Abstract: The spatial characteristics of rural settlements are a key starting point for understanding human settlement patterns, social structures, and their interactions between humans and the environment. This study takes Zhaihao River Basin in Rongjiang County, Guizhou Province as an example, and utilizes GIS spatial analysis, quantitative spatial morphology analysis and other methods to analyze the spatial characteristics of settlements from aspects such as the spatial distribution of settlements within the basin, settlement siting pattern and settlement morphology quadrangle, and to quantitatively reveal the law of spatial generation of settlements. The results indicate: 1) The distribution of settlements within the basin tends toward a dispersed pattern, exhibiting an overall 'north sparse, south dense' spatial distribution characteristic, closely related to elevation, slope, and water systems; 2) The dynamic evolution of settlement types reflects human spatial adaptation to the natural environment; 3) Through long-term adaptation of human-land relationships, settlements have formed an integrated spatial pattern of 'mountain-forest-field-village-water'; 4) Settlement forms within the watershed are primarily cluster-shaped and finger-shaped, with morphological differentiation exhibiting spatial coupling relationships with regional topography and water system distribution.