodation used by one or more households as a home - such as a house, apartment, mobile home, houseboat, vehicle, or other "substantial" structure. The ...

; however, transient villages can occur. Further, the dwellings of a village are fairly close to one another, not scattered broadly over the landscape, as a dispersed settlement. Hollókő Ófalu Fő utca (részlet)

In the past, villages were a usual form of community for societies that practice

subsistence agriculture Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow food crops to meet the needs of themselves and their families on smallholdings. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements, with little or no su ...

, and also for some non-agricultural societies. In

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

, a hamlet earned the right to be called a village when it built a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

.Dr Greg Stevenson, "What is a Village?"
, ''Exploring British Villages'', BBC, 2006, accessed 20 October 2009 In many cultures, towns and cities were few, with only a small proportion of the population living in them. The

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

attracted people in larger numbers to work in mills and factories; the concentration of people caused many villages to grow into towns and cities. This also enabled specialization of labor and crafts, and development of many trades. The trend of

urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly t ...

continues, though not always in connection with industrialization. Historically homes were situated together for sociability and defiance, and land surrounding the living quarters was farmed. Traditional fishing villages were based on

artisan fishing Artisanal fishing (or traditional/subsistence fishing) consists of various small-scale, low-technology, low-capital, fishing practices undertaken by individual fishing households (as opposed to commercial fishing). Many of these households are o ...

and located adjacent to fishing grounds. In

toponomastic Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

terminology, names of individual villages are called ''Comonyms'' (from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

κώμη / village and ὄνυμα / name,

f. ὄνομα F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distribution, a cont ...

South Asia

Afghanistan

In Afghanistan, the village, or ''deh'' (

Dari Dari (, , ), also known as Dari Persian (, ), is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the term officially recognised and promoted since 1964 by the Afghan government for the Persian language,Lazard, G.Darī � ...

Pashto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official languages ...

: ده) is the mid-size settlement type in Afghan society, trumping the hamlet or ''qala'' (

: قلعه,

: کلي), though smaller than the town, or ''shār'' (

: شهر,

: ښار). In contrast to the ''qala'', the ''deh'' is generally a bigger settlement which includes a commercial area, while the yet larger ''shār'' includes governmental buildings and services such as schools of higher education, basic health care, police stations etc. Mollösund 1

India

''"The soul of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

lives in its villages,"'' declared

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

at the beginning of 20th century. According to the

2011 census of India The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Information ...

, 69% of Indians (around 833

million One million (1,000,000), or one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. The word is derived from the early Italian ''millione'' (''milione'' in modern Italian), from ''mille'', "thousand", plus the au ...

people) live in 640,867 different villages. The size of these villages varies considerably. 236,004 Indian villages have a population of fewer than 500, while 3,976 villages have a population of 10,000+. Most of the villages have their own temple, mosque, or church, depending on the local religious following.

Pakistan

The majority of

Pakistanis Pakistanis ( ur, , translit=Pākistānī Qaum, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. According to the 2017 Pakistani national census, the population of Pakistan stood at over 213 million people, making it the w ...

live in rural areas. According to the 2017 census about 64% of Pakistanis live in rural areas. Most rural areas in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

tend to be near cities, and are

peri-urban Peri-urbanisation relates to the processes of scattered and dispersive urban growth that create hybrid landscapes of fragmented and mixed urban and rural characteristics. Origin The expression originates from the French word ' ("peri-urban" ...

areas, This is due to the definition of a rural area in Pakistan being an area that does not come within an urban boundary. Village is called dehair or gaaon in

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Pakistani village life Pakistani village life ( ) is the traditional rural life of the people of Pakistan. People in village usually live in houses made of bricks, clay or mud. These typically have two or three rooms which house extended families. Although now they ...

is marked by kinship and exchange relations. Dosut, Neelum Valley cool beautiful evening

Central Asia

Auyl ( kk, Ауыл) is a Kazakh word meaning "village" in

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. According to the 2009 census of Kazakhstan, 42.7% of Kazakhstani citizens (7.5 million people) live in 8172 different villages.. To refer to this concept along with the word "auyl" often used the Slavic word "selo" in Northern Kazakhstan.

East Asia

People's Republic of China In

mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

, villages are divisions under

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

. Republic of China (Taiwan) In the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

(

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

), villages are divisions under townships or county-administered cities. The village is called a ''tsuen'' or ''cūn'' (村) under a rural township (鄉) and a ''li'' (里) under an urban township (鎮) or a county-controlled city. See also Li (unit). Japan Ogi Shirakawa-gō, Gifu, Japan

South Korea

Southeast Asia

Brunei

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...

, villages are officially the third- and lowest-level subdivisions of Brunei below

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

and

mukims A mukim is a type of administrative division used in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The word ''mukim'' is a loanword in English. However, it was also originally a loanword in Malay from the Arabic word: (meaning ''resident''). The clo ...

. A village is locally known by the

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

word (also spelt as ). They may be villages in the traditional or anthropological sense but may also comprise delineated residential settlements, both rural and urban. The community of a village is headed by a

village head A village head, village headman or village chief is the community leader of a village or a small town. Usage Brunei In Brunei, village head is called or in the Malay language. It is an administrative post which leads the community of a v ...

(). Communal infrastructure for the villagers may include a primary school, a religious school providing or Islamic religious primary education which is compulsory for the Muslim pupils in the country, a mosque, and a

community centre Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...

( or ).

Indonesia

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, depending on the principles they are administered, villages are called ''Kampung'' or ''Desa'' (officially ''kelurahan''). A ''"Desa"'' (a term that derives from a

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

word meaning "country" that is found in the name "

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

"=''bangla'' and ''desh/desha'') is administered according to traditions and customary law (''

adat Alesis Digital Audio Tape (ADAT) is a magnetic tape format used for the recording of eight digital audio tracks onto the same S-VHS tape used by consumer VCRs. Although it is a tape-based format, the term ''ADAT'' now refers to its successo ...

''), while a ''kelurahan'' is administered along more "modern" principles. ''Desa'' are generally located in rural areas while ''kelurahan'' are generally urban subdivisions. A village head is respectively called ''kepala desa'' or ''lurah''. Both are elected by the local community. A ''desa'' or ''kelurahan'' is the subdivision of a '' kecamatan'' (subdistrict), in turn the subdivision of a ''

kabupaten A regency ( id, kabupaten), sometimes incorrectly referred to as a district, is an administrative division of Indonesia, directly under a province and on the same level with city (''kota''). Regencies is divided into districts (''Kecamatan'', ''D ...

'' (district) or '' kota'' (city). The same general concept applies all over Indonesia. However, there is some variation among the vast numbers of Austronesian ethnic groups. For instance, in

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

villages have been created by grouping traditional hamlets or ''banjar'', which constitute the basis of Balinese social life. In the Minangkabau area in

West Sumatra West Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Barat) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is located on the west coast of the island of Sumatra and includes the Mentawai Islands off that coast. The province has an area of , with a population of 5, ...

province, traditional villages are called ''nagari'' (a term deriving from another Sanskrit word meaning "city", which can be found in the name like "

Srinagar Srinagar (English: , ) is the largest city and the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies in the Kashmir Valley on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus, and Dal and Anchar lakes. The city is known for its natu ...

"=''sri'' and ''nagar/nagari''). In some areas such as Tanah Toraja, elders take turns watching over the village at a command post. As a general rule, ''desa'' and ''kelurahan'' are groupings of hamlets (''kampung'' in Indonesian, ''dusun'' in the

Javanese language Javanese (, , ; , Aksara Jawa: , Pegon: , IPA: ) is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken by the Javanese people from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, Indonesia. There are also pockets of Javanese speakers on the northe ...

, ''banjar'' in Bali). a ''kampung'' is defined today as a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

and

Malaysia and Singapore

''Kampung'' is a term used in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, (sometimes spelling ''kampong'' or ''kompong'' in the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

) for "a Malay hamlet or village in a Malay-speaking country". In Malaysia, a ''kampung'' is determined as a locality with 10,000 or fewer people. Since historical times, every Malay village came under the leadership of a '' penghulu'' (village chief), who has the power to hear civil matters in his village (see Courts of Malaysia for more details). A Malay village typically contains a ''"masjid"'' (

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

) or ''"

surau A surau is an Islamic assembly building in some regions of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula used for worship and religious instruction. Generally smaller physical structures, its ritual functions are similar to a mosque, allow men and women, an ...

"'',

paddy field A paddy field is a flooded field (agriculture), field of arable land used for growing Aquatic plant, semiaquatic crops, most notably rice and taro. It originates from the Neolithic rice-farming cultures of the Yangtze River basin in sout ...

s and

Malay houses Malay houses ( Malay: ''Rumah Melayu;'' Jawi: رومه ملايو) refer to the vernacular dwellings of the Malays, an ethno-linguistic group inhabiting Sumatra, coastal Borneo and the Malay Peninsula. Traditional architectural forms, such ...

on stilts. Malay and Indonesian villagers practice the culture of helping one another as a community, which is better known as "joint bearing of burdens" ('' gotong royong''). They are family-oriented (especially the concept of respecting one's family articularly the parents and elders,

courtesy Courtesy (from the word ''courteis'', from the 12th century) is gentle politeness and courtly manners. In the Middle Ages in Europe, the behaviour expected of the nobility was compiled in courtesy books. History The apex of European courtly cul ...

and practice belief in God (''"Tuhan"'') as paramount to everything else. It is common to see a cemetery near the mosque. All Muslims in the Malay or Indonesian village want to be prayed for, and to receive

Allah Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", an ...

's blessings in the

afterlife The afterlife (also referred to as life after death) is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's identity or their stream of consciousness continues to live after the death of their physical body. The surviving ess ...

. In

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the M ...

and East Kalimantan, some villages are called 'long', primarily inhabited by the

Orang Ulu Orang Ulu ("people of the interior" in Malay) is an ethnic designation politically coined to group together roughly 27 very small but ethnically diverse tribal groups in northeastern Sarawak, Malaysia with populations ranging from less than 300 p ...

. Malaysian ''kampung'' were once aplenty in Singapore but there are almost no remaining ''kampung'' villages; the very few to have survived until today are mostly on outlying

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

s surrounding mainland Singapore, such as Pulau Ubin. Mainland Singapore used to have many ''kampung'' villages but modern developments and rapid urbanisation works have seen them bulldozed away;

Kampong Lorong Buangkok Kampong Lorong Buangkok (alternatively ''Kampung Lorong Buangkok''; Jawi: كامڤوڠ لوروڠ بواڠكوق; ) is a village located in Buangkok in Hougang, Singapore. Built in 1956, it is the last surviving kampong located on Singapore Is ...

is the last surviving village on the country's mainland. The term "kampung", sometimes spelled "kampong", is one of many Malay words to have entered common usage in Malaysia and Singapore. Locally, the term is frequently used to refer to either one's hometown or a rural village, depending on the intended context.

Myanmar

Philippines

In urban areas of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, the term "village" most commonly refers to private subdivisions, especially gated communities. These villages emerged in the mid-20th century and were initially the domain of

elite In political and sociological theory, the elite (french: élite, from la, eligere, to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. D ...

urban dwellers. Those are common in major cities in the country and their residents have a wide range of income levels. Such villages may or may not correspond to a

barangay A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolitan ...

(the country's basic unit of government, also glossed as village), or be privately administered. Barangays correspond more to precolonial villages; the chairman (formerly the village

datu ''Datu'' is a title which denotes the rulers (variously described in historical accounts as chiefs, sovereign princes, and monarchs) of numerous indigenous peoples throughout the Philippine archipelago. The title is still used today, especial ...

) now settles administrative, intrapersonal, and political matters or polices the area though with much less authority and respect than in Indonesia or Malaysia.

Thailand

Vietnam

Village, or "làng", is a basis of

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

society. Vietnam's village is the typical symbol of Asian agricultural production. Vietnam's village typically contains: a village gate, "lũy tre" (bamboo hedges), "đình làng" (communal house) where "thành hoàng" (

tutelary god A tutelary () (also tutelar) is a deity or a spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of "tutelary" expresses the concept of safety an ...

) is worshiped, a common well, "đồng lúa" (

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

field), "chùa" (temple) and houses of all families in the village. All the people in Vietnam's villages usually have a blood relationship. They are

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mig ...

s who grow rice and have the same traditional handicraft. Vietnam's villages have an important role in society (Vietnamese saying: "Custom rules the law" -"Phép vua thua lệ làng" iterally: the king's law yields to village customs. It is common for Vietnamese villagers to prefer to be buried in their village upon death.

Central and Eastern Europe

Slavic countries

''Selo'' (

Cyrillic , bg, кирилица , mk, кирилица , russian: кириллица , sr, ћирилица, uk, кирилиця , fam1 = Egyptian hieroglyphs , fam2 = Proto-Sinaitic , fam3 = Phoenician , fam4 = G ...

: село; pl, sioło) is a Slavic word meaning "village" in

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

, and

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. For example, there are numerous ''sela'' (plural of ''selo'') called ''Novo Selo'' (''New Village'') in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

, and

. Another Slavic word for a village is ''ves'' ( pl, wieś, wioska; cs, ves, vesnice; sk, ves; sl, vas; russian: весь, ves). In

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

, the word ''selo'' is used for very small villages (fewer than 100 people) and in dialects; the Slovene word ''vas'' is used all over

. In

, the word ''ves'' is archaic, but remains in idioms and locality names, such as Vesyegonsk. The most commonly used word for village in Slovak is ''dedina'' (dialectical also ''dzedzina''). The word's etymology may be (or may not be) rooted in the verb ''dediť'' ("to inherit"), referencing the inheriting of whole villages or properties within villages by noblemen or wealthy landowners. Another etymology could be related to the Sanskrit word ''deśá'' (देश) similar to the Afghan ''deh'', Bengal ''desh'' and Indonesian ''desa''. The term ''ves'' appears in settlement names (mostly villages, but also some towns that evolved over time from villages). The dialect term for village in east Slovakia is also ''valal'' (or ''valala''). ''Dedina'' is unrelated to the rarer east Slavic term ''derevna'', which refers to a village with wooden (''derevo'') housing.

Bulgaria

, the different types of ''sela'' vary from a small selo of 5 to 30 families to one of several thousand people. According to a 2002 census, in that year there were 2,385,000 Bulgarian citizens living in settlements classified as ''villages''. A 2004 Human Settlement Profile on Bulgaria conducted by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs stated that:

The most intensive is the migration "city – city". Approximately 46% of all migrated people have changed their residence from one city to another. The share of the migration processes "village – city" is significantly less – 23% and "city – village" – 20%. The migration "village – village" in 2002 is 11%.

It also stated that

the state of the environment in the small towns and villages is good apart from the low level of infrastructure.

In Bulgaria, it is popular to visit villages for the atmosphere, culture, crafts, hospitality of the people and the surrounding nature. This is called ''selski turizam'' ( bg, селски туризъм), meaning "village tourism".

Russia

In Russia, as of the Russian Census (2010), 2010 Census, 26.3% of the country's population lives in Classification of inhabited localities in Russia, rural localities; down from 26.7% recorded in the Russian Census (2002), 2002 Census. Multiple types of rural localities exist, but the two most common are ''derevnya'' () and ''selo'' (). Historically, the formal indication of status was religious: a city (''gorod'', ) had a cathedral, a ''selo'' had a church, while a ''derevnya'' had neither. The lowest administrative unit of the Russian Empire, a ''volost'', or its Soviet or modern Russian successor, a ''selsoviet'', was typically headquartered in a ''selo'' and embraced a few neighboring villages. In the 1960s–1970s, the depopulation of the smaller villages was driven by the central planners' drive in order to get the farm workers out of smaller, "Unpromising villages, prospectless" hamlets and into the kolkhoz, collective or sovkhoz, state farms' main villages or even larger

s and City, cities, with more amenities. Most Russian rural residents are involved in agricultural work, and it is very common for villagers to produce their own food. As prosperous urbanites purchase village houses for their second homes, Russian villages sometimes are transformed into dacha settlements, used mostly for seasonal residence. The historically Cossacks, Cossack regions of Southern Russia and parts of

, with their fertile soil and absence of serfdom, had a rather different pattern of settlement from central and northern Russia. While peasants of central Russia lived in a village around the lord's manor, a Cossack family often lived on its own farm, called ''khutor''. A number of such ''khutors'' plus a central village made up the administrative unit with a center in a ''stanitsa'' (russian: станица, stanitsa; uk, станиця, stanytsya, stanytsia). Such ''stanitsas'', often with a few thousand residents, were usually larger than a typical ''selo'' in central Russia.

Ukraine

, a village, (), pronounced locally as ''selo'' (), is considered the lowest administrative unit. Villages are under the jurisdiction of a hromada administration. There is, however, another smaller type of settlement which is designated in Ukrainian as a ''selyshche'' (). This type of community is generally referred to in English as a "settlement". In comparison with an urban-type settlement, Ukrainian legislation does not have a concrete definition or a criterion to differentiate such settlements from villages. They represent a type of a small rural locality that might have once been a ''khutir'', a fisherman's settlement, or a dacha. Sometimes, the term "''selyshche''" is also used in a more general way to refer to adjacent settlements near a bigger city including urban-type settlements (''selyshche miskoho typu'') or villages. However, ambiguity is often avoided in connection with urbanized settlements by referring to them using the three-letter abbreviation ''smt'' instead. The ''khutir'' () and ''stanytsia'' () are not part of the administrative division any longer, primarily due to collectivization. ''Khutirs'' were very small rural localities consisting of just few housing units and were sort of individual farms. They became really popular during the Stolypin reform in the early 20th century. During the collectivization, however, residents of such settlements were usually declared to be kulaks and had all their property confiscated and distributed to others (nationalized) without any compensation. The ''stanitsa'' likewise has not survived as an administrative term. The ''stanitsa'' was a type of a collective community that could include one or more settlements such as villages, ''khutirs'', and others. Today, ''stanitsa''-type formations have only survived in Kuban (Russian Federation) where Ukrainians were resettled during the time of the Russian Empire.

Western and Southern Europe

France

The Insee classifies Communes of France, French communes into four groups according to population density: # Communes with high population density # Communes with intermediate population density # Communes with low population density # Communes with very low population density A commune in Group 3 or 4 is considered as a village (''commune rurale''). An independent association named ''Les Plus Beaux Villages de France'', was created in 1982 to promote assets of small and picturesque French villages of quality heritage. As of March 2021, 159 villages in France have been listed in "The Most Beautiful Villages of France".

Germany

In Germany a ''Dorf'' (village) usually consists of at least a few houses but can have up to a few thousand inhabitants. Larger villages can also be referred to as a ''Flecken'' or ''Markt'' depending on the region. Smaller villages usually do not have their own government. Instead, they are part () of the municipality of a nearby town.

Italy

In Italy, villages are spread throughout the country. No legal definition of village exists in Italian law; nonetheless, a settlement inhabited by less than 2000 people is usually described as "village". More often, Italian villages that are a part of a municipality are called ''frazione'', whereas the village that hosts the municipal seat is called ''paese'' (town) or ''capoluogo''.

Spain

In Spain, a village (''pueblo'') refers to a small population unit, smaller than a town (''villa'' [an archaic term that survives only in official uses, such as the official name of Spain's capital, "la Villa de Madrid"]) and a city (''ciudad''), typically located in a rural environment. While commonly it is the smallest administrative unit (''municipio''), it is possible for a village to be legally composed of smaller population units in its territory. There is not a clear-cut distinction between villages, towns and cities in Spain, since they had been traditionally categorized according to their religious importance and their relationship with surrounding population units.

Portugal

Villages are more usual in the Norte Region, Portugal, northern and Centro Region, Portugal, central regions, Azores Islands and in the Alentejo. Most of them have a church and a "Casa do Povo" (people's house), where the village's summer ''romarias'' or religious festivities are usually held. Summer is also when many villages are host to a range of folk festivals and fairs, taking advantage of the fact that many of the locals who reside abroad tend to come back to their native village for the holidays.

Netherlands

In the flood-prone districts of the Netherlands, particularly in the northern provinces of Friesland and Groningen, villages were traditionally built on low man-made hills called Artificial dwelling hill, terpen before the introduction of regional dyke-systems. In modern days, the term ''dorp'' (lit. "village") is usually applied to settlements no larger than 20,000, though there's no official law regarding status of settlements in the Netherlands.

United Kingdom

A village in the UK is a compact settlement of houses, smaller in size than a town, and generally based on agriculture or, in some areas, mining (such as Ouston, County Durham), quarrying or sea fishing. They are very similar to those in Ireland. Main street of the village of Castle Combe, Wiltshire, England

Main street of the village of Castle Combe, Wiltshire, England

The major factors in the type of settlement are: location of water sources, organisation of agriculture and landholding, and likelihood of flooding. For example, in areas such as the Lincolnshire Wolds, the villages are often found along the spring line halfway down the hillsides, and originate as spring line settlements, with the original open field systems around the village. In northern Scotland, most villages are planned to a grid plan, grid pattern located on or close to major roads, whereas in areas such as the Forest of Arden, woodland clearances produced small hamlets around village greens. Because of the topography of the Clent Hills the north Worcestershire village of Clent is an example of a village with no centre but instead consists of series of hamlets scattered on and around the Hills. Mini-roundabout, Kilmaurs - geograph

Some villages have disappeared (for example, deserted medieval villages), sometimes leaving behind a church or manor house and sometimes nothing but Earthworks (archaeology), bumps in the fields. Some show archaeological evidence of settlement at three or four different layers, each distinct from the previous one. Clearances may have been to accommodate sheep or game estates, or enclosure, or may have resulted from depopulation, such as after the Black Death or following a move of the inhabitants to more prosperous districts. Other villages have grown and merged and often form hubs within the general mass of suburbia—such as Hampstead, London and Didsbury in Manchester. Many villages are now predominantly dormitory locations and have suffered the loss of shops, churches and other facilities. For many British people, the village represents an ideal (ethics), ideal of Great Britain. Seen as being far from the bustle of modern life, it is represented as quiet and harmonious, if a little inward-looking. This concept of an unspoilt Arcadia (utopia), Arcadia is present in many popular representations of the village such as the radio serial ''The Archers'' or the best kept village competitions. Bisley, Gloucestershire, a village in the Cotswolds

Bisley, Gloucestershire, a village in the Cotswolds

Many villages in South Yorkshire, North Nottinghamshire, North East Derbyshire, County Durham, South Wales and Northumberland are known as pit villages. These (such as Murton, County Durham) grew from hamlet (place), hamlets when the sinking of a colliery in the early 20th century resulted in a rapid growth in their population and the colliery owners built new housing, shops, pubs and churches. Some pit villages outgrew nearby towns by area and population; for example, Rossington in South Yorkshire came to have over four times more people than the nearby town of Bawtry. Some pit villages grew to become

s; for example, Maltby, South Yorkshire, Maltby in South Yorkshire grew from 600 people in the 19th century to over 17,000 in 2007. Maltby was constructed under the auspices of the Maltby Main Colliery, Sheepbridge Coal and Iron Company and included ample open spaces and provision for gardens. In the UK, the main historical distinction between a

and a village was that the latter had a church (building), church, and so usually was the centre of worship for an ecclesiastical parish. However, some civil parishes in England, civil parishes may contain more than one village. The typical village had a pub or inn, shops, and a blacksmith. But many of these facilities are now gone, and many villages are dormitories for commuters. The population of such settlements ranges from a few hundred people to around five thousand. A village is distinguished from a town in that: * A village should not have a regular agricultural market (place), market, although today such markets are uncommon even in settlements which clearly are towns. * A village does not have a City and town halls, town hall nor a mayor. * If a village is the principal settlement of a civil parishes in England, civil parish, then any administrative body that administers it at parish level should be called a Parish councils in England, parish council or parish meeting, and not a town council or city council. However, some civil parishes have no functioning parish, town, or city council nor a functioning parish meeting. In Wales, where the equivalent of an English civil parish is called a Community (Wales), Community, the body that administers it is called a Community council, Community Council. However, larger councils may elect to call themselves town councils. In Scotland, the equivalent is also a community council, however, despite being statutory bodies they have no executive powers. * There should be a clear green belt or open fields, as, for example, seen on aerial maps for Ouston, County Durham, Ouston surrounding its parish borders. However this may not be applicable to urbanised villages: although these may not be considered to be villages, they are often widely referred to as being so; an example of this is Horsforth in Leeds.

Middle East

Lebanon

Like France, villages in Lebanon are usually located in remote mountainous areas. The majority of villages in Lebanon retain their Aramaic names or are derivative of the Aramaic names, and this is because Aramaic was still in use in Mount Lebanon up to the 18th century. Many of the Lebanese villages are a part of districts, these districts are known as "kadaa" which includes the districts of Baabda (Baabda), Aley (Aley), Matn (Jdeideh), Keserwan (Jounieh), Chouf (Beiteddine), Jbeil (Byblos), Tripoli (Tripoli), Zgharta (Zgharta / Ehden), Bsharri (Bsharri), Batroun (Batroun), Koura (Amioun), Miniyeh-Danniyeh (Minyeh / Sir Ed-Danniyeh), Zahle (Zahle), Rashaya (Rashaya), Western Beqaa (Jebjennine / Saghbine), Sidon (Sidon), Jezzine (Jezzine), Tyre (Tyre), Nabatiyeh (Nabatiyeh), Marjeyoun (Marjeyoun), Hasbaya (Hasbaya), Bint Jbeil (Bint Jbeil), Baalbek (Baalbek), and Hermel (Hermel). The district of Danniyeh consists of thirty-six small villages, which includes Almrah, Kfirchlan, Kfirhbab, Hakel al Azimah, Siir, Bakhoun, Miryata, Assoun, Sfiiri, Kharnoub, Katteen, Kfirhabou, Zghartegrein, Ein Qibil. Danniyeh (known also as Addinniyeh, Al Dinniyeh, Al Danniyeh, Arabic: سير الضنية) is a region located in Miniyeh-Danniyeh District in the North Governorate of Lebanon. The region lies east of Tripoli, extends north as far as Akkar District, south to Bsharri District and Zgharta District and as far east as Baalbek and Hermel. Dinniyeh has an excellent ecological environment filled with woodlands, orchards and groves. Several villages are located in this mountainous area, the largest town being Sir Al Dinniyeh. An example of a typical mountainous Lebanese village in Dannieh would be Hakel al Azimah which is a small village that belongs to the district of Danniyeh, situated between Bakhoun and Assoun's boundaries. It is in the centre of the valleys that lie between the Arbeen Mountains and the Khanzouh.

Syria

Syria contains a large number of villages that vary in size and importance, including the ancient, historical and religious villages, such as Ma'loula, Sednaya, and Barad, Syria, Brad (Mar Maroun's time). The diversity of the Syrian environments creates significant differences between the Syrian villages in terms of the economic activity and the method of adoption. Villages in the south of Syria (Hauran, Jabal al-Druze), the north-east (the Syrian island) and the Orontes River basin depend mostly on agriculture, mainly grain, vegetables, and fruits. Villages in the region of Damascus and Aleppo depend on trading. Some other villages, such as Marmarita depend heavily on tourist activity. Mediterranean cities in Syria, such as Tartus and Latakia have similar types of villages. Mainly, villages were built in very good sites which had the fundamentals of the rural life, like water. An example of a Mediterranean Syrian village in Tartus would be al-Annazah, which is a small village that belongs to the area of al-Sawda, al-Sauda. The area of al-Sauda is called a ''nahiya''.

Australasia and Oceania

CSIRO ScienceImage 3723 Aerial view of the rural community of Burrawang in the Wingecarribee Catchment south of Sydney NSW 1999

Pacific Islands Communities on Pacific islands were historically called villages by English speakers who traveled and settled in the area. Some communities such as several Villages of Guam continue to be called villages despite having large populations that can exceed 40,000 residents. New Zealand The traditional Māori people, Māori village was the Pā (Māori), pā, a fortified hill-top settlement. Tree-fern logs and flax were the main building materials. As in Australia (see below) the term is now used mainly in respect of shopping or other planned areas. Australia The term village often is used in reference to small planned communities such as retirement communities or shopping districts, and tourist areas such as ski resorts. Small rural communities are usually known as townships. Larger settlements are known as towns.

South America

Argentina Usually set in remote mountainous areas, some also cater to winter sports or tourism. See Uspallata, La Cumbrecita, Villa Traful and La Cumbre, Córdoba, La Cumbre. Guyana In various areas villages can still be found in Guyana. While many are now towns, there are several areas on river banks, and communities off central roads that are still locally considered villages. Uruguay Village or "villa" is one of the three levels at which the government classifies urbanizations or "localidades", a "villa" is highest rank than a "pueblo" which is the lowest unit and lower than a city or "ciudad", which is the highest rank. Note that this organization is more related with notability than size, since there is no official criteria to determine the level of urbanization. Every urbanization is a "pueblo" unless is elevated by decree to the next category. Historically this was a faculty of the executive power but more recently this faculty was transferred to the legislative. However colloquial speech still refers as "pueblo" to most "villas" and even cities and many names preceded by the word "villa" could represent other standard, such as "Villa del Cerro" or "Villa Serrana".

North America

In contrast to the Old World, the concept of village in Canada and the United States today is largely disconnected from its rural and communal origins. The situation is different in Mexico because of its large bulk of indigenous population living in traditional villages.

Canada

United States

Incorporated villages

In twenty U.S. states, the term "village" refers to a specific form of incorporated municipal government, similar to a city but with less authority and geographic scope. However, this is a generality; in many states, there are villages that are an order of magnitude larger than the smallest cities in the state. The distinction is not necessarily based on population, but on the relative powers granted to the different types of municipalities and correspondingly, different obligations to provide specific services to residents. In some states such as New York and Michigan, a village is an incorporated municipality, within a single town or civil township. In some cases, the village may be wikt:coterminous, coterminous with the town or township, in which case the two may have a coterminous municipality, consolidated government. There are also villages that span the boundaries of more than one town or township; some villages may straddle county borders. There is no population limit to villages in New York. Hempstead (village), New York, Hempstead, the largest village, has 55,000 residents; making it more populous than some of the state's cities. However; villages in the state may not exceed five square miles (13 km²) in area. Michigan and Illinois also have no set population limit for villages and there are many villages that are larger than cities in those states. The village of Schaumburg, Illinois had 78,723 residents as of the 2020 census. A village also has no written figure against how small a population can be, with the United States' smallest incorporated village being Dering Harbor, New York, Dering Harbor, NY, with a population of just over 10. In Michigan, a village is always legally part of a Administrative divisions of Michigan, township. Villages can incorporate land in multiple townships and even multiple counties. The largest village in the state is Beverly Hills, Michigan, Beverly Hills in Southfield Township, Michigan, Southfield Township which had a population of 10,267 people as of the 2010 census. In the state of Wisconsin, a village is always legally separate from the township, towns that it has been incorporated from. The largest village is Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, Menomonee Falls, which has over 32,000 residents. In Pennsylvania law, the term borough (Pennsylvania), borough is used to refer to the same type of entity. 80% of Pennsylvania's 956 boroughs have populations of less than 5,000 but about thirty have populations of over 10,000 with State College, Pennsylvania, State College having more than 40,000 residents. In Ohio villages are often legally part of the civil township, township from which they were incorporated, although exceptions such as Hiram, Ohio, Hiram exist, in which the village is separate from the township. They have no area limitations, but become cities if they grow a population of more than 5,000. In Maryland, a locality designated "Village of ..." may be either an incorporated town or a special-purpose district, special tax district. An example of the latter is the Friendship Heights, MD, Village of Friendship Heights. In North Carolina, the only difference between cities, towns, and villages is the term itself.

Unincorporated villages

In many states, the term "village" is used to refer to a relatively small unincorporated community, similar to a Hamlet (New York), hamlet in New York state. This informal usage may be found even in states that have villages as an incorporated municipality, although such usage might be considered incorrect and confusing. In most New England states, a "village" is a center of population or trade, including the town center, in an otherwise sparsely developed town or city — for instance, the village of Hyannis, Massachusetts, Hyannis in the town of Barnstable, Massachusetts. However, in Vermont and Connecticut, both incorporated and unincorporated villages exist.

Africa

Nigeria

Villages in Nigeria vary significantly because of cultural and geographical differences. Northern Nigeria In the Northern Nigeria, North, villages were under Nigerian traditional rulers, traditional rulers long before the Jihad of Usman dan Fodio, Shaikh Uthman Bin Fodio and after the Holy War. At that time Nigerian traditional rulers, Traditional rulers used to have absolute monarchy, absolute power in their administrative regions. After Dan Fodio's Jihad in 1804, political structure of the North became Islamic where emirs were the political, administrative and spiritual leaders of their people. These emirs appointed a number of people to assist them in running the administration and that included villages. Every Hausa village was reigned by Magaji (Village head) who was answerable to his Hakimi (mayor) at the town level. The Magaji also had his cabinet who assisted him in ruling his village efficiently, among whom was Mai-Unguwa (Ward Head). With the creation of Native Authority in Nigerian provinces, the autocratic power of village heads along with all other traditional rulers was subdued hence they ruled 'under the guidance of colonial officials'.A Johnson Ugoji Anyaele. ''Comprehensive Government'', A Johnson Publishers LTD. Surulere, Lagos. , p. 123 Even though the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has not recognised the functions of traditional rulers, they still command respect in their villages and political office holders liaise with them almost every time to reach people. In Hausa language, village is called ''ƙauye'' and every local government area is made up of several small and large ''ƙauyuka'' (villages). For instance, Girka is a village in Kaita, Nigeria, Kaita town in Katsina state in Nigeria. They have mud houses with thatched roofing though, like in most of the villages in the North, zinc roofing has become a common sight. Still in many villages in the North, people do not have access to portable water. So they fetch water from ponds and streams. Others are lucky to have wells within a walking distance. Women rush in the morning to fetch water in their clay pots from wells, boreholes and streams. However, the government is now providing them with water bore holes. Electricity and GSM network are reaching more and more villages in the North almost every day. So bad feeder roads may lead to remote villages with electricity and unstable GSM network. Southern Nigeria Village dwellers in the Southeastern region lived separately in "clusters of huts belonging to the patrilinage".Village
igboguide.org As the rainforest region is dominated by Igbo language, Igbo speaking people, the villages are called ''ime obodo'' (inside town) in Igbo language. A typical large village might have a few thousand persons who shared the same market, meeting place and beliefs.

South Africa

In South Africa the majority of people in rural areas reside in villages. They vary in size from having a population of less than 500 to around 1000.

References

Sources

External links

Types of villages (anthropogenic biomes)
* {{Authority control Villages, Rural geography Urban geography Types of populated places