barrio

Barrio (; ) is generally defined as each area of a city delimited by functional (e.g., residential, commercial, industrial, etc.), social, architectural or morphological features. In Spain, in most of Hispanic America, and in the Philippines, the term may also be used to officially denote a division of a municipality. The word barrio is an Arabism, as it is derived from the Arabic word barriyy (; 'wild, exterior').

==Usage== thumb|Sign marking the entrance to San Antón|Barrio San Antón, one of Ponce's official barrios in [[Puerto Rico]] 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and it sometimes keeps a distinct character from other areas (as in the barrios of Buenos Aires, even if they have been superseded by larger administrative divisions).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.