The rural settlements are of different shapes such as:-
1. LINEAR PATTERN – In such settlements, houses are located along a road railway line, river and canal, edge of a valley.
2. RECTANGULAR PATTERN – Such patterns of rural settlements are found in plain areas or wide inter mountain valleys. The roads are rectangular and cut each other at right angles along which house are built.
3. CIRCULAR PATTERN – Circular villages developed around lakes, tanks and sometimes the villages is planned in such a way that the Central part remains open to protect the domestic animal from wild life.
4. STAR SHAPED PATTERN – Where the several roads meets, star shaped settlements develop as the houses built along the roads.
5. T, X, Y AND T SHAPED SETTLEMENTS – These settlements develop at trijunctions of the roads.
6. DOUBLE VILLAGE – These settlements extend on both sides of a river where there is a bridge.
7. TRIANGULAR PATTERN – This shape of settlements set by the confluence of two rivers and also the junction point of two railway lines are often triangular.
