After the partitions of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth at the end of the 18th-century, these settlements became widespread in the Austrian, German and Russian Empires.
The vast majority of miasteczkos had significant or even predominant Jewish populations; these are known in English under the Yiddish term shtetl.
[1][2] The meaning "small town" is somewhat misleading, since some 19th-century shtetls, such as Berdichev or Bohuslav counted over 15,000 people.
[3] Typically miasteczkos grew out of or still remained private towns belonging to Polish-Lithuanian landlords (usually magnates), who sought to obtain royal privileges to establish markets and fairs, and to do business in liquor.
Miestelis status is also applied for settlements which historically were more prominent than today, once had, but lost its town privileges.