>>Some years ago a small rural town in Italy twinned with a similar town in
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>Various possibilities arise here...
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>1) large rural towns exist too (and I'm ignorant of their existence)
>2) small urban towns ...ditto
>3) villages were all sent to a political correctional facility
>
>Are there any villages at all in your area?

Operational definition of "town" sometimes just being the no. of inhabitants,
smaller towns in the german "Ruhrgebiet" would seldom be called small rural town when described,
whereas in Bavaria towns with a similar no. of inhabitants might be described in such a way in day to day usage.

Or you opt for direct translation of the german "Landstadt" signifying the smallest town size
above 2000 should you decide to wear a statistical hat<g>