A hamlet is a type of settlement. The definition of hamlet varies by country. It usually refers to a small settlement in a rural area, or a component of a larger settlement or municipality. Hamlets are typically unincorporated communities.
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The word comes from Anglo-Norman hamelet(t)e; Old French hamelet, the diminutive of Old French hamel. Another diminutive of Old French ham is possibly a cognate with similar words of Germanic origin. Compare with Dutch heem, German Heim, Swiss German cham or -kon, Old English hām and Modern English home, all derived from the Proto-Germanic *kham-.[1]
In Canada's three territories, hamlets are officially designated municipalities.[2] As of January 1, 2010:
In Canada's provinces, hamlets are usually small unincorporated communities within a larger municipality, such as many communities within the single-tier municipalities of Ontario or within Alberta's specialized and rural municipalities.[7]
Canada's two largest hamlets – Fort McMurray (formerly incorporated as a city)[8] and Sherwood Park – are located in Alberta. They both have populations well in excess of the 10,000-person threshold to incorporate as a city.[9][10] As such, these two hamlets have been further designated by the Province of Alberta as urban service areas.[11] An urban service area is recognized as equivalent to a city for the purposes of program delivery and grant eligibility.[12][13]
In Germany hamlets are called "Weiler" or Heim (German: [ˈwailə], English: /ˈwiːlə/), in Germany hamlets are often parts of bigger villages and municipalities. The most German hamlets stands in Bavaria, Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse (example of "Weiler" in Germany Saasen (Reiskirchen))
In Romania hamlets are called cătunuri (singular: cătun), and they represent villages that contain several houses at most. They are legally considered villages, and statistically, they are placed in the same category. Like villages, they do not have a separate administration, and thus are not an administrative division, but are part of a parent commune. Their locations are always marked by road signs.
In the United Kingdom, the word 'hamlet' has no defined legal meaning, although hamlets are recognised as part of land use planning policies and administration. A hamlet is traditionally defined ecclesiastically as a village or settlement that usually does not have its own church,[14] belonging to a parish of another village or town. In modern usage it generally refers to a secondary settlement in a civil parish, after the main settlement (if any). Hamlets may have been formed around a single source of economic activity such as a farm, mill, mine or harbour that employed its working population. Some hamlets, particularly those that have a medieval church, may be the result of the depopulation of a village.
The term hamlet was used in some parts of the country for a geographical subdivision of a parish (which might or might not contain a settlement). Elsewhere, these subdivisions were called "townships" or "tithings".[15][16]
In Scotland the term clachan, of Gaelic derivation, may be preferred to the term "hamlet".[17]Also found in that country is 'Fermtoun' used in the specific case of a settlement of agricultural workers' homes.
In Northern Ireland the common Irish place name element baile is sometimes considered equivalent to the term "hamlet" in English, although baile would actually have referred to what is known in English today as a townland that is a geographical locality, not a small village.
In New York, hamlets are unincorporated settlements within towns. Hamlets are usually not legal entities and have no local government or official boundaries. Their proximate location will often be noted on road signs, however.
A hamlet usually depends upon the town that contains it for municipal services and government. A hamlet could be described as the rural or suburban equivalent of a neighborhood in a city or village. The area of a hamlet may not be exactly defined and may simply be contained within the ZIP code of its post office, or may be defined by its school or fire district. Some hamlets proximate to urban areas are sometimes continuous with their cities and appear to be neighborhoods, but they still are under the jurisdiction of the town. Some hamlets—for example, Hauppauge, with a population of over 20,000—are far more populous than some incorporated cities in the state.
In Oregon, specifically in Clackamas County, a hamlet is a form of local government for small communities, which allows the citizens therein to organize and co-ordinate community activities. Hamlets do not provide services such as utilities or fire protection, and do not have the authority to levy taxes or fees. There are four hamlets: Beavercreek, Mulino, Molalla Prairie, and Stafford.