What are settlements in geography?

Settlements in geography are human settlements ranging from a small village with a population in the hundreds to large cities with a population in the tens of millions, according to National Geographic. These human settlements vary in terms of location, organization, composition, history, function and arrangement.

The political and administrative systems, education, culture and entertainment, media and communications, transportation systems and economic activities are all aspects of human life that focus on organized habitation. Relationships between settlements are important to the understanding of human spatial organization. Settlement relationships are shaped by ideas, people, capital, trade, raw materials and finished products. Geographical human settlements change throughout time and differ greatly from region to region.