Identification

• A dispersed settlement is a term used to describe the relative placement or composition of a collective of human beings. For example, it may look at how closely members of such a collective reside spatially in relation to other familial or social units. One way to look at the subject is to consider the concept of population density or how many individuals may be located in a given zone such as a square mile or square kilometer. However, dispersal of settlements is not solely a numerically-oriented form of evaluation, but one designed to study other sociological, anthropological or historical concerns.
  
  

Comparisons

• Dispersed settlement is not an isolated concept, but is often used in comparison with clustered or nucleated settlements. The latter represent areas where members of the society tend to be more concentrated. Dispersed settlements then are those given to greater dispersal, smaller groups or inconsistent clustering. One of the primary problems with the usage of terms like these is that there are no hard and fast definitions for them. For example, one source may consider a dispersed settlement as containing no more than twenty individuals, whereas another approaches the designation through social isolation. Definitions, as well as methods for arriving at them, can be quite different.
  
  

Global Distribution

• The category of dispersed settlements is commonly used to refer to rural populations as opposed to urban or suburban contexts. While not exclusively so, dispersed settlements are observed in many regions throughout the developing world in order to study their composition, access to resources and social structures. It can also be used to study topics such as migration. In many rural societies, extensive effort and population change can occur around the time of harvest, leading to the entry of migratory workers. According to R. B. Mandal, nearly 40 percent of people residing in latin America can be described as living in rural, dispersed settlements.
  
  

Considerations

• Many different factors are involved within the study of settlement patterns and how they are organized. Communal locations or gathering places such as markets are often important. Other factors pertain to geography, logistics of roads and transportation, as well as socio-cultural elements such as family structure, religion and sociability, as well as how homes or clusters of homes are traditionally built and arranged. Other class structures and demographic ideals additionally come into play in some instances.