According to the national law, settlement units or

localities Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...

(

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

: ''miejscowość'') are broadly classified in Poland as one of the following:Główny Urząd Statystyczny - Bank Danych Lokalnych: "Miejscowość statystyczna"
/ref> :a) a principal locality ''(miejscowość podstawowa)'' - an independent locality, e.g. a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

or a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

, all of them are always principal localities, and :b) a part of a locality ''(część miejscowości)'' - an officially named, non-independent integral part of a city/town, a village or other principal locality, distinguished from other parts of the principal locality by a separate name or type - e.g. a quarter (

dzielnica In the Polish system of local administration, a dzielnica (Polish plural ''dzielnice'') is an administrative subdivision or quarter of a city or town. A dzielnica may have its own elected council ('' rada dzielnicy'', or ''dzielnica council'') ...

), always an integral part of a city or a town Some of the types, namely a

settlement Settlement may refer to: *Human settlement, a community where people live *Settlement (structural), downward movement of a structure's foundation *Settlement (finance), where securities are delivered against payment of money *Settlement (litigatio ...

, a

colony A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their ''metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often orga ...

, a

neighbourhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

and a

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

, can be either a principal locality (rural only) or a part of a locality, the latter within any rural or urban principal locality in the case of a

, within a city/town or a village in the case of a

and a

, or within a village only in the case of a

Statistics by type

In 2015 there was 103,086 official names of localities and their parts, including (23 types): * 915 names of cities and towns ''(miasto)''; see ''

list of cities and towns in Poland This is a list of cities and towns in Poland, consisting of four sections: the full list of all 107 cities in Poland by size, followed by a description of the principal metropolitan areas of the country, the table of the most populated cities and ...

'' for their subtypes, : 6,710 names of parts of cities or towns ''(część miasta)'', usually quarters (

) or neighbourhoods (

osiedle (Polish plural: ) is a term used in Poland to denote a designated subdivision or neighbourhood of a city or its , or of a town, with its own council and executive. Like the and sołectwo, an is an auxiliary unit (''jednostka pomocnicza'') of ...

), sometimes also settlements (''osada miejska'') or colonies (''kolonia miejska''); other locally defined types are also allowed in cities and towns along those named in the national law, through these are rare, * 43,069 names of villages ''(wieś)'', : 36,262 names of parts of villages ''(część wsi)'', : 520 names of settlements of villages ''(osada wsi)'', : 974 names of colonies of villages ''(kolonia wsi)'', : 224 names of forest settlements of villages ''(osada leśna wsi)'', : 5 names of neighbourhoods of villages ''(osiedle wsi)'', : 4,619 names of hamlets of villages ''(

przysiółek Przysiółek is a type of rural settlement in Poland. It is a cluster of several farmsteads outside of the compact development of a village, and may constitute an integral part of it. According to a 2021 regulation, ''"przysiółek"'' can be used ...

wsi)'', * 5,132 names of settlements ''(osada)'', : 10 names of parts of settlements ''(część osady)'', : 3 names of settlements of settlements ''(osada osady)'', : 6 names of colonies of settlements ''(kolonia osady)'', : 56 names of hamlets of settlements ''(przysiółek osady)'', * 2,203 names of colonies ''(kolonia)'', : 200 names of parts of colonies ''(część kolonii)'', : 0 names of settlements of colonies ''(osada kolonii)'', : 11 names of colonies of colonies ''(kolonia kolonii)'', : 41 names of hamlets of colonies ''(przysiółek kolonii)'', * 1,966 names of forest settlements ''(osada leśna)'', * 5 names of neighbourhoods ''(osiedle)'', * 133 names of hamlets ''(przysiółek)'', * 22 names of tourist refuges ''(schronisko turystyczne)''. Thus, there are 53,445 of independent localities, called principal localities (8 types: " urban" - cities/towns, "

rural 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 are typically desc ...

" - villages, settlements, colonies, forest settlements, neighbourhoods, hamlets and tourist refuges) and 49,641 of non-independent localities which are integral parts of principal localities (15 types: "urban" - parts of cities and towns, "rural" - parts of villages, settlements of villages, colonies of villages, forest settlements of villages, neighbourhoods of villages, hamlets of villages, parts of settlements, settlements of settlements, colonies of settlements, hamlets of settlements, parts of colonies, settlements of colonies, colonies of colonies and hamlets of colonies). A

statistical Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ...

locality ''(miejscowość statystyczna)'' is a separated collection of several localities (out of all 23 types) for statistical purposes, for which statistical data are collected and compiled together. In a special case, the team may contain only one locality. There are two types of statistical localities: : I - city/town ''(miasto)'' including one "urban" principal locality and their integral parts, and : II - rural locality ''(miejscowość wiejska)'' including at least one "rural" principal locality and their integral parts. In 2011 there was 42,490 of statistical localities.Ludność w miejscowościach statystycznych według ekonomicznych grup wieku. Stan w dniu 31.03.2011 r.
/ref> Thus, a large number (approx. 11,000) of the "rural" principal localities is taken together under the statistical localities (however, this data do not stipulate how many of tham are fully uninhabited).

References

{{Reflist Types of populated places Rural geography Geography of Poland