After two days of boating around in a dugout, i settled in a region that seemed sparsely populated.
I was very wrong.
I go do a tree quest, i find another claim. I go fish, and boats pass by constantly. I go forage, and i meet more fellow hearthlings also running after squirrels. I go raid an ant hill, and i find more unpaved small settlements. I explore a bit more and with every uncovered map tile i find more claims.
Luckily, other than many scents of trespassing, assault, and battery, the area seems mostly peaceful, but i fear things will get very funny once everyone starts competing for whatever meager metals there are in the region.