Mahala

Mahala is a name used in many languages and countries referring to Neighbourhood or Locality.

Mahala is a Balkan word for "neighbourhood" or "quarter", a section of a rural or urban settlement, dating to the times of the Ottoman Empire. It was brought to the area through Ottoman Turkish mahalle, but it originates in Arabic mähallä, from the root meaning "to settle", "to occupy". It is rendered as follows in the languages of the region: Bulgarian:махала, mahala; Bosnian and Serbian:махала/mahala or ма'ала/ma'ala; Romanian:mahala; Albanian:mëhallë; Greek:μαχαλάς, machalas; Macedonian:маало, maalo or маала, maala; Romani:mahala; Aromanian:mãhãlã. A mahala was a relatively independent quarter of a larger village or a town, with its own school, religious building or buildings, mayor's representative, etc. Mahalas are often named after the first settler or, when ethnically separate, according to the dominant ethnicity.