Settlements in Croatia, in Croatian ''naselje'' ( pl. ''naselja'') are the third-level spatial division of the country, and usually indicate existing or former

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

. Each Croatian city or town (''grad'', pl. ''gradovi'') or

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

(''općina'', pl. ''općine'') consists of one or more settlements. A settlement can be part of only one second-level spatial division, whose territory is the sum of exclusive settlement territories. Settlements are not necessarily

incorporated place The United States Census Bureau defines a place as a concentration of population which has a name, is locally recognized, and is not part of any other place. A place typically has a residential nucleus and a closely spaced street pattern, and it f ...

s, as second-level

local authorities Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

(towns and municipalities), known as ''jedinice lokalne samouprave'', delegate some of their functions to so-called ''jedinice mjesne samouprave'' (''gradski kotar'', ''gradska četvrt'', or ''područje mjesnog odbora''). The

Croatian Bureau of Statistics The Croatian Bureau of Statistics ( or DZS) is the Croatian national statistics bureau. History The bureau was formed in 1875 in Austria-Hungary as the ''Zemaljski statistički ured'' for the Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia. In 192 ...

publishes their decennial census data on the basis of official settlement (naselje) data from the Register of Spatial Units by the State Geodetic Administration. , there are 6 757 settlements in Croatia. Rural individual settlements are usually referred to as '' selo'' (village; pl. ''sela''). Municipalities (or communes) in Croatia comprise one or more either urban or rural settlements. A city usually includes an eponymous large settlement and several urban, suburban or rural settlements. A municipality is usually named by the largest or most urban settlement and typically includes several rural settlements. The

Constitution of Croatia The Constitution of the Republic of Croatia () is promulgated by the Croatian Parliament. History While it was part of the socialist Yugoslavia, the Socialist Republic of Croatia had its own Constitution under the Constitution of Yugoslavia. ...

allows a ''naselje'' or a part thereof to form some form of

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

. This form of local government is typically used to subdivide larger municipalities and cities; municipality may comprise several units named ''mjesni odbor'' (local committee/board), a city usually consists of several units (which may comprise one or more settlements) named ''gradski kotar/gradska četvrt'' (

city district A city district, also known as an urban district or neighbourhood, is a designated administrative division that is generally managed by a local government. It is used to divide a city into several administrative units. City districts are used ...

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

; pl. ''gradski kotari/gradske četvrti''), and/or ''mjesni odbor'' (local committee/board; pl. ''mjesni odbori''). Historically, the methodology of delineating settlements in Croatia changed substantially in the first decade after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, when the number of settlements was recorded at 12,044 in the 1948 census, but then reduced to 6,704 in the 1953 census. At the time, the definition of a settlement was an inhabited place with a separate name, an independent settlement was a settlement that had a distinct territory, and a non-independent one was one that was inside another one's territory. Independent ones therefore included cities, towns,

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

s, villages and places where people were settled or colonized.

References

{{Authority control Subdivisions of Croatia

See also

References