Barrio

Barrio (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈbarjo]) is a Spanish word meaning neighborhood. In Spain, several Latin American countries and the Philippines, the term is also used officially to denote a division of a municipality.

In Argentina and Uruguay, a barrio is a division of a municipality officially delineated by the local authority at a later time, and sometimes keeps a distinct character from others (as in the barrios of Buenos Aires though they have been superseded by larger administrative divisions). Here, the word does not have a special socioeconomic connotation, except that it is used in contrast to the centro (city center or downtown). The expression barrio cerrado (translated "closed neighborhood") is employed for small, upper-class, residential settlements, planned with an exclusive criterion and often literally enclosed in walls (a kind of gated community).

In Colombia, the term is used for any urban area neighborhood whose geographical limits are determined locally. The term does not have any social class condition or overtones, as it is used to refer to working-class areas as well as those populated by the well-to-do. 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.

In Cuba, Puerto Rico and Spain, the term barrio is used officially to denote a subdivision of a municipio (or municipality); the barrios are further subdivided into sectors.

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