Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or, larger than a , but smaller than a  or. Though generally located in areas, the term  may be applied to certain  s, such as the  in,  and the  in ,. Villages are normally permanent, with fixed dwellings; however, transient villages can occur. Further, the dwellings of a village are fairly close to one another, as against being scattered broadly over the landscape (‘’).

Villages have been the usual form of for agricultural societies, and even for some non-agricultural societies. Towns and cities were few, and were home to only a small proportion of the population. The caused many villages to grow into towns and cities; this trend of  has continued, though not always in connection with industrialisation. Villages have thus been eclipsed in importance, as units of human society and settlement.

Traditional villages
Although many patterns of village life have existed, the typical village was small, consisting of perhaps 5 to 30 families. Homes were situated together for sociability and defense, and land surrounding the living quarters was farmed.

South Asia
India

"The soul of lives in its villages," declared M. K.  at the beginning of 20th century. According to the 2001 Indian census, 74% of Indians live in 638,365 different villages. The size of these villages varies considerably. 236,004 Indian villages have a population less than 500, while 3,976 villages have a population of 10,000+. Most villages have their own temple, mosque or church depending on the local religious following.

East Asia
Philippines

In urban areas of the Philippines, the term "village" most commonly refers to private subdivisions, especially. These villages emerged in the mid-twentieth century and were initially the domain of elite urban dwellers. However, they are now common in and other major cities in the country and their residents can have a wide range of income levels. They may or may not correspond to administrative units (usually s) and/or be privately administered. Some examples of well-known villages in Metro Manila are and.

Vietnam

Village, or "làng", is a basis of Vietnam 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) is worshiped, "đồng lúa" (rice 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 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" [literally: the king's law yields to village customs]). Everyone in Vietnam wants to be buried in their village when they die.

Slavic countries
Selo (: село; wieś) is a word meaning "village" in, , , , , , and. For example there are numerous sela called in, , and others in , and. In, the word selo is used degratory, meaning backwater.

Bulgaria
In Bulgaria the different types of Sela vary from a small selo of 5 to 30 families to one of several thousand people. In Bulgaria it is becoming popular to visit villages for the atmosphere, culture, crafts, hospitality of the people and the surrounding nature. This is called the "selski tourism" (Bulgarian:селски туризъм meaning village tourism).

Russia


In Russia, the bulk of the rural population are concentrated in villages. In, two terms are mainly used to refer to these : selo (село) or derevnya (деревня). Historically, the formal indication of status was religious: a city (gorod) would have a, a selo would have a church, while a derevnya would have neither.

The lowest administrative unit of the, ', or its Soviet or modern Russian successor, ', would usually be headquartered in a selo and embrace a few neighboring villages.

Between 1926 and 1989, Russia's rural population shrank from 76 million people to 39 million, due to urbanization,, and the  losses, but has nearly stabilized since. Mass starvation in Russia and other parts of the lead to the death of at least 14.5 million of peasants in the period 1930-1937 (including 5-7 million in the ).

Most Russian villages have populations of less than 200 people, and it is the smaller villages which take the brunt of depopulation: e.g., in 1959, about one half of Russia's rural population lived in villages of fewer than 500 people, while now less than one third does. In the 1960s–1970s, the depopulation of the smaller villages was driven by the central planners' drive to get the farm workers out of smaller, "prospect-less" hamlets and into the or 's main village, 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 settlements, used mostly for seasonal residence.

The historically regions of Southern Russia and parts of, with their fertile soil and absence of , had a rather different pattern of settlement from central and northern Russia. As opposed to the peasants of central Russia living in a village around the lord's manor, a Cossack family would often live on a farm of their own, called . The word  (стани́ца; станиця, stanytsia) would be used to refer to an administrative unit including a central village as well as a number of such khutors. Such a stanitsa village, often with a few thousand residents, would usually be larger than a selo in central Russia.

The term /aal is used to refer mostly Muslim-populated villages in and, without regard to the number of residents.

Western & Southern Europe
United Kingdom

A village is a compact settlement of houses, smaller in size than a, and generally based on agriculture. Villages tend to occur in lowland where they partly replaced the more scattered pattern of single farms and hamlets in the mid-Saxon period. In the UK the main historical distinction between a and a village is that the latter will have a, and will therefore usually have been the worship centre of an. However, it should be noted that some es may contain more than one village. The typical village used to have a pub and shops as well as a blacksmith. However, many of these facilities are now gone and many villages are dormitories for commuters. The population of such a settlement could range 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, although today such markets are uncommon even in settlements which clearly are towns.
 * A village does not have a town hall nor a.
 * There should also be a clear or open fields surrounding its parish borders.
 * The village should not be under the administrative control of an adjacent town or city.

France

Same general definition as in England, see, for example,.

Netherlands

In the flood prone districts of the Netherlands, villages were traditionally built on low man-made hills called before the introduction of regional dyke-systems.

The Middle East
Lebanon

Like France, villages in are usually located in remote mountainous areas. The majority of villages in Lebanon retain their names or are derivative of the Aramaic names, and this is because Aramaic was still in use in  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 conists 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.

Australasia & Oceania
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 continue to be called villages despite having large populations that can exceed 40,000 residents.

New Zealand

The traditional village was the, a fortified hill-top settlement. Tree-fern logs and flax were the main building materials.

Australia The term village often is used in reference to small planned communities such as, shopping districts, and tourist areas. Small rural communities can also be referred to as villages.

Central & South America
Argentina

Usually set in remote mountainous areas, some also cater to winter sports and/or tourism, see:, and

North America
United States

Incorporated villages

In twenty s, the term "village" refers to a specific form of incorporated, similar to a 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, Wisconsin, or Michigan, a village is an incorporated municipality, usually, but not always, within a single town or. Residents pay taxes to the village and town or township and may vote in for both as well. In some cases, the village may be coterminous with the town or township. There are also many villages which span the boundaries of more than one town or township, and some villages may even straddle county borders.

There is no limit to the population of a village in New York;, the largest village in the state, 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.

In the state of a village is always legally separate from the  that it has been incorporated from. The largest village is, which has over 32,000 residents.

Michigan and Illinois also have no set population limit for villages and there are many villages that are larger than cities in those states.

Villages in are almost always legally separate from any  that they may have been incorporated from (there are exceptions, such as, where the township includes the entirety of the village). They have no area limitations, but must reincorporate as cities if they grow to over 5,000 in population. Villages have the same home-rule rights as cities with fewer of the responsibilities. Unlike cities, they have the option of being either a "statutory village" and running their governments according to state law (with a six-member council serving four-year terms and a mayor who votes only to break ties) or being a "charter village" and writing a to run their government as they see fit.

In, a locality designated "Village of ..." may be either an incorporated town or a. An example of the latter is the.

In states that have s, 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 in the city of the.

Unincorporated villages

In many states, the term "village" is used to refer to a relatively small, similar to a 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.