Quarter (country subdivision) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

A quarter is a section of an urban

Urban area

An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...

settlement.

Its borders can be administratively chosen (then denoted as borough

Borough

A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....

), and it may have its own administrative structure (subordinate to that of the city, town or other urban area). Such a division is particularly common in countries like Poland (dzielnica
Dzielnica
In the Polish system of local administration, a dzielnica is an administrative subdivision or quarter of a city or town. A dzielnica may have its own elected council , and those of Warsaw each have their own mayor...

), Serbia (четврт, četvrt), Croatia (četvrt), Germany (Ortsteil), Italy (Quartiere) or France (Quartier).

Quarter can also refer to a non-administrative but distinct neighbourhood

Neighbourhood

A neighbourhood or neighborhood is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town or suburb. Neighbourhoods are often social communities with considerable face-to-face interaction among members. "Researchers have not agreed on an exact definition...

with its own character: for example, a slum

Slum

A slum, as defined by United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the percentage of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the...

quarter. It is often used for a district connected with a particular group of people: for instance, some cities are said to have Jewish quarter

Jewish quarter (diaspora)

In the Jewish Diaspora, a Jewish quarter is the area of a city traditionally inhabited by Jews. Jewish quarters, like the Jewish ghettos in Europe, were often the outgrowths of segregated ghettos instituted by the surrounding Christian authorities. A Yiddish term for a Jewish quarter or...

s, diplomat

Diplomat

A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...

ic quarters or Bohemian quarters

Bohemianism

Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, with few permanent ties, involving musical, artistic or literary pursuits...

.

Most Roman cities were divided to four parts, called Quarters, by their two main avenues: the Cardo

Cardo

The cardo was a north-south oriented street in Roman cities, military camps, and coloniae. The cardo, an integral component of city planning, was lined with shops and vendors, and served as a hub of economic life. The main cardo was called cardo maximus.Most Roman cities also had a Decumanus...

and the Decumanus Maximus

Decumanus Maximus

In Roman city planning, a decumanus was an east-west-oriented road in a Roman city, castra , or colonia. The main decumanus was the Decumanus Maximus, which normally connected the Porta Praetoria to the Porta Decumana .This name comes from the fact that the via decumana or decimana In Roman city...

.

The Old City of Jerusalem currently has four quarters: the Muslim Quarter

Muslim Quarter

The Muslim Quarter is one of the four quarters of the ancient, walled Old City of Jerusalem. It covers 31 hectares of the northeastern sector of the Old City. The quarter is the largest and most populous and extends from the Lions' Gate in the east, along the northern wall of the Temple Mount in...

, Christian Quarter

Christian Quarter

The Christian Quarter is one of the four quarters of the ancient, walled Old City of Jerusalem, the other three being the Jewish Quarter, the Muslim Quarter and the Armenian Quarter...

, Jewish Quarter and Armenian Quarter

Armenian Quarter

The Armenian Quarter is one of the four quarters of the Old City of Jerusalem. The Armenian Quarter is the smallest of the four quarters, with the smallest number of residents....

(it also used to have a Moroccan Quarter

Moroccan Quarter

The Moroccan Quarter or Mughrabi Quarter was an 800-year old neighborhood in the southeast corner of the Old City of Jerusalem, bordering on the western wall of the Temple Mount on the east , the Old City walls on the south , the Jewish Quarter to the west, and the Muslim Quarter to...

). A Christian quarter exists also in Damascus

Damascus

Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...

See also