In this article, the history of studying the geography of the Ukrainian rural settlements is reviewed. The stages of research in view the exploration level of the rural locality in human geography are highlighted within such time limits: XV – the first half XIX cent., the secondary half XIX – the beginning of XX cent., the beginning of XX – till 1991, from 1991. At each of the stages is characterized the main scientific paradigms and explorations which was dedicated to the subject of the rural settlements. Paradigms and methods of studying exactly rural settlements evolved and developed under the influence of historical conditions: from purposefully-descriptive, statistical-descriptive, sectoral-statistical, ethnographic, anthropogeographic, demogeographic to an integral socio-geographical. During the research, it was concluded that geographical exploring of the rural settlements actually was fragmentary until the XX century. Simultaneously, the scientific achievements of the previous periods laid down to definite some methodological basis and source base for further research in this area. Closer to the middle of the XX century, the biggest explorations of Ukrainian rural settlements were conducted by V. Kubiyovych. Later, for ideological reasons, the issue of rural settlement geography was not the focus of attention among Ukrainian geographers of that time until Ukraine gained independence. The topic of the research of the Ukrainian village in scientific circles has risen to a new level and it’s geography according to the scientific centres in Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, Chernivtsi, Kharkiv and Ternopil since 1991. Modern crisis of the demographic, social, economic state of the rural areas causes the necessity of interdisciplinary further exploration of this problem. Despite the social development and nowadays challenges in this article the main tasks and directions for future research of Ukrainian village are highlighted.
Key words: the history of Ukrainian geography, rural settlements, rural population, methodology of geographical research.