Villages

Villages

A village is a rural settlement which is smaller than a town.

The traditional English village, with its inn, church and picturesque cottages may seem eternal.

Life in the rural settlements dramatically changed because of the Industrial Revolution at the end of the 18th century.

English villages remained unchanged until the 18th century when agriculture transformed the way of life in the countryside. The peasants who owned horses or buffaloes could travel only a few kilometers each day using damaged and muddy roads.

Geographically speaking there are two types of rural settlements: scattered villages and the ones that are grouped together.

Scattered villages consist of farms and households which occupy a large area.

The villages that are grouped together are built in the vicinity of a bridge, an intersection or even a harbor and that is the case of the fishermen's villages.

Villages are usually to be found wherever there is a source of water, along the river banks or near a lake.

A typical rural settlement is the one built on a plain and it usually had a well or a pond.

In 1800 almost 20% of England's population lived in towns whereas nowadays the percentage increased to 90%.

The expansion of towns and the migration of the population from rural settlements to urban ones affected almost the entire industrialized world, including countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA which were colonized by the Europeans.

The employment of modern technology changed life in the countryside: a lot of small or medium-sized farms which had a lot of workers could be led only by a farmer, his wife and a worker.

The Japanese agriculture is based on farms which produce rice which is essential for one of the most populous countries in the world.

The largest rural communities are to be found in the poorer countries. For example, in Africa 70% of the population live in the countryside, in Asia 40%, in Latin America 35% and in the developed countries in Europe and North America only 26% of the population live in rural settlements. Less and less people live on the islands, the young ones go to the continent, leaving behind old people and scattered farms.

Not all the people who live in the countryside have houses. The vagrant population in the Northern African deserts and savannas live in organized camps where there are grazing lands and sources of water for their cattle.

In Greece the population in a large number of villages consists of women and children because men went to towns to find a job there.

The French villages are often decorated by creative people who found their inspiration in the countryside.

In the lower regions which are threatened by floods, houses are often built on pillars. Similar houses are also found in the dry regions because they provide protection against humidity, insects or poisonous snakes.

In the cooler or cold regions of the Himalayas villages consist of houses which have solid structures.

In the higher regions of the Andes houses have walls made of stone and roofs made of straw.

In Northern China, where wood is scarce, houses are made of mud which is mixed with straw or bricks.

The demographic density in rural settlements partially depends on the type of agriculture that is used in the region. For example, in the Indonesian regions of Java, which are intensely tilled the density is about 1,000 inhabitants per square kilometer and villages are only one kilometer apart from each other.

Agriculture is the main source of income for the people living in the villages.Scientists asses that these people earn approximately 30-35 % lesser than townsfolk. The poorest ones are usually the ones who don't own a piece of land.

Many people in the villages lack money and many of them have no access to health care or education. Education is important because only those who benefit from it can find a job in the city.

The village shops are no match for those found in the great cities of the world.

In some places the village stopped being a center of services only for the native people and turned into a suburb of a town.