Towns range from simple settlements around marketplaces to large population centers offering a variety of goods, services and facilities as well as serving the basic economic and political functions. In general, the towns where the primary function is economic tend to be small, conservative and rural in character. In small towns, where occupational groups are few and weak, relations among residents tend to be more personal, non-institutionalized and informal.

The small-town merchant, trader or artisan identifies himself with the community. Whereas when the political function has joined or overridden the economic function, towns tend to be larger, progressive and urban. However rural a town may appear to the outsider, there is a distinct difference between a town and the surrounding villages.