Human settlement
Jebel Irhoud in Morocco holds the earliest geographical evidence of a human settlement. Eight early modern human remains date back to the Middle Paleolithic around 300,000 years ago. This site marks the beginning of recorded human habitation on Earth. The oldest constructed dwellings appear much later at the Ohalo site near the Sea of Galilee. These huts were built from mud and branches around 17,000 BC. They now lie underwater as the water level rose over time. The Natufians built houses in the Levant around 10,000 BC. Settlements became common after the invention of agriculture. Jarmo in Iraq contains the oldest known village remains.
Landscape history studies the form of settlements like dispersed or nucleated patterns. Urban morphology serves as a special type of cultural-historical landscape study. A settlement hierarchy orders communities by size, centrality, or other factors. A town in one country might be called a village in another. Some large towns are classified as cities elsewhere. The complexity ranges from minuscule groups of dwellings to massive urban areas. Constructed facilities include roads, enclosures, field systems, boundary banks, ditches, ponds, parks, woodlands, windmills, watermills, manor houses, moats, and churches. These elements define the physical structure of any community.
The United Nations' World Urbanization Prospects 2025 report states that 45% of the world's 8.2 billion people live in cities today. This is up from 20% in 1950. Thirty-six percent reside in towns and semi-urban areas while only 19% live in rural regions. Two-thirds of global population growth between 2025 and 2050 will occur in urban areas. Nearly 3 billion people will move into cities during this period. Megacities with populations over 10 million reached 33 in 2025. This number has quadrupled since 1975. Built-up land expanded nearly twice as fast as population growth since 1975. Per capita urban land use increased from 44 square meters to 63 square meters. Southern and Western U.S. regions saw the fastest city growth rates in 2024. Princeton, Texas grew by 30.6% according to U.S. Census Bureau data released on the 7th of May 2025.
Geoscience Australia defines a populated place as a named settlement with at least 200 persons. The Committee for Geographical Names in Australasia uses localities for rural areas. The Australian Bureau of Statistics calls urban areas urban centres or localities. Bosnia and Herzegovina's Agency for Statistics uses settled place for rural or municipal centers. Bulgaria publishes a National Register of Populated places through its government. Canada uses populated place in the Atlas of Canada without defining it. Statistics Canada refers to historically named locations as localities. Croatia records population in units called settlements or naselja. India's Census Commission creates special definitions for census towns. Ireland's Central Statistics Office introduced Built Up Areas starting with the 2022 census. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics measures populations using Tehsil administrative units derived from the Mughal era. Russia contains various types of inhabited localities within its borders. Sweden uses localities or tätort for densely populated places. The UK Department for Communities and Local Government analyzes urban settlements via census information. Scotland defines settlements as groups of contiguous localities based on density and postcodes. The United States Geological Survey classifies human settlements into three categories: populated place, census area, and civil division.
The Global Human Settlement Layer framework produces global spatial information about human presence over time. It generates built-up maps, population density maps, and settlement maps. Evidence-based analytics use new spatial data mining technologies to create this data. Heterogeneous sources include fine-scale satellite imagery archives, census data, and volunteered geographic information. Data processing happens fully automatically to generate objective reporting. The system operates under an open input, method, and output policy. This approach allows free access to all data and methods used globally. Researchers can analyze population presence and built infrastructure systematically without restriction.
Abandoned buildings in Kolmanskop, Namibia stand as a visible example of deserted communities. Ghost towns often become tourist attractions when structures remain easily accessible. Some places appear abandoned but are still defined as populated by government entities. Economic failure frequently causes towns to vanish from active use. Government actions like dam construction that floods entire towns also lead to abandonment. Natural disasters such as floods or uncontrolled lawlessness destroy inhabited areas. War forces populations to flee their homes permanently. The term sometimes refers to cities significantly less populated than before. These locations provide relics for archaeological studies of past lives. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and GeoNames database track these features officially.
Common questions
Where is the earliest geographical evidence of human settlement located?
Jebel Irhoud in Morocco holds the earliest geographical evidence of a human settlement. Eight early modern human remains date back to the Middle Paleolithic around 300,000 years ago.
When did the oldest constructed dwellings appear at the Ohalo site near the Sea of Galilee?
The huts were built from mud and branches around 17,000 BC. They now lie underwater as the water level rose over time.
What percentage of the world's population lived in cities according to the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects 2025 report?
45% of the world's 8.2 billion people live in cities today. This figure represents an increase from 20% in 1950.
How many megacities with populations over 10 million existed in 2025?
Megacities with populations over 10 million reached 33 in 2025. This number has quadrupled since 1975.
Which country uses populated place in the Atlas of Canada without defining it?
Canada uses populated place in the Atlas of Canada without defining it. Statistics Canada refers to historically named locations as localities.