The village is a special type of settlement located in the countryside. In the old days in Russia, settlements such as villages were very common, however, even now they can still be found on the territory of our country.
The village is a rural settlement, the main population of which is made up of Cossacks.
Stanitsa
Cossacks are a special ethnic group that exists on the territory of Russia and some CIS countries. At the same time, a characteristic feature of this social group is not only common national roots, but also belonging to the so-called Cossack class, which implies their employment in the protection of state lands.
Cossack settlements located in the countryside have long been called stanitsa. At the same time, the village, as a rule, was a fairly large administrative unit, both in terms of the number of people included in it, and in terms of the territorial coverage of the area. This is due to the fact that it usually included several smaller settlements, for example, farms or villages.
Since the main activity of the Cossacks was the protection of state lands, the village, if necessary, had to provide people for these purposes who could act to protect them. In addition, this specificity of this type of settlement left its mark on the organization of life in the settlement, as well as the internal structure of its territory. So, in most cases, it was customary to fence it with a protective structure, for example, a moat filled with water, or a fairly high earthen rampart. Administrative institutions usually existed on the territory of the village, and they were both civil and military in nature.
Cossacks in Russia
Today in Russia there are still villages that have predominantly retained their historical location and borders. As a rule, these territorial boundaries for each village have a fairly clearly established character, but within them various changes are possible: for example, over time, the size and gender and age composition of the population of individual administrative units, that is, farms and villages, change. In addition, in the event of an increase in the population or for other reasons, new settlements may be formed within the boundaries of the stanitsa.
Most of the villages that currently exist in Russia are located in the southern part of the country - the historical area where the Cossacks live. So, the largest settlements of this type are located in the Republic of Ingushetia and in the Krasnodar Territory. In addition, there are villages in the republics of Dagestan, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Chechnya, as well as in the Volgograd, Orenburg, Rostov regions and other constituent entities of the Russian Federation close to them.
