User:Shereth/Ideas/Notability of Places

A settlement can come in a variety of types with many different names, depending upon the size of the settlement and its location within the world. Common names for settlements include city, town, village and hamlet, but many other names may be used in varying locations. Articles on any such settlement is acceptable on Wikipedia, assuming the general notability guidelines are met.

Many larger settlements will be covered by an abundance of reliable sources that are readily available on the Internet; still more sources will be found offline in the form of newspapers, periodicals, textbooks and other historical publications. Some settlements, particularly smaller settlements and those located in rural areas, will be covered by sources that are not as easily accessible. There are many reasons why these sources may be difficult to locate, but these are not reasons for excluding these subjects from Wikipedia. A few general guidelines can help determine when a settlement is eligible for inclusion, even when sources cannot be easily found.

Defnition of a settlement
Because there are many names for different types of settlements, and many definitions for these individual names, it is important that otherwise eligible settlements not be excluded merely due to a misunderstanding regarding its title. For the purposes of this guideline, a settlement is defined as a center of population or a cohesive grouping of inhabitations that can be easily identified by a common name. Minor statistical subdivisions, such as census tracts, should not be considered a settlement.

Inclusion
Settlements which meet any of the following criteria may be considered eligible for inclusion, even when reliable sourcing cannot otherwise be found.


 * Third-level administrative subdivisions of a sovereign nation are considered worthy of inclusion. Examples of third-level subdivisions include Communes of France, Italian Comuni, and Municipalities of the Philippines.


 * Settlements that have been granted some level of political autonomy but that are not themselves administrative subdivisions. Examples include incorporated municipalities in the United States.


 * Settlements that have been recognized by their respective national governments for demographic purposes. This includes any settlement whose individual population (or other demographic information) is given, but not merely listed as a settlement included in a larger demographic region.  An example of a settlement that meets this criteria but none of the previous criteria would be a Designated place in Canada.  As stated previously, this does not include minor statistical subdivisions.


 * Settlements that are recognized by their respective postal administrations.


 * Naturally, any settlement that meets the general notability guideline may be given its own article even when the above have not been met.

Settlements not inherently notable
The following types of settlements are commonly found in published lists but should not have individual articles, unless they meet either the general notability guidelines or the above mentioned guidelines.


 * Ghost towns.


 * Settlements that appear on maps. This includes settelements appearing on maps that have been published by governmental entities, academic institutions, private companies or any other source.


 * Settlements mentioned in geographic databases, atlases or gazetteers, regardless of the publisher.


 * Settlements found in any other database, directory or list that does not include additional, reliably sourced data.


 * Neighborhoods and/or subdivisions within larger settlements.

Note that while the above types of settlements may not warrant an individual article, they may be freely added to lists on Wikipedia, as long as the source in which they are found is reliable.