Hi aston,
Defining community seems to be key here, and there is no doubt in my
mind you mean a human community. The definition of community (at
dictionary.com) that I am assuming is this:
1a) A group of people living in the same locality and under the same
government.
1b) The district or locality in which such a group lives.
I do NOT assume these definitions of "community" in my answer:
2a) A group of people having common interests: the scientific
community; the international business community.
2b) A group viewed as forming a distinct segment of society: the gay
community; the community of color.
Searching for the "smallest community in the world" yeilded the wrong
type of results. You can see for yourself here:
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22smallest+community+in+the+world%22
From there, going with the spirit of your question, I searched for the
smallest community by entering "smallest town in the world."
The definition of Town that I am assuming is:
YES: 1) A population center that is larger than a village and smaller
than a city.
YES: 2) A territorial and political unit governed by a town meeting,
especially in New England.
NO: 3) Informal. A city: New York is a big town.
NO: 4) Chiefly British. A rural village that has a market or fair
periodically.
NO: 5) The residents of a town: "The whole town was upset at the
news."
--There were several choices --towns claiming this distinction,
however one stood out heads and sholders above the rest.
The Guinness Book of World Records lists HUM (with a population of
three families) which is in Istria, Croatia; as the smallest town in
the world. The online version of the Guinness Book of World Records
only lists a few thousand records so I was unable to provide a link to
confirm this for you.
Here's the HUM web site, not official, but still the best site
available for this tiny community:
http://www.hum.hr/indexENG.htm
Note there are many links at this web site. The links are NOT
underlined and look like plain text. I have explored them all and they
are very interesting. Also, there's 5 pages of thumbnailed pictures
linked from the Photos page, be sure to click them.
There's a lot of information about the HUM community at the web site
linked above. Having been established in the Middle Ages sometime in
the 11th century, HUM has remained virtually unchanged since that
time.
At the link above, on the left side of the page, click on the link
that says: "The developmen of Hum." The more I read about HUM, the
more interesting it gets. This is a walled community on three sides
with mountainous terrain on the remaining side. This was purposely
developed so as to protect the inhabitants from outside enemies. In
medival times there was a castle on one of the walled sides. The
interior, physical size of the town is 100 X 35 meters. Very, very
small.
The inhabitants have their own alphabet, and I assume, language. They
have their own government, culture, traditions, rituals, and holidays.
The Hum-folk produce "Humska biska" -which is a homemade quasi-brandy,
which is made from homemade grape-brandy, white mistletoe, and four
other herbs. The recipe is about two thousand years old. It originated
from Druid magic and the old Celts, who inhabited the area before Hum
was built. Unbelievable, but as small as Hum is, there is one
restaurant open from 11am-10pm. There is also one hotel with two
double-bedded rooms. I guess having the distinction of being the
smallest town in the world bring in tourists!
Here's an excerpt from the web site to pique your interest:
..."Today Hum is a memorial town, it is one of the few examples of the
urban development which is completely situated inside the walls of the
early Middle Ages. During almost the whole millenium, from XI till
now, almost nothing has been built in Hum outside the town walls. Hum
remained inside the frontiers which were set already in the early
Middle Ages. Hum Castle was situated on the plateau on the western
part of the town inside the defense walls, on the place where now the
parish church in part, the parish castle and the extreme western part
of the northern row of houses are situated. The ground-plan of the
castle had the shape of a square of the size 35x30 m. The entrance
into the castle led from the inside, from the town. Its basic purpose
was defense, but it, particularly in earlier times, also served as a
headquarters of feudal masters – vassals of the Aquilean patriarchs to
whom it belonged. Around the castle, a town gradually started to be
built.. Its defense role dictated the closed system of the walls which
surrounded it from all the sides, and such a plan of the town which
made possible the fastest connection of evry point of any importance
with the castle, where the inhabitants could find shelter in case of
danger. And the position on the western ridge of the hill where Hum
was sitatuated was determined by the western border of the town so it
could expand only towards east. This is how the small town developed,
which lies on the ridge of an elongated hill inside the town’s walls,
which close a surface of approximately square shape sized about
100x35m..."
Smallest Town in the World
http://www.talkabouttheworld.com/edition_70/edition70photos.php3
Scroll half way down this page for pictures. Click on them for
slightly larger pictures.
There is not much on the internet about Hum, which is not surprising.
Another page has this to say about Hum:
..."It bills itself as the smallest town in the world, and is truly
magical - a crumbling testament to previous civilisations with another
breathtaking street or vista around every corner. It's hardly
mentioned in maps or tourist guides - and I get the impression that's
exactly how the locals want it to stay. Hum is the midway point on our
journey on to the Istrian peninsula..."
[ http://www.metro.co.uk/metro/standard/article.html?in_article_id=6893
]
Although I didn't see the population of Hum on the web site, The
statistics page of IstraOnline says HUM is inhabited by only three
families:
IstraOnline
http://www.istraonline.com/statistics.htm
..."HUM-the smallest town in the world (3 families)..."
Hum is briefly mentioned here:
http://public.srce.hr/hac/aiesec/texts/brosura.txt
There's someone with a food recommendation here:
http://britishexpats.com/arch/44/2002/8/93253
If I have missed the mark totally here, or misunderstood your
question, or if you'd like me to find even more information about Hum
(there's not much) please don't hesitate to ask for a clarification
before rating my answer...
Thanks,
--Cynthia
Search strategy used at Google:
Described above |
