Abstract: Human settlement reflects geographical environment of a region.Field investigations were carried out of 5 villages in Suihua City,8 villages of the Heshan Farm in the 93 Reclamation Zone and Caiyao Village in Shuangshan Town,Nengjiang County in Heilongjiang Province.Based on the meteorological data,such as temperature,daily sunlight hours,wind speed,precipitation and frequency of wind over Class 5,etc.,of the Heshan Farm in 1980—1995,and some other factors,like topography and soil,characteristics of the distribution of villages in the hilly northeast China were analyzed.Results show sunlight hours and solar radiation decides slope aspect of rural settlements.In terms of number of rural settlements,slope aspects are in the order of southeast>southwest>northeast>northwest.Wind affects indoor temperature and may possibly damage buildings so that most rural settlements lie in the middle and lower parts of a slope.Soil characteristics and precipitation determines the lower limit of the distribution of rural settlements.These geographical factors jointly decide that a village in that region spreads out like a long narrow stripe along the slope.

Key words: northeast China, hilly area, distribution of rural settlement, geographical environment, meteorological factor