Squatter's Holding

(Russian, zaimka). (1) The bringing under cultivation of lands not belonging to anyone, a practice that has existed since the beginning of developed farming. Squatters’ holdings were recognized under Roman and Old German law and were widespread in prerevolutionary Russia, especially in Siberia and in the northern part of European Russia.

(2) Usually, a one-family homestead, consisting of a plot of land with a house and farm buildings, established on formerly unused land.