barrio

Barrio is a Spanish word that means "quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city, usually delimited by functional (e.g. residential, commercial, industrial, etc.), social, architectural or morphological features. In Spain, several Latin American countries and the Philippines, the term may also be used to officially denote a division of a municipality. Barrio is an arabism (Classical Arabic barrī: "wild" via Andalusian Arabic bárri: "exterior"). Usage In Argentina and Uruguay, a barrio is a division of a municipality officially delineated by the local authority at a later time, and it sometimes keeps a distinct character from other areas (as in the barrios of Buenos Aires even if they have been superseded by larger administrative divisions). The word does not have a special socioeconomic connotation unless it is used in contrast to the centro (city center or downtown). The expression barrio cerrado (translated "closed neighborhood") is used to describe small upper-class residential settlements planned with an exclusive criterion and often physically enclosed in walls, that is, a kind of gated community. In Colombia, the term is used to describe any urban area neighborhood whose geographical limits are determined locally. The term can be used to refer to all classes within society. The term barrio de invasión or comuna is more often used to refer to shanty towns, but the term "barrio" has a more general use.