A hamlet is a

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

that is smaller than a

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 ...

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 ...

. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined for official or administrative purposes. The word and concept of a hamlet can be traced back to Norman England, where the Old French came to apply to small human settlements.

Etymology

The word comes from Anglo-Norman ', corresponding to

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th West Germanic) [ West Germanic languages">West Germanic) Dutch ', Frisian languages">Frisian ', German ', Old English">Franconian languages. It is related to the modern French ', Dutch language">Dutch ', Frisian languages">Frisian ', German ', Old English ', and Modern English ''home''.

By country

Afghanistan

In Afghanistan, the counterpart of the hamlet is the Qila, qala ( Dari: قلعه, Pashto: کلي) meaning "fort" or "hamlet". The Afghan ''qala'' is a fortified group of houses, generally with its community building such as a mosque, but without its marketplace. The qala is the smallest type of settlement in Afghan society, outsized by the village ( Dari/ Pashto: ده), which is larger and includes a commercial area.

Canada

In Canada's three territories, hamlets are officially designated

municipalities 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' ...

. As of January 1, 2010: *

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...

had 11 hamlets, each of which had a population of less than 900 people as of the 2016 census; * Nunavut had 24 hamlets, with populations ranging from 129 to 2,842 as of the 2016 census; and * Yukon had two hamlets, both of which had a population of less than 450 people as of the 2016 census. In Canada's provinces, hamlets are usually small unincorporated communities within a larger municipality (similar to civil townships in the United States), such as many communities within the single-tier municipalities of

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

's specialized and

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 ...

municipalities, and

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

's rural municipalities. Canada's two largest hamlets— Fort McMurray (formerly incorporated as a city) and Sherwood Park—are located in Alberta. They each have populations, within their main urban area, over 60,000—well over the 10,000-person threshold that can choose to incorporate as a city in Alberta. As such, these two hamlets have been further designated by the Province of Alberta as urban service areas. An urban service area is recognized as equivalent to a city for provincial and federal program delivery and grant eligibility.

France

A hamlet () is a group of rural dwellings, usually too small to be considered a village. The term is also applied to hamlets, but this can also refer to uninhabited localities. During the 18th century, it was fashionable for rich or noble people to create their ''hameau'' in their gardens. This was a group of houses or farms with a rustic appearance, but very comfortable. The best known are the Hameau de la Reine, built by Queen Marie-Antoinette in the park of the

Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

, and the Hameau de Chantilly, built by Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé in Chantilly, Oise.

Germany

The German word for hamlet is ' (). A ''Weiler'' has, compared to a ''Dorf'' (village), no infrastructure (i.e. no inn, no school, no store, no church). The houses and farms of a ''Weiler'' can be grouped (in the hills and the mountains) or scattered (more often in the plains). In North West Germany, a group of scattered farms is called ''Bauerschaft''. In a Weiler, there are no street names, the houses are just numbered. There is no legal definition of a hamlet in Germany. In Bavaria, like in Austria, a Weiler is defined as a settlement with 3 to 9 dwellings, from 10 houses it is called a village. A hamlet does not usually form its administrative unit but is part of a larger municipality.

India

In different states of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, there are different words for hamlet. In Haryana and

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

, it is called ''" dhani"'' ( ') or ''"Thok"''.Ashutosh Goyal, 2015
"RBS Visitors Guide India - Rajasthan: Rajasthan Travel guide".
Data & Expo India Pvt Ltd, .Rann Singh Mann, K. Mann, 1989
"Tribal Cultures and Change".
pp. 23.S. H. M. Rizvi, 198
"Mina, the ruling tribe of Rajasthan: socio-biological appraisal".
pp. 34. In

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

, a hamlet is called a ''"nesada"'', which are more prevalent in the Gir forest. In

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

, it is called a ''"pada"''. In southern Bihar, especially in the Magadh division, a hamlet is called a ''"bigha"''. In the state of

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

, a hamlet is known by different names like Palya, Hadi (Haadi), Keri, and Padi (Paadi). In the olden days, the human population of hamlet was less than Halli (Village) or Ooru (Uru). But in the 20th century with the tremendous increase in population, some of these hamlets became villages, towns and cities or merged with them.

Indonesia

All over

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, hamlets are translated as "small village", or '. They are known as ' in Central Java and East Java, ' in Bali, ' or ' in West Sumatra.

Netherlands

The Dutch words for hamlet are ' or '. A ''gehucht'' or ''buurtschap'' has, compared to a ''dorp'' (village), no infrastructure (i.e. no inn, no school, no store) and contains often only one street, bearing the same name. The houses and farms of a ''gehucht'' or a ''buurtschap'' can be scattered. Though there are strong similarities between a ''gehucht'' and ''buurtschap'', the words are not interchangeable. A ''gehucht'' officially counts as an independent place of residence (e.g. Wateren), while a ''buurtschap'' officially is a part of another place (e.g. Bartlehiem, part of Wyns).

Pakistan

In Pakistan, a hamlet is called a ''gaaon'' گاؤں or mauza موضع in

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

, ''giraaan'' گراں or ''pind'' پنڈ in Punjabi, and ''kalay'' کلې in Pashto. It is almost synonymous with 'village'.

Poland

In Poland, the law recognises several different kinds of rural settlements. '' Przysiółek'' (which can be translated as "hamlet") refers to a cluster of farms. ''Osada'' (which is typically translated as "settlement" but also can be translated as "hamlet") includes smaller settlements especially differing by type of buildings or inhabited by population connected with some place or workplace (like mill settlements, forest settlements, fishing settlements, railway settlements, former State Agricultural Farm settlements). They can be an independent settlement, or a part of another settlement, like a village.

Romania

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, hamlets are called ' (singular: '), and they represent villages that contain several houses at most. They are legally considered villages, and statistically, they are placed in the same category. Like villages, they do not have a separate administration, and thus are not an administrative division, but are part of a parent commune.

Russia

In the Russian language, there are several words that mean "a hamlet", but all of them are approximately equivalent. The most common word is деревня (''derevnia'', the word meant "an arable" in the past); the words село (''selo'', from the Russian word селиться (''selit'tsa''), meaning "to settle") and посёлок (''posiolok'') are quite frequently used, too. Parallel to many other cultures, a distinction was often that ''selo'' has a church and ''derevnia'' does not. The once common Russian word хутор (''khutor'') for the smallest type of rural settlement (arguably closest to the English hamlet) is now mostly obsolete. The state of the USSR wanted to have some form of basic infrastructure and central authority at every settlement. This is the opposite of a hamlet - a place without either for being too small to meaningfully support those. Even without state pressure, once one of the neighboring ''khutor''s got a permanent shop, school or community center (known in Russia as дом культуры, "house of culture"), maybe a medical post, others would naturally relocate closer, drawing together into one village. Thus, the diminutive form деревенька (''derevenka'', tiny ''derevnia'') is in widespread, albeit unofficial, use to denote such settlements, which mostly possess the amenities of a village yet the size of a hamlet.

Spain

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, a hamlet is called ''lugar'', ''aldea'' or ' (). The word comes from the Spanish term ' («estate»). In the South of Spain, the term ' () is also used for designating small groups of rural dwellings or farmhouses. A hamlet in Spain is a human settlement, usually located in rural areas, and typically smaller in size and population than a

(called in Spain, ' ). The hamlet is a common territorial organisation in the North West of Spain ( Asturias, Cantabria and Galicia) dependent on a larger entity (e.g.

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

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' ...

). In Spain, the hamlet is one of the categories in the official gazetteer of population entities. In the Royal Order and Instruction of the 8 of March 1930, issued for the elaboration of the Annual gazetteer, the hamlet (') is defined as the population entity with the smallest population and neighbourhood, usually more disseminated than the lugar, though its buildings can be also organised in streets and plazas.

Switzerland

In the four national languages, hamlets are known as ' (German), ' (French), ' (Italian) and ' ( Romansh). A hamlet is always part of a larger

or may be shared between two municipalities. The difference between a hamlet and a village is that typically a hamlet lacks a compact core settlement and lacks a central building such as a church or inn. However, some hamlets (') may have grown up as an unplanned settlement around a church. No population limit defines a hamlet and some hamlets have a larger population than some of the smallest municipalities. Generally, there are no street names in a hamlet; rather, addresses are given by hamlet name and a number. House numbers might start at one side of the hamlet and continue to the other side or may have no clear organization. A hamlet may form or have formed a ' (legal place of citizenship regardless of where a person was born or currently lives) and may own common property for the '.

Turkey

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, a hamlet is known as a ' and denotes a small satellite settlement usually consisting of a few houses in the rural outskirts of a village.

Ukraine

In Ukraine, a very small village such as a hamlet usually is called a ''selyshche'' or '. There also existed such places like '' volia'', '' sloboda'', '' huta'', '' buda'', and others.

United Kingdom

England

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, the word ''hamlet'' (having the French origin given at the top of this article) means (in current usage) simply a small settlement, maybe of a few houses or farms, smaller than a village. However, traditionally and legally, it means a village or a town without a church, although hamlets are recognised as part of land use planning policies and administration. Historically, it may refer to a secondary settlement in a civil parish, after the main settlement (if any); such an example is the hamlet of Chipping which is the secondary settlement within the civil parish of Buckland. Hamlets may have been formed around a single source of economic activity such as a farm, mill, mine or harbour that employed its working population. Some hamlets may be the result of the depopulation of a village; examples of such a hamlet are Graby and Shapwick. Because of the hilly topography of the parish, the village of Clent, situated on the Clent Hills, consists of five distinct hamlets.

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, the common Irish place name element ' is sometimes considered equivalent to the term ''hamlet'' in English, ' would actually have referred to what is known in English today as a ''

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

'': that is to say, a geographical locality rather than a small village.

Scotland

In the Scottish Highlands, the term ', of Gaelic derivation, may be preferred to the term ''hamlet''. Also found in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

more generally is ', used in the specific case of a farm settlement, including outbuildings and agricultural workers' homes.

Wales

The term hamlet was used in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

to denote a geographical subdivision of a parish (which might or might not contain a settlement). Elsewhere, mostly in England, these subdivisions were called "townships" or "tithings". The Welsh word for "hamlet" is (also ). Both these words are diminutives of ''pentref'' ("village") with the loose meaning of "small village".

United States

Mississippi

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

, a 2009 state law (§ 17-27-5) set aside the term "municipal historical hamlet" to designate any former city, town, or village with a current population of less than 600 inhabitants that lost its charter before 1945. The first such designation was applied to Bogue Chitto, Lincoln County.

New York

In New York, hamlets are unincorporated settlements within towns. Hamlets are not legal entities and have no local government or official boundaries. Their approximate locations will often be noted on road signs, however, a specific service, such as water, sewer, or lighting provides only that hamlet with services. A hamlet could be described as the rural or suburban equivalent of a neighborhood in a city or village. The area of a hamlet may not be exactly defined; it may be designated by the Census Bureau, or it may rely on some other form of border (such as a ZIP Code, school district or fire district for more urbanized areas; rural hamlets are typically only demarcated by speed zones on the roads serving them). Others, such as Forestville, New York, will be the remnants of former villages, with borders coextant with the previously defined borders of the defunct or dissolved village. Some hamlets proximate to urban areas are sometimes continuous with their cities and appear to be neighborhoods, but they still are under the jurisdiction of the town. Some localities designated as hamlets, such as Levittown in the Town of Hempstead, with a population of over 50,000, are more populous than some incorporated cities in the state.

Oregon

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, specifically in Clackamas County, a hamlet is a form of local government for small communities that allows the citizens therein to organize and coordinate community activities. Hamlets do not provide services, such as utilities or fire protection, and do not have the authority to levy taxes or fees. There are four hamlets in Oregon: Beavercreek, Mulino, Molalla Prairie, and Stafford.

Vietnam

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

, a hamlet (', ') is the smallest unofficial administrative unit. It is a subdivision of a commune or township (').

References

External links

Wolfhampcote: A hamlet formed by depopulation

{{Authority control * Types of populated places