HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS OF RURAL SETTLEMENTSIN THE TAMBOV REGION

Abstract

The purpose of the paper is the historical and geographical analysis of the formation of a system of rural settlements and the reconstruction of the picture of settlement of the territory of the Tambov region, due to the natural component and different conditions and time of settlement. The periodization of the studied process is presented and the maximum possible time frames («upper» and «lower» boundaries) with the allocation of stages characterizing a certain moment of the settlement development are established. The analysis shows that the underestimation or neglect of the natural factor leads to a bias in the analysis of the conditions of the formation of individual settlements and the entire residential area as a whole.