Short answers, pulled from the story.
An intentional community is a voluntary residential group designed to foster high social cohesion and teamwork. These groups typically promote shared values or beliefs, which may be political, religious, utopian, or spiritual.
The Suffolk-born radical John Goodwyn Barmby invented the term commune in 1840 during his time as a Unitarian minister. This historical event marks the specific origin of the terminology used for these groups today.
The Fellowship for Intentional Community lists 222 communes worldwide as of the 28th of January 2019. This data point represents the total count recorded by that organization at that specific date.
Moora Moora Co-operative Community stands as one of the oldest continuously running groups with about 47 members as of October 2021. Located atop Mount Toolebewong sixty-five kilometers east of Melbourne this community has been entirely off the electricity grid since its inception in 1974.
Democratic governance represents the most common form found in intentional communities accounting for 64 percent of cases. Decisions are made through some form of consensus decision-making or voting procedures within these structures.