Русско-англо-русский юридический словарь

Populated place − place or area with clustered or scattered buildings and a permanent human population (city, settlement, town, village). (United States Geological Survey)

In geography, statistics and archaeology, a settlement, locality or populated place is a community in which people live. A settlement can range in size from a small number of dwellings grouped together to the largest of cities with surrounding urbanized areas. Settlements may include hamlets, villages, towns and cities. A settlement may have known historical properties such as the date or era in which it was first settled, or first settled by a particular people. (Wikipedia)

The village is a settlement of just fifty houses. (COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary)