A settlement is a place where people live. A settlement can be as small as an individual house or as large as a city.

Northern Ireland has a very special rural settlement pattern. Lots of people live in the countryside. As a result a lot more houses can be seen in Northern Ireland's countryside than would usually be seen in other areas of the UK.

This is the village of Scarva, typical of many small rural villages across Northern Ireland. A rural area is generally thought of as being the countryside and includes isolated houses, hamlets, villages and even small towns or market towns. Rural settlements often have a strong link to farming either from the past or in the present day.

While many people live in rural areas, the majority of people in Northern Ireland live in urban areas. This is Larne and it is an example of an urban area. Urban areas are built up areas which form all or part of a city or a town.

Northern Ireland's largest settlements are the cities of Belfast and Londonderry. Belfast is the largest with 580 000 people living in the Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area.

But Belfast hasn't always been the large settlement it is now. In 1815, it was classed as a large town with a population of 30 000. Over the next 150 years there was rapid growth. This growth was caused by the movement of people from rural areas into the city in search of better jobs in the new industries, better houses and education.