Rural Settlement

In general, a rural place or region is identified by a low density of population; a predominance of land used for agriculture, ranching, or that is undeveloped; and relative lack of urban places, especially those that occupy a large area whose economic activities and employment are concentrated in the secondary and tertiary sectors of the economy. The territory in a country that is precisely designated as rural often depends on the standards and definitions used by the government agencies of that specific country, just as is the case when considering urban geography.

Moreover, even countries that show a high level of economic development and hold large populations may also be predominantly rural—the United States Bureau of the Census identifies 95 percent of the United States as rural, and the proportion of rural territory in Canada and Australia is similar, although as in the United States, a large majority of the population living in these countries is urbanized. On the other hand, many lesser-developed countries have a majority of their people living in rural districts, with only a relatively small portion of the population considered residents of cities. 

Regardless of the world region in which they are located, most rural landscapes show distinct patterns of settlement, which are typically determined by environmental and economic factors, cultural practices, social relations, and sometimes the type of crop produced. The presence or absence of water may influence the spatial nature of rural settlement. In deserts and other regions where rainfall is scarce and agrarian production is dependent on surface water sources for irrigation, or on underground supplies from wells or springs, settlements are centralized around or near the source of water. These may be gathered at an oasis, where a single freshwater spring provides water for the human population, livestock, and usually a limited amount of cultivation. If local farm production is dependent on a lake or river to supply a system of irrigation canals, rural settlements tend to be located adjacent to the water source or to the central irrigation works. The construction and maintenance of irrigation canals, along with the equitable allocation of water, requires significant oversight and collective effort and results in a settlement pattern that is closely tied to the availability of water.