The small group of houses and buildings that take place in rural areas is known by the name of village. A village is generally smaller than a town and tiny compared to the size of an average city. Within the village there are mostly houses for residence and housing as well as some other minor buildings related to the economic activities that take place in the place (stable, farm, mill, warehouse, etc.).
One of the main characteristics of the village is that its inhabitants produce what they consume, limiting contact with the outside almost to a minimum, either with neighboring villages or with nearby towns or cities. This is perhaps what makes the village not grow in size as it can happen with today's towns, cities or megacities. At the same time, within the village, customary practices, cultural phenomena and the hierarchical organization that shape the daily life of its inhabitants develop, generally being very unique and particular.
Extremely common in antiquity and in the Middle Ages, the villages are today almost a picturesque phenomenon, very difficult to find. The village is considered the first and oldest form of community organization of the human being, the first having been built in the prehistoric Neolithic period (the one in which man went from nomadism to sedentarism, dominating agriculture and animal domestication). This form of social organization would not cease to be common until the first effects of the Industrial Revolution (18th century) took place, at which time large amounts of the rural population had to emigrate to the increasingly thriving urban centers.
It goes without saying that the village establishes a deep and intimate relationship with the natural environment, consuming only the necessary natural resources, producing its raw materials through the work of nature and subsisting in the best possible way according to the climatic conditions and from space.
Today, despite having lost much of the village to the advance of cities, many groups aware of environmental damage, have returned to rural roots and that is why in many countries you can find ecological and sustainable villages built based on old or brand new villages.
