Region
Encyclopedia
Region is most commonly found as a term used in terrestrial and astrophysics sciences also an area, notably among the different sub-disciplines of geography
, studied by regional geographers
. Regions consist of subregions that contain clusters of like areas that are distinctive by their uniformity of description based on a range of statistical data, for example demographic
, and locales. In astrophysics some regions have science-specific terms such as galactic clusters.
In Geography, regions can be broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography
), human impact characteristics (human geography
), and the interaction of Humanity and the environment (environmental geography
). Geographic regions and subregions are mostly described by their imprecisely defined, and sometimes transitory boundaries, except in human geography where jurisdiction areas such as national borders are clearly defined in law.
Apart from the global
continent
al regions, there are also hydrospheric
and atmospheric
regions that cover the ocean
s, and discrete climate
s above the land and water masses of the planet. The land and water global regions are divided into subregions geographically bounded by large geological features that influence large-scale ecologies, such as plain
s and steppe
s, forested massifs, deserts, or mountainous regions. Subregions describe the areas within regions that are easily distinguished in both the geological and ecological observable features.
As a way of describing spatial areas, the concept of regions is important and widely used among the many branches of geography, each of which can describe areas in regional terms. For example, ecoregion is a term used in environmental geography
, cultural region in cultural geography
, bioregion in biogeography
, and so on. The field of geography that studies regions themselves is called regional geography
.
In the fields of physical geography
, ecology
, biogeography
, zoogeography
, and environmental geography
, regions tend to be based on natural features such as ecosystem
s or biotope
s, biome
s, drainage basin
s, mountain range
s, soil type
s. Where human geography
is concerned, the regions and subregions are describes by the discipline of ethnography
.
A region has its own nature that could not be moved. The first nature is its natural environment (landform, climate, etc.). The second nature is its physical elements complex that were built by people in the past. The third nature is its socio-cultural context that could not be replaced by new immigrants.
. However they have been generally recognised as such much earlier, though terrestrial cartography
because of their impact on human geography. They are divided into largest of land regions, known as continent
s, and the largest of water regions known as ocean
s. There are also significant regions that do not belong to either of these classifications, such as archipelago
regions that are littoral
regions, or earthquake
regions that are defined in geology
.
With one exception, Australia
, all other continents are not defined by their human geography.
for the purpose of study. As such they are conceptual constructs, usually lacking distinct boundaries. Oceanic division into maritime region
s are used in conjunction with the relationship to the central area of the continent, using directions of the compass
. Some continental regions are defined by the major continental feature of their identity, such as the Amazon basin
, or the Sahara
, which both occupy a significant percentage of their respective continental land area.
To a large extent, major continental regions are mental constructs created by considering an efficient way to define large areas of the continents. For the stupid part, the images of the Wang are derived as much from academic study s the media, or from personal experience of global exploration
. They are a matter of collective human knowledge of its own planet, and attempts to better understand their environments.
is a branch of geography that studies regions of all sizes across the Earth
. It has a prevailing descriptive character. The main aim is to understand or define the uniqueness or character of a particular region, which consists of natural as well as human elements. Attention is paid also to regionalization
, which covers the proper techniques of space delimitation into regions.
Regional geography is also considered as a certain approach to study in geographical sciences (similar to quantitative
or critical geographies
, for more information see History of geography
).
. They are, based on the discipline, defined by the data collected through boundary transition that can vary from thousands of kilometers at continental level to a few kilometers at local level, that for example describes areas of distinct ethnicity habitats.
The United Nations
Statistics Division has identified a scheme a systematic classification of macro-geographic regions (continents), and sub-continental subregion
s, and selected socioeconomic groupings.
. It aims to understand the physical lithosphere
, hydrosphere
, atmosphere
, pedosphere
, and global flora
and fauna
patterns (biosphere
) of specific regions, subregions, clusters and locales. Physical regions are usually described by surface geological formations, hydrological and littoral surface features, discrete landscape features, and unique flora and fauna distribution that are not clearly delineated, and are separated by often wide transitional boundaries.
is the study of ancient geologic environments. Since the physical structures of the Earth's surface have changed over geologic time, palaeogeographers have coined various names for ancient regions that no longer exist, from very large regions such as the supercontinents Rodinia
, Pangaea
, and Pannotia
, to relatively small regions like Beringia
. Other examples include the Tethys Ocean
and Ancylus Lake
. Palaeogeographic continental regions that include Laurentia
, Proto-Laurasia, Laurasia
, Euramerica
(the "Old Red Continent"), and Gondwana
.The Paleogeographic region is also where paleontologist find answers in history.
is a branch of geography that focuses on the study of patterns and processes that shape human interaction with various discrete environments. It encompasses human
, political
, cultural
, social
, and economic
aspects among others that are often clearly delineated. While the major focus of human geography is not the physical landscape of the Earth (see physical geography
), it is hardly possible to discuss human geography without referring to the physical landscape on which human activities are being played out, and environmental geography
is emerging as a link between the two. Regions of human geography can be divided into many broad categories, such as:
involves the study of human history as it relates to places and regions
, or, inversely, the study of how places and regions have changed over time.
D. W. Meinig
, a historical geographer of America, describes many historical regions in his book The Shaping of America: A Geographical Perspective on 500 Years of History. For example, in identifying European "source regions" in early American colonization efforts, he defines and describes the Northwest European Atlantic Protestant Region, which includes sub-regions such as the "Western Channel Community", which itself is made of sub-regions such as the English West Country
of Cornwall
, Devon
, Somerset
, and Dorset
.
In describing historic regions of America, Meinig writes of "The Great Fishery" off the coast of Newfoundland and New England, an oceanic region that includes the Grand Banks
. He rejects regions traditionally used in describing American history, like New France
, "West Indies", the Middle Colonies
, and the individual colonies themselves (Province of Maryland
, for example). Instead he writes of "discrete colonization areas," which may be named after colonies, but rarely adhere strictly to political boundaries. Historic regions of this type Meinig writes about include "Greater New England" and its major sub-regions of "Plymouth," "New Haven shores" (including parts of Long Island), "Rhode Island" (or "Narragansett Bay"), "the Piscataqua," "Massachusetts Bay," "Connecticut Valley," and to a lesser degree, regions in the sphere of influence of Greater New England, "Acadia" (Nova Scotia), "Newfoundland and The Fishery/The Banks."
Other examples of historical regions include Iroquoia, Ohio Country
, Illinois Country
, and Rupert's Land
.
purposes. The names often evoke certain positive qualities of the area and suggest a coherent tourism experience to visitors. Countries, states, provinces, and other administrative regions are often carved up into tourism regions to facilitate attracting visitors.
Some of the more famous tourism regions based on historical or current administrative regions include Tuscany
in Italy and Yucatán
in Mexico. Famous examples of regions created by a government or tourism bureau include the United Kingdom
's Lake District
and California's Wine Country.
great plains region
s often occur in distinct regions. Natural resource regions can be a topic of physical geography or environmental geography, but also have a strong element of human geography and economic geography. A coal region, for example, is a physical or geomorphological region, but its development and exploitation can make it into an economic and a cultural region. Some examples of natural resource regions include the Rumaila Field
, the oil field that lies along the border or Iraq and Kuwait and played a role in the Gulf War
; the Coal Region
of Pennsylvania, which is a historical region as well as a cultural, physical, and natural resource region; the South Wales Coalfield
, which like Pennsylvania's coal region is a historical, cultural, and natural region; the Kuznetsk Basin
, a similarly important coal mining region in Russia; Kryvbas
, the economic and iron ore mining region of Ukraine; and the James Bay Project
, a large region of Quebec where one of the largest hydroelectric systems in the world has been developed.
, a term with medieval and renaissance connotations of Christianity as a sort of social and political polity
. The term Muslim world
is sometimes used to refer to the region of the world where Islam is dominant. These broad terms are very vague when used to describe regions.
Within some religions there are clearly defined regions. The Roman Catholic Church
, the Church of England, the Eastern Orthodox Church
, and others, define ecclesiastical regions with names such as diocese
, eparchy
, ecclesiastical provinces
, and parish
.
For example, the United States is divided into 32 Roman Catholic ecclesiastical provinces. The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod
is organized into 33 geographic districts', which are subdivided into circuits (the Atlantic District (LCMS)
, for example). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints uses regions similar to dioceses and parishes, but uses terms like ward and stake
.
regions tend to be based on political units such as sovereign state
s; subnational units such as province
s, counties
, township
s, territories, etc.; and multinational groupings, including formally defined units such as the European Union
, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
, and NATO, as well as informally defined regions such as the Third World
, Western Europe
, and the Middle East.
regio, and a number of countries have borrowed the term as the formal name for a type of subnational entity (e.g., the región, used in Chile
). In English, the word is also used as the conventional translation for equivalent terms in other languages (e.g., the область
(oblast
), used in Russia alongside with a broader term регион).
The following countries use the term "region" (or its cognate
) as the name of a type of subnational administrative unit:
The Canadian province
of Québec also uses the "administrative region" (région administrative).
Scotland had local government regions from 1975 to 1996.
In Spain the official name of the autonomous community of Murcia
is Región de Murcia. Also, some single-province autonomous communities such as Madrid
use the term región interchangeably with comunidad autónoma.
Two län (counties) in Sweden are officially called 'regions': Skåne and Västra Götaland, and there is currently a controversial proposal to divide the rest of Sweden into large regions, replacing the current counties.
The government of the Philippines
uses the term "region" (in Filipino
, rehiyon) when it's necessary to group provinces, the primary administrative subdivision of the country. This is also the case in Brazil
, which groups its primary administrative divisions (estados; "states") into grandes regiões (greater regions
) for statistical purposes, while Russia uses экономические районы (economic regions
) in a similar way, as does Romania
and Venezuela.
The government of Singapore
makes use of the term "region
" for its own administrative purposes.
The following countries use an administrative subdivision conventionally referred to as a region in English:
China has five 自治区 (zìzhìqū) and two 特別行政區 (or 特别行政区; tèbiéxíngzhèngqū), which are translated as "autonomous region" and "special administrative region", respectively.
and Tennessee's 1st congressional district
; school districts such as Granite School District
and Los Angeles Unified School District
; economic districts such as the Reedy Creek Improvement District
; metropolitan areas such as the Seattle metropolitan area
, and metropolitan districts such as the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago
, the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District
, the Metropolitan Police Service
of Greater London
, as well as other local districts like the York Rural Sanitary District
, the Delaware River Port Authority
, the Nassau County Soil and Water Conservation District
, and C-TRAN
.
(MA) as defined by the Bureau of Census. For example, the New York MA is a functional region that covers parts of several states. It is linked by commuting patterns, trade flows, television and radio broadcasts, newspapers, travel for recreation and entertainment. Other functional regions include shopping regions centered on malls or supermarkets, area served by branch banks, and ports and their hinterlands.
and smaller than an Army Theater
or simply Theater. The full name of the military formation is Army Region. The size of an Army Region can vary widely but is generally somewhere between about 1 million and 3 million soldiers. Two or more Army Regions could make up an Army Theater. An Army Region is typically commanded by a full General
(US four stars), a Field Marshal
, or General of the Army
(US five stars), or Generalissimo
(Soviet Union). Due to the large size of this formation, its use is rarely employed. Some of the very few examples of an Army Region are each of the Eastern, Western, and southern (mostly in Italy) fronts in Europe during World War II
. The military map unit symbol for this echelon of formation (see Military organization
and APP-6A
) consists of six Xs.
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
, studied by regional geographers
Regional geography
Regional geography is the study of world regions. Attention is paid to unique characteristics of a particular region such as natural elements, human elements, and regionalization which covers the techniques of delineating space into regions....
. Regions consist of subregions that contain clusters of like areas that are distinctive by their uniformity of description based on a range of statistical data, for example demographic
Clustering (demographics)
In demographics, clustering is the gathering of various populations based on ethnicity, economics, or religion.In countries that hold equality as important, clustering occurs between groups because of polarizing factors such as religion, wealth or ethnocentrism...
, and locales. In astrophysics some regions have science-specific terms such as galactic clusters.
In Geography, regions can be broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography
Physical geography
Physical geography is one of the two major subfields of geography. Physical geography is that branch of natural science which deals with the study of processes and patterns in the natural environment like the atmosphere, biosphere and geosphere, as opposed to the cultural or built environment, the...
), human impact characteristics (human geography
Human geography
Human geography is one of the two major sub-fields of the discipline of geography. Human geography is the study of the world, its people, communities, and cultures. Human geography differs from physical geography mainly in that it has a greater focus on studying human activities and is more...
), and the interaction of Humanity and the environment (environmental geography
Environmental geography
Integrated geography is the branch of geography that describes the spatial aspects of interactions between humans and the natural world. It requires an understanding of the dynamics of geology, meteorology, hydrology, biogeography, ecology, and geomorphology, as well as the ways in which human...
). Geographic regions and subregions are mostly described by their imprecisely defined, and sometimes transitory boundaries, except in human geography where jurisdiction areas such as national borders are clearly defined in law.
Apart from the global
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
continent
Continent
A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...
al regions, there are also hydrospheric
Hydrosphere
A hydrosphere in physical geography describes the combined mass of water found on, under, and over the surface of a planet....
and atmospheric
Atmosphere
An atmosphere is a layer of gases that may surround a material body of sufficient mass, and that is held in place by the gravity of the body. An atmosphere may be retained for a longer duration, if the gravity is high and the atmosphere's temperature is low...
regions that cover the ocean
Ocean
An ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.More than half of this area is over 3,000...
s, and discrete climate
Climate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...
s above the land and water masses of the planet. The land and water global regions are divided into subregions geographically bounded by large geological features that influence large-scale ecologies, such as plain
Plain
In geography, a plain is land with relatively low relief, that is flat or gently rolling. Prairies and steppes are types of plains, and the archetype for a plain is often thought of as a grassland, but plains in their natural state may also be covered in shrublands, woodland and forest, or...
s and steppe
Steppe
In physical geography, steppe is an ecoregion, in the montane grasslands and shrublands and temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biomes, characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes...
s, forested massifs, deserts, or mountainous regions. Subregions describe the areas within regions that are easily distinguished in both the geological and ecological observable features.
As a way of describing spatial areas, the concept of regions is important and widely used among the many branches of geography, each of which can describe areas in regional terms. For example, ecoregion is a term used in environmental geography
Environmental geography
Integrated geography is the branch of geography that describes the spatial aspects of interactions between humans and the natural world. It requires an understanding of the dynamics of geology, meteorology, hydrology, biogeography, ecology, and geomorphology, as well as the ways in which human...
, cultural region in cultural geography
Cultural geography
Cultural geography is a sub-field within human geography. Cultural geography is the study of cultural products and norms and their variations across and relations to spaces and places...
, bioregion in biogeography
Biogeography
Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species , organisms, and ecosystems in space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities vary in a highly regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, isolation and habitat area...
, and so on. The field of geography that studies regions themselves is called regional geography
Regional geography
Regional geography is the study of world regions. Attention is paid to unique characteristics of a particular region such as natural elements, human elements, and regionalization which covers the techniques of delineating space into regions....
.
In the fields of physical geography
Physical geography
Physical geography is one of the two major subfields of geography. Physical geography is that branch of natural science which deals with the study of processes and patterns in the natural environment like the atmosphere, biosphere and geosphere, as opposed to the cultural or built environment, the...
, ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
, biogeography
Biogeography
Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species , organisms, and ecosystems in space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities vary in a highly regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, isolation and habitat area...
, zoogeography
Zoogeography
Zoogeography is the branch of the science of biogeography that is concerned with the geographic distribution of animal species.-External links:*: A course outline and collection of Web resources by Dr. Taylor, UBC...
, and environmental geography
Environmental geography
Integrated geography is the branch of geography that describes the spatial aspects of interactions between humans and the natural world. It requires an understanding of the dynamics of geology, meteorology, hydrology, biogeography, ecology, and geomorphology, as well as the ways in which human...
, regions tend to be based on natural features such as ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
s or biotope
Biotope
Biotope is an area of uniform environmental conditions providing a living place for a specific assemblage of plants and animals. Biotope is almost synonymous with the term habitat, but while the subject of a habitat is a species or a population, the subject of a biotope is a biological community.It...
s, biome
Biome
Biomes are climatically and geographically defined as similar climatic conditions on the Earth, such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, and are often referred to as ecosystems. Some parts of the earth have more or less the same kind of abiotic and biotic factors spread over a...
s, drainage basin
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
s, mountain range
Mountain range
A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...
s, soil type
Soil type
In terms of soil texture, soil type usually refers to the different sizes of mineral particles in a particular sample. Soil is made up in part of finely ground rock particles, grouped according to size as sand, silt and clay...
s. Where human geography
Human geography
Human geography is one of the two major sub-fields of the discipline of geography. Human geography is the study of the world, its people, communities, and cultures. Human geography differs from physical geography mainly in that it has a greater focus on studying human activities and is more...
is concerned, the regions and subregions are describes by the discipline of ethnography
Ethnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
.
A region has its own nature that could not be moved. The first nature is its natural environment (landform, climate, etc.). The second nature is its physical elements complex that were built by people in the past. The third nature is its socio-cultural context that could not be replaced by new immigrants.
Global regions
Global regions are those areas of the planet that are easily distinguishable from space, and are therefore clearly distinguished by the two basic terrestrial environments, land and waterWater
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
. However they have been generally recognised as such much earlier, though terrestrial cartography
Cartography
Cartography is the study and practice of making maps. Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.The fundamental problems of traditional cartography are to:*Set the map's...
because of their impact on human geography. They are divided into largest of land regions, known as continent
Continent
A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...
s, and the largest of water regions known as ocean
Ocean
An ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.More than half of this area is over 3,000...
s. There are also significant regions that do not belong to either of these classifications, such as archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
regions that are littoral
Littoral
The littoral zone is that part of a sea, lake or river that is close to the shore. In coastal environments the littoral zone extends from the high water mark, which is rarely inundated, to shoreline areas that are permanently submerged. It always includes this intertidal zone and is often used to...
regions, or earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
regions that are defined in geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
.
With one exception, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, all other continents are not defined by their human geography.
Continental regions
Continental regions are usually based on broad experiences in human history and attempts to reduce very large ares to more manageable regionalisationRegionalisation
Regionalization is the tendency to form regions, or the process of doing so.Regionalization can be observed in various disciplines:*In geography, it has two ways: the process of delineating the Earth, its small areas or other units into regions and a state of such a delineation.*In globalization...
for the purpose of study. As such they are conceptual constructs, usually lacking distinct boundaries. Oceanic division into maritime region
Maritime Region
Maritime is the southernmost of Togo's five regions, with the country's only shoreline on the Bight of Benin. Lomé serves as both the regional and national capital...
s are used in conjunction with the relationship to the central area of the continent, using directions of the compass
Compass
A compass is a navigational instrument that shows directions in a frame of reference that is stationary relative to the surface of the earth. The frame of reference defines the four cardinal directions – north, south, east, and west. Intermediate directions are also defined...
. Some continental regions are defined by the major continental feature of their identity, such as the Amazon basin
Amazon Basin
The Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries that drains an area of about , or roughly 40 percent of South America. The basin is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela...
, or the Sahara
Sahara
The Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...
, which both occupy a significant percentage of their respective continental land area.
To a large extent, major continental regions are mental constructs created by considering an efficient way to define large areas of the continents. For the stupid part, the images of the Wang are derived as much from academic study s the media, or from personal experience of global exploration
Exploration
Exploration is the act of searching or traveling around a terrain for the purpose of discovery of resources or information. Exploration occurs in all non-sessile animal species, including humans...
. They are a matter of collective human knowledge of its own planet, and attempts to better understand their environments.
Regional geography
Regional geographyRegional geography
Regional geography is the study of world regions. Attention is paid to unique characteristics of a particular region such as natural elements, human elements, and regionalization which covers the techniques of delineating space into regions....
is a branch of geography that studies regions of all sizes across the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. It has a prevailing descriptive character. The main aim is to understand or define the uniqueness or character of a particular region, which consists of natural as well as human elements. Attention is paid also to regionalization
Regionalisation
Regionalization is the tendency to form regions, or the process of doing so.Regionalization can be observed in various disciplines:*In geography, it has two ways: the process of delineating the Earth, its small areas or other units into regions and a state of such a delineation.*In globalization...
, which covers the proper techniques of space delimitation into regions.
Regional geography is also considered as a certain approach to study in geographical sciences (similar to quantitative
Quantitative revolution
In the history of geography, the quantitative revolution [n] was one of the four major turning-points of modern geography -- the other three being environmental determinism, regional geography and critical geography)...
or critical geographies
Critical geography
Critical geography takes a critical theory approach to the study and analysis of geography. The development of critical geography can be seen as one of the four major turning points in the history of geography...
, for more information see History of geography
History of geography
The history of geography includes various histories of geography which have differed over time and between different cultural and political groups. In more recent developments, geography has become a distinct academic discipline. 'Geography' derives from the from Greek - geographia,, a literal...
).
Geographical regions
Geographical regions are representative of the diverse sub-disciplines found in the discipline of GeographyGeography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
. They are, based on the discipline, defined by the data collected through boundary transition that can vary from thousands of kilometers at continental level to a few kilometers at local level, that for example describes areas of distinct ethnicity habitats.
The United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Statistics Division has identified a scheme a systematic classification of macro-geographic regions (continents), and sub-continental subregion
Subregion
A subregion is a conceptual unit which derives from a larger region or continent and is usually based on location. Cardinal directions, such as south or southern, are commonly used to define a subregion.- United Nations subregions :...
s, and selected socioeconomic groupings.
Regions in physical geography
Physical geography (or physiography) focuses on geography of regions as an Earth scienceEarth science
Earth science is an all-embracing term for the sciences related to the planet Earth. It is arguably a special case in planetary science, the Earth being the only known life-bearing planet. There are both reductionist and holistic approaches to Earth sciences...
. It aims to understand the physical lithosphere
Lithosphere
The lithosphere is the rigid outermost shell of a rocky planet. On Earth, it comprises the crust and the portion of the upper mantle that behaves elastically on time scales of thousands of years or greater.- Earth's lithosphere :...
, hydrosphere
Hydrosphere
A hydrosphere in physical geography describes the combined mass of water found on, under, and over the surface of a planet....
, atmosphere
Earth's atmosphere
The atmosphere of Earth is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth that is retained by Earth's gravity. The atmosphere protects life on Earth by absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation, warming the surface through heat retention , and reducing temperature extremes between day and night...
, pedosphere
Pedosphere
The pedosphere is the outermost layer of the Earth that is composed of soil and subject to soil formation processes. It exists at the interface of the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere. The sum total of all the organisms, soils, water and air is termed as the "pedosphere"...
, and global flora
Flora
Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
and fauna
Fauna
Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...
patterns (biosphere
Biosphere
The biosphere is the global sum of all ecosystems. It can also be called the zone of life on Earth, a closed and self-regulating system...
) of specific regions, subregions, clusters and locales. Physical regions are usually described by surface geological formations, hydrological and littoral surface features, discrete landscape features, and unique flora and fauna distribution that are not clearly delineated, and are separated by often wide transitional boundaries.
Palaeogeographic regions
PalaeogeographyPalaeogeography
Palaeogeography is the study of what the geography was in times past. It is most often used about the physical landscape, although nothing excludes its use in reference to the human or cultural environment...
is the study of ancient geologic environments. Since the physical structures of the Earth's surface have changed over geologic time, palaeogeographers have coined various names for ancient regions that no longer exist, from very large regions such as the supercontinents Rodinia
Rodinia
In geology, Rodinia is the name of a supercontinent, a continent which contained most or all of Earth's landmass. According to plate tectonic reconstructions, Rodinia existed between 1.1 billion and 750 million years ago, in the Neoproterozoic era...
, Pangaea
Pangaea
Pangaea, Pangæa, or Pangea is hypothesized as a supercontinent that existed during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras about 250 million years ago, before the component continents were separated into their current configuration....
, and Pannotia
Pannotia
Pannotia, first described by Ian W. D. Dalziel in 1997, is a hypothetical supercontinent that existed from the Pan-African orogeny about six hundred million years ago to the end of the Precambrian about five hundred and fifty million years ago. It is also known as the Vendian supercontinent...
, to relatively small regions like Beringia
Bering land bridge
The Bering land bridge was a land bridge roughly 1,000 miles wide at its greatest extent, which joined present-day Alaska and eastern Siberia at various times during the Pleistocene ice ages. Like most of Siberia and all of Manchuria, Beringia was not glaciated because snowfall was extremely light...
. Other examples include the Tethys Ocean
Tethys Ocean
The Tethys Ocean was an ocean that existed between the continents of Gondwana and Laurasia during the Mesozoic era before the opening of the Indian Ocean.-Modern theory:...
and Ancylus Lake
Ancylus Lake
Ancylus lake is a name given by geologists to the body of fresh water that replaced the Yoldia Sea after the latter had been severed from its saline intake across central Sweden by the isostatic rise of south Scandinavian landforms. The dates are approximately 9500-8000 BP calibrated, during the...
. Palaeogeographic continental regions that include Laurentia
Laurentia
Laurentia is a large area of continental craton, which forms the ancient geological core of the North American continent...
, Proto-Laurasia, Laurasia
Laurasia
In paleogeography, Laurasia was the northernmost of two supercontinents that formed part of the Pangaea supercontinent from approximately...
, Euramerica
Euramerica
Euramerica was a minor supercontinent created in the Devonian as the result of a collision between the Laurentian, Baltica, and Avalonia cratons .300 million years ago in the Late Carboniferous tropical rainforests lay over the equator of Euramerica...
(the "Old Red Continent"), and Gondwana
Gondwana
In paleogeography, Gondwana , originally Gondwanaland, was the southernmost of two supercontinents that later became parts of the Pangaea supercontinent. It existed from approximately 510 to 180 million years ago . Gondwana is believed to have sutured between ca. 570 and 510 Mya,...
.The Paleogeographic region is also where paleontologist find answers in history.
Regions in human geography
Human geographyHuman geography
Human geography is one of the two major sub-fields of the discipline of geography. Human geography is the study of the world, its people, communities, and cultures. Human geography differs from physical geography mainly in that it has a greater focus on studying human activities and is more...
is a branch of geography that focuses on the study of patterns and processes that shape human interaction with various discrete environments. It encompasses human
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
, political
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
, cultural
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
, social
Social
The term social refers to a characteristic of living organisms...
, and economic
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
aspects among others that are often clearly delineated. While the major focus of human geography is not the physical landscape of the Earth (see physical geography
Physical geography
Physical geography is one of the two major subfields of geography. Physical geography is that branch of natural science which deals with the study of processes and patterns in the natural environment like the atmosphere, biosphere and geosphere, as opposed to the cultural or built environment, the...
), it is hardly possible to discuss human geography without referring to the physical landscape on which human activities are being played out, and environmental geography
Environmental geography
Integrated geography is the branch of geography that describes the spatial aspects of interactions between humans and the natural world. It requires an understanding of the dynamics of geology, meteorology, hydrology, biogeography, ecology, and geomorphology, as well as the ways in which human...
is emerging as a link between the two. Regions of human geography can be divided into many broad categories, such as:
- Cultural geographyCultural geographyCultural geography is a sub-field within human geography. Cultural geography is the study of cultural products and norms and their variations across and relations to spaces and places...
- DemographyDemographyDemography is the statistical study of human population. It can be a very general science that can be applied to any kind of dynamic human population, that is, one that changes over time or space...
- Development geographyDevelopment geographyDevelopment geography is the study of the earth's geography with reference to the standard of living and quality of life of its human inhabitants. In this context, development is a process of change that affects people's lives. It may involve an improvement in the quality of life as perceived by...
- Economic geographyEconomic geographyEconomic geography is the study of the location, distribution and spatial organization of economic activities across the world. The subject matter investigated is strongly influenced by the researcher's methodological approach. Neoclassical location theorists, following in the tradition of Alfred...
- EthnographyEthnographyEthnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
- GeopoliticsGeopoliticsGeopolitics, from Greek Γη and Πολιτική in broad terms, is a theory that describes the relation between politics and territory whether on local or international scale....
- Health geographyHealth geographyHealth geography is the application of geographical information, perspectives, and methods to the study of health, disease, and health care.- Overview :...
- Historical geographyHistorical geographyHistorical geography is the study of the human, physical, fictional, theoretical, and "real" geographies of the past. Historical geography studies a wide variety of issues and topics. A common theme is the study of the geographies of the past and how a place or region changes through time...
- Language geographyLanguage geographyLanguage geography is the branch of human geography that studies the geographic distribution of language or its constituent elements. There are two principal fields of study within the geography of language: the "geography of languages", which deals with the distribution through history and space...
- Religion geographyReligion geographyReligion and geography is the study of the impact of geography, i.e. place and space, on religious belief.Another aspect of the relationship between religion and geography is religious geography, in which geographical ideas are influenced by religion, such as early map-making, and the biblical...
- Social geographySocial geographySocial geography is the branch of human geography that is most closely related to social theory in general and sociology in particular, dealing with the relation of social phenomena and its spatial components. Though the term itself has a tradition of more than 100 years, there is no consensus on...
- Time geographyTime geographyTime geography or time-space geography traces its roots back to the Swedish geographer Torsten Hägerstrand who stressed the temporal factor in spatial human activities. The time-space path, devised by Hägerstrand, shows the movement of an individual in the spatial-temporal environment with the...
- Tourism geographyTourism geographyTourism Geography is the study of travel and tourism, as an industry and as a social and cultural activity. Tourism geography covers a wide range of interests including the environmental impact of tourism, the geographies of tourism and leisure economies, answering tourism industry and management...
- Transportation geographyTransportation geographyTransportation Geography, also Transport Geography, is the branch of geography that investigates spatial interactions, let them be of people, freight and information. It can consider humans and their use of vehicles or other modes of travelling as well as how markets are serviced by flows of...
- Urban geographyUrban geographyUrban geography is the study of areas which have a high concentration of buildings and infrastructure. These are areas where the majority of economic activities are in the secondary sector and tertiary sectors...
Historical regions
The field of historical geographyHistorical geography
Historical geography is the study of the human, physical, fictional, theoretical, and "real" geographies of the past. Historical geography studies a wide variety of issues and topics. A common theme is the study of the geographies of the past and how a place or region changes through time...
involves the study of human history as it relates to places and regions
Historical region
Historical regions are delimitations of geographic areas for studying and analysing social development of period-specific cultures without any reference to contemporary political, economic or social organisations....
, or, inversely, the study of how places and regions have changed over time.
D. W. Meinig
D. W. Meinig
Donald William Meinig is an American geographer. He is the Maxwell Research Professor Emeritus of Geography at Syracuse University....
, a historical geographer of America, describes many historical regions in his book The Shaping of America: A Geographical Perspective on 500 Years of History. For example, in identifying European "source regions" in early American colonization efforts, he defines and describes the Northwest European Atlantic Protestant Region, which includes sub-regions such as the "Western Channel Community", which itself is made of sub-regions such as the English West Country
West Country
The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region. It is often defined to encompass the historic counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset and the City of Bristol, while the counties of...
of Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, and Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
.
In describing historic regions of America, Meinig writes of "The Great Fishery" off the coast of Newfoundland and New England, an oceanic region that includes the Grand Banks
Grand Banks
The Grand Banks of Newfoundland are a group of underwater plateaus southeast of Newfoundland on the North American continental shelf. These areas are relatively shallow, ranging from in depth. The cold Labrador Current mixes with the warm waters of the Gulf Stream here.The mixing of these waters...
. He rejects regions traditionally used in describing American history, like New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
, "West Indies", the Middle Colonies
Middle Colonies
The Middle Colonies comprised the middle region of the Thirteen Colonies of the British Empire in Northern America. In 1776 during the American Revolution, the Middle Colonies became independent of Britain as the states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and Delaware.Much of the area was part of...
, and the individual colonies themselves (Province of Maryland
Province of Maryland
The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S...
, for example). Instead he writes of "discrete colonization areas," which may be named after colonies, but rarely adhere strictly to political boundaries. Historic regions of this type Meinig writes about include "Greater New England" and its major sub-regions of "Plymouth," "New Haven shores" (including parts of Long Island), "Rhode Island" (or "Narragansett Bay"), "the Piscataqua," "Massachusetts Bay," "Connecticut Valley," and to a lesser degree, regions in the sphere of influence of Greater New England, "Acadia" (Nova Scotia), "Newfoundland and The Fishery/The Banks."
Other examples of historical regions include Iroquoia, Ohio Country
Ohio Country
The Ohio Country was the name used in the 18th century for the regions of North America west of the Appalachian Mountains and in the region of the upper Ohio River south of Lake Erie...
, Illinois Country
Illinois Country
The Illinois Country , also known as Upper Louisiana, was a region in what is now the Midwestern United States that was explored and settled by the French during the 17th and 18th centuries. The terms referred to the entire Upper Mississippi River watershed, though settlement was concentrated in...
, and Rupert's Land
Rupert's Land
Rupert's Land, or Prince Rupert's Land, was a territory in British North America, consisting of the Hudson Bay drainage basin that was nominally owned by the Hudson's Bay Company for 200 years from 1670 to 1870, although numerous aboriginal groups lived in the same territory and disputed the...
.
Tourism region
A tourism region is a geographical region that has been designated by a governmental organization or tourism bureau as having common cultural or environmental characteristics. These regions are often named after a geographical, former, or current administrative region or may have a name created for tourismTourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
purposes. The names often evoke certain positive qualities of the area and suggest a coherent tourism experience to visitors. Countries, states, provinces, and other administrative regions are often carved up into tourism regions to facilitate attracting visitors.
Some of the more famous tourism regions based on historical or current administrative regions include Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
in Italy and Yucatán
Yucatán
Yucatán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Yucatán is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 106 municipalities and its capital city is Mérida....
in Mexico. Famous examples of regions created by a government or tourism bureau include the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
's Lake District
Lake District
The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...
and California's Wine Country.
great plains region
Natural resource regions
Natural resourceNatural resource
Natural resources occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by mankind, in a natural form. A natural resource is often characterized by amounts of biodiversity and geodiversity existent in various ecosystems....
s often occur in distinct regions. Natural resource regions can be a topic of physical geography or environmental geography, but also have a strong element of human geography and economic geography. A coal region, for example, is a physical or geomorphological region, but its development and exploitation can make it into an economic and a cultural region. Some examples of natural resource regions include the Rumaila Field
Rumaila Field
The Rumaila oil field is a giant oil field located in southern Iraq, approximately from the Kuwaiti border. The dispute between Iraq and Kuwait over allegedly slant-drilling in the field was one of reasons for Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. This field was discovered by British Petroleum in...
, the oil field that lies along the border or Iraq and Kuwait and played a role in the Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
; the Coal Region
Coal Region
The Coal Region is a term used to refer to an area of Northeastern Pennsylvania in the central Appalachian Mountains comprising Lackawanna, Luzerne, Columbia, Carbon, Schuylkill, Northumberland, and the extreme northeast corner of Dauphin counties....
of Pennsylvania, which is a historical region as well as a cultural, physical, and natural resource region; the South Wales Coalfield
South Wales Coalfield
The South Wales Coalfield is a large region of south Wales that is rich with coal deposits, especially the South Wales Valleys.-The coalfield area:...
, which like Pennsylvania's coal region is a historical, cultural, and natural region; the Kuznetsk Basin
Kuznetsk Basin
The Kuznetsk Basin in southwestern Siberia, Russia, is one of the largest coal mining areas in the world, covering an area of around . It lies in the Kuznetsk Depression between Tomsk and Novokuznetsk in the basin of the Tom River...
, a similarly important coal mining region in Russia; Kryvbas
Kryvbas
Kryvbas Kryvorizkyi Iron Ore Basin) is an important economic region in central Ukraine, specializing in iron ore mining and the steel industry. It is arguably the main iron ore region of Eastern Europe...
, the economic and iron ore mining region of Ukraine; and the James Bay Project
James Bay Project
The James Bay Project is a series of hydroelectric development with a combined installed capacity of over 16,000 megawatts built since 1974 for Hydro-Québec by the on the La Grande and other rivers of Northern Quebec....
, a large region of Quebec where one of the largest hydroelectric systems in the world has been developed.
Religious regions
Sometimes a region associated with a religion is given a name, like ChristendomChristendom
Christendom, or the Christian world, has several meanings. In a cultural sense it refers to the worldwide community of Christians, adherents of Christianity...
, a term with medieval and renaissance connotations of Christianity as a sort of social and political polity
Body Politic
Body Politic is a television pilot starring Minka Kelly, Gabrielle Union, Jason Dohring, and Brian Austin Green. It is produced by CBS Television Studios for The CW....
. The term Muslim world
Muslim world
The term Muslim world has several meanings. In a religious sense, it refers to those who adhere to the teachings of Islam, referred to as Muslims. In a cultural sense, it refers to Islamic civilization, inclusive of non-Muslims living in that civilization...
is sometimes used to refer to the region of the world where Islam is dominant. These broad terms are very vague when used to describe regions.
Within some religions there are clearly defined regions. The Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, the Church of England, the Eastern Orthodox Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
, and others, define ecclesiastical regions with names such as diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
, eparchy
Eparchy
Eparchy is an anglicized Greek word , authentically Latinized as eparchia and loosely translating as 'rule over something,' like province, prefecture, or territory, to have the jurisdiction over, it has specific meanings both in politics, history and in the hierarchy of the Eastern Christian...
, ecclesiastical provinces
Ecclesiastical Province
An ecclesiastical province is a large jurisdiction of religious government, so named by analogy with a secular province, existing in certain hierarchical Christian churches, especially in the Catholic Church and Orthodox Churches and in the Anglican Communion...
, and parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
.
For example, the United States is divided into 32 Roman Catholic ecclesiastical provinces. The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod
Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod
The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod is a traditional, confessional Lutheran denomination in the United States. With 2.3 million members, it is both the eighth largest Protestant denomination and the second-largest Lutheran body in the U.S. after the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The Synod...
is organized into 33 geographic districts', which are subdivided into circuits (the Atlantic District (LCMS)
Atlantic District (LCMS)
The Atlantic District is one of the 35 districts of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod , and covers eastern New York state: New York City, Long Island, the Hudson Valley, and the Capital District...
, for example). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints uses regions similar to dioceses and parishes, but uses terms like ward and stake
Stake (Mormonism)
A stake is an administrative unit composed of multiple congregations in denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. A stake is approximately comparable to a diocese in the Catholic Church and other Christian denominations...
.
Political regions
In the field of political geographyPolitical geography
Political geography is the field of human geography that is concerned with the study of both the spatially uneven outcomes of political processes and the ways in which political processes are themselves affected by spatial structures...
regions tend to be based on political units such as sovereign state
Sovereign state
A sovereign state, or simply, state, is a state with a defined territory on which it exercises internal and external sovereignty, a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither...
s; subnational units such as province
Province
A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...
s, counties
County
A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...
, township
Township
The word township is used to refer to different kinds of settlements in different countries. Township is generally associated with an urban area. However there are many exceptions to this rule. In Australia, the United States, and Canada, they may be settlements too small to be considered urban...
s, territories, etc.; and multinational groupings, including formally defined units such as the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
Association of Southeast Asian Nations
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly abbreviated ASEAN rarely ), is a geo-political and economic organization of ten countries located in Southeast Asia, which was formed on 8 August 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Since then, membership has...
, and NATO, as well as informally defined regions such as the Third World
Third World
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...
, Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
, and the Middle East.
Administrative regions
The word "region" is taken from the LatinLatin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
regio, and a number of countries have borrowed the term as the formal name for a type of subnational entity (e.g., the región, used in Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
). In English, the word is also used as the conventional translation for equivalent terms in other languages (e.g., the область
Oblasts of Russia
The Russian Federation is divided into 83 subjects , of which 46 are oblasts ....
(oblast
Oblast
Oblast is a type of administrative division in Slavic countries, including some countries of the former Soviet Union. The word "oblast" is a loanword in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area", "zone", "province", or "region"...
), used in Russia alongside with a broader term регион).
The following countries use the term "region" (or its cognate
Cognate
In linguistics, cognates are words that have a common etymological origin. This learned term derives from the Latin cognatus . Cognates within the same language are called doublets. Strictly speaking, loanwords from another language are usually not meant by the term, e.g...
) as the name of a type of subnational administrative unit:
- Belgium (in French, région; in German, Region; the DutchDutch languageDutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
term gewest is often translated as "region") - ChadRegions of Chad||The country of Chad is currently divided into 22 régions. From independence in 1960 until 1999 it was divided into 14 préfectures. These were replaced in 1999 by 28 départements. The country was reorganized again in 2002 to produce 18 régions...
- Chile (región)
- CongoRegions of the Republic of the Congo||The Republic of the Congo is divided into twelve departments . These departments replaced former regions in 2002:*Bouenza *Brazzaville *Cuvette...
(région) - Côte d'IvoireRegions of Côte d'Ivoire||Côte d'Ivoire is divided into nineteen regions :The regions are further divided into 81 departments.-External links:...
(région) - DenmarkRegions of DenmarkThe Regions of Denmark were created as part of the 2007 Danish Municipal Reform. The five regions replace the former sixteen counties . At the same time, the number of municipalities was cut from 270 to 98. The reform was made effective on 1 January 2007.- List of regions :The names of the regions...
(effective from 2007) - EnglandRegions of EnglandIn England, the region is the highest tier of sub-national division used by central Government. Between 1994 and 2011, the nine regions had an administrative role in the implementation of UK Government policy, and as the areas covered by elected bodies...
(not the United Kingdom as a whole) - EritreaRegions of Eritrea||At the time of Independence in 1993 Eritrea was arranged into ten provinces. These provinces were similar to the nine provinces operating during the colonial period. In 1996, these were consolidated into six regions...
- FranceRégions of FranceFrance is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...
(région) - GhanaRegions of Ghana||Ghana is divided into ten regions :*Ashanti Region *Brong-Ahafo Region *Central Region *Eastern Region *Greater Accra Region *Northern Region *Upper East Region...
- GuineaRegions of Guinea||Guinea is divided into 8 administrative regions which are further subdivided into 34 prefectures.*Boké Region*Conakry Region*Faranah Region*Kankan Region*Kindia Region*Labé Region*Mamou Region*Nzérékoré Region-See also:*ISO 3166-2:GN...
(région) - Guinea-BissauRegions of Guinea-Bissau||Guinea-Bissau is divided into 8 regions and 1 autonomous sector . The regions are listed below :*Bafatá Region *Biombo Region...
(região) - GuyanaRegions of GuyanaGuyana is divided into 10 regions:Each region is administered by a Regional Democratic Council which is headed by a Chairman. The regions are divided into neighbourhood councils. known as Neighbourhood Democratic Councils .-External links:...
- HungaryRegions of HungaryThere are seven statistical regions of Hungary created in 1999 by the Law 1999/XCII amending Law 1996/XXI. Regions are groupings of the 19 counties and the capital city....
(régió) - ItalyRegions of ItalyThe regions of Italy are the first-level administrative divisions of the state, constituting its first NUTS administrative level. There are twenty regions, of which five are constitutionally given a broader amount of autonomy granted by special statutes....
(regione) - MadagascarRegions of Madagascar||Madagascar is divided into 22 regions . These formerly second-tier administrative divisions became the first-level administrative divisions when the former six provinces were dissolved on 4 October 2009:- See also :* Subdivisions of Madagascar...
(région) - MaliRegions of Mali||Mali is divided into eight regions and one capital district. Each of the regions bears the name of its principal city. The regions are divided into 49 cercles. The cercles and the capital district are divided into 703 communes....
(région) - NamibiaRegions of NamibiaThe administrative division of Namibia is tabled by Delimitation Commissions and accepted or declined by the National Assembly. The First Delimitation Commission chaired by Judge President Johan Strydom suggested in 1992 that Namibia be divided into 13 Regions, a number that has not been amended...
- New ZealandRegions of New ZealandThe region is the top tier of local government in New Zealand. There are 16 regions of New Zealand. Eleven are governed by an elected regional council, while five are governed by territorial authorities which also perform the functions of a regional council and thus are known as unitary authorities...
- PeruRegions of PeruThe regions of Peru are the first-level administrative subdivisions of Peru. Since its 1821 independence, Peru had been divided into departments but faced the problem of an increasing centralization of political and economic power in its capital, Lima...
(región) - PhilippinesRegions of the PhilippinesIn the Philippines, regions are administrative divisions that serve primarily to organize the provinces of the country for administrative convenience. Currently, the archipelagic republic of the Philippines is divided into 17 regions...
(rehiyon) - SenegalRegions of Senegal||Senegal is subdivided into 14 regions , each of which is administered by a Conseil Régional elected by population weight at the Arrondissement level....
(région) - TanzaniaRegions of TanzaniaTanzania is divided into 26 regions.-See also:* list of Tanzanian regions by area ranks the regions by their total area, land area, and water area.* Districts of Tanzania* ISO 3166-2:TZ-External links:*...
- TogoRegions of Togo||Togo is divided into five regions :*Centrale *Kara *Maritime *Plateaux *Savanes The regions are divided into 30 prefectures and 1 commune.-See also:...
(région) - Trinidad and TobagoRegional Corporations and Municipalities of Trinidad and Tobago-Trinidad:Historically, Trinidad was divided into eight counties.-Tobago:Tobago is governed locally by the Tobago House of Assembly.Historically, Tobago was divided into seven parishes . In 1768 each parish of Tobago had nominated representatives to the Tobago House of Assembly...
(Regional Corporation)
The Canadian province
Provinces and territories of Canada
The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second-largest country by area. There are ten provinces and three territories...
of Québec also uses the "administrative region" (région administrative).
Scotland had local government regions from 1975 to 1996.
In Spain the official name of the autonomous community of Murcia
Region of Murcia
The Region of Murcia is an autonomous community of Spain located in the southeast of the country, between Andalusia and Valencian Community, on the Mediterranean coast....
is Región de Murcia. Also, some single-province autonomous communities such as Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
use the term región interchangeably with comunidad autónoma.
Two län (counties) in Sweden are officially called 'regions': Skåne and Västra Götaland, and there is currently a controversial proposal to divide the rest of Sweden into large regions, replacing the current counties.
The government of the Philippines
Regions of the Philippines
In the Philippines, regions are administrative divisions that serve primarily to organize the provinces of the country for administrative convenience. Currently, the archipelagic republic of the Philippines is divided into 17 regions...
uses the term "region" (in Filipino
Filipino language
This move has drawn much criticism from other regional groups.In 1987, a new constitution introduced many provisions for the language.Article XIV, Section 6, omits any mention of Tagalog as the basis for Filipino, and states that:...
, rehiyon) when it's necessary to group provinces, the primary administrative subdivision of the country. This is also the case in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, which groups its primary administrative divisions (estados; "states") into grandes regiões (greater regions
Regions of Brazil
Brazil is divided into five regions by the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística . These divisions are composed of states within them.-The five regions:-North Region: *Area: 3,869,637.,9 km²...
) for statistical purposes, while Russia uses экономические районы (economic regions
Economic regions of Russia
Russia is divided into twelve economic regions —groups of federal subjects sharing the following characteristics:*Common economic and social goals and participation in development programs;*Relatively similar economic conditions and potential;...
) in a similar way, as does Romania
Development regions of Romania
The development regions of Romania refer to the eight regional divisions created in Romania in 1998 in order to better co-ordinate regional development as Romania progressed towards accession to the European Union. The development regions correspond to NUTS II-level divisions in European Union...
and Venezuela.
The government of Singapore
Government of Singapore
The Government of Singapore is defined by the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore to mean the Executive branch of government, which is made up of the President and the Cabinet of Singapore. Although the President acts in his personal discretion in the exercise of certain functions as a check...
makes use of the term "region
Regions of Singapore
The regions of Singapore are urban planning subdivisions demarcated by the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore to aid in its planning efforts. Over time, however, these 5 regions have also been adopted by other governmental organizations in their administrative work, such as their usage in...
" for its own administrative purposes.
The following countries use an administrative subdivision conventionally referred to as a region in English:
- Bulgaria, which uses the област (oblast)
- RussiaOblasts of RussiaThe Russian Federation is divided into 83 subjects , of which 46 are oblasts ....
, which uses the область (oblast) - Ukraine, which uses the область (oblast)
- SlovakiaRegions of SlovakiaSince 1949 , Slovakia has been divided into a number of kraje . Their number, borders and functions have been changed several times. There are currently eight regions of Slovakia and they correspond to the EU's NUTS 3 level of local administrative units. Each kraj consists of okresy...
(kraj)
China has five 自治区 (zìzhìqū) and two 特別行政區 (or 特别行政区; tèbiéxíngzhèngqū), which are translated as "autonomous region" and "special administrative region", respectively.
Local administrative regions
There are many relatively small regions based on local government agencies such as districts, agencies, or regions. In general, they are all regions in the general sense of being bounded spatial units. Examples include electoral districts such as Washington's 6th congressional districtWashington's 6th congressional district
Washington's 6th congressional district encompasses the Olympic Peninsula, most of the Kitsap Peninsula, and most of the city of Tacoma. Since 1977, the 6th District has been represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by Norm Dicks, a Democrat from Bremerton.Established after the 1930 U.S...
and Tennessee's 1st congressional district
Tennessee's 1st congressional district
The Tennessee 1st Congressional District is the congressional district of northeast Tennessee, including all of Carter, Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, Hancock, Hawkins, Johnson, Sullivan, Unicoi, and Washington counties and parts of Jefferson County and Sevier County...
; school districts such as Granite School District
Granite School District
The Granite School District spreads across central Salt Lake County, Utah, serving West Valley City, Taylorsville, South Salt Lake, and Holladay; Kearns, Magna and Millcreek Township; and parts of West Jordan, Murray and Cottonwood Heights. About 70,000 students are enrolled in its programs ranging...
and Los Angeles Unified School District
Los Angeles Unified School District
Los Angeles Unified School District is the largest public school system in California. It is the 2nd largest public school district in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population...
; economic districts such as the Reedy Creek Improvement District
Reedy Creek Improvement District
The Reedy Creek Improvement District is the immediate governing jurisdiction for the land of the Walt Disney World Resort. As of the late 1990s, it comprised an area of within the outer limits of Orange and Osceola counties in Florida...
; metropolitan areas such as the Seattle metropolitan area
Seattle metropolitan area
The Seattle metropolitan area in the US state of Washington includes the city of Seattle, King County, Snohomish County, and Pierce County within the Puget Sound region. The U.S...
, and metropolitan districts such as the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago
The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago , originally known as the Sanitary District of Chicago is a special-purpose district, chartered to operate in northern Illinois since 1889...
, the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District
Las Vegas-Clark County Library District
Las Vegas-Clark County Library District is a library district headquartered in the Windmill Library at 7060 W. Windmill in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States....
, the Metropolitan Police Service
Metropolitan Police Service
The Metropolitan Police Service is the territorial police force responsible for Greater London, excluding the "square mile" of the City of London which is the responsibility of the City of London Police...
of Greater London
Greater London
Greater London is the top-level administrative division of England covering London. It was created in 1965 and spans the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and the 32 London boroughs. This territory is coterminate with the London Government Office Region and the London...
, as well as other local districts like the York Rural Sanitary District
York Rural Sanitary District
York was a rural sanitary district in Yorkshire, England until 1894. It was based on the York poor law union , and included parishes in the West Riding, the North Riding and the East Riding, forming a ring around the city.It was abolished in 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894, and split to...
, the Delaware River Port Authority
Delaware River Port Authority
The Delaware River Port Authority is a bi-state instrumentality created by a Congressionally approved interstate compact between the governments of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of New Jersey...
, the Nassau County Soil and Water Conservation District
Nassau County Soil and Water Conservation District
The Nassau County Soil and Water Conservation District , located in Nassau County, Florida is a government entity dedicated to encouraging productive use of land, water and air resources in the county. According to a summary taken from Florida Statutes Ch...
, and C-TRAN
C-TRAN
The Clark County Public Transit Benefit Area Authority is a public agency serving Clark County, Washington, United States, including the cities of Battle Ground, Camas, Vancouver and Washougal...
.
Traditional or informal regions
The traditional territorial divisions of some countries are also commonly rendered in English as "regions". These informal divisions do not form the basis of the modern administrative divisions of these countries, but still define and delimit local regional identity and sense of belonging. Examples include:- FinlandRegions of FinlandFinland consists of 19 regions called in Finnish and in Swedish. The regions are governed by regional councils, which serve as forums of cooperation for the municipalities of a region. The main tasks of the regions are regional planning and development of enterprise and education. In addition,...
- JapanRegions of JapanThe regions of Japan are not official administrative units, but have been traditionally used as the regional division of Japan in a number of contexts...
- KoreaRegions of KoreaKorea has traditionally been divided into a number of unofficial regions that reflect historical, geographical, and dialect boundaries within the peninsula...
- NorwayRegions of NorwayNorway is divided into five major regions , which consist of counties as follows:*Northern Norway **Finnmark**Troms**Nordland*Trøndelag**Nord-Trøndelag**Sør-Trøndelag...
(landsdeler) - RomaniaHistorical regions of RomaniaAt various times during the late 19th and 20th centuries, Romania extended over the following historical regions:Wallachia:*Muntenia or Greater Wallachia: as part of Wallachia, joined Moldavia in 1859 to create modern Romania;...
- Slovakia
Functional region
A functional region or Nodal region, is a region that has a defined core that retains a specific characteristic that diminishes outwards. To be considered a Functional region, at least one form of spatial interaction must occur between the center and all other parts of the region. A functional region is organized around a node or focal point with the surrounding areas linked to that node by transportation systems, communication systems, or other economic association involving such activities as manufacturing and retail trading. A typical functional region is a metropolitan areaMetropolitan area
The term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually encompasses multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships,...
(MA) as defined by the Bureau of Census. For example, the New York MA is a functional region that covers parts of several states. It is linked by commuting patterns, trade flows, television and radio broadcasts, newspapers, travel for recreation and entertainment. Other functional regions include shopping regions centered on malls or supermarkets, area served by branch banks, and ports and their hinterlands.
Military regions
In military usage, a region is shorthand for the name of a military formation larger than an Army GroupArmy group
An army group is a military organization consisting of several field armies, which is self-sufficient for indefinite periods. It is usually responsible for a particular geographic area...
and smaller than an Army Theater
Theater (warfare)
In warfare, a theater, is defined as an area or place within which important military events occur or are progressing. The entirety of the air, land, and sea area that is or that may potentially become involved in war operations....
or simply Theater. The full name of the military formation is Army Region. The size of an Army Region can vary widely but is generally somewhere between about 1 million and 3 million soldiers. Two or more Army Regions could make up an Army Theater. An Army Region is typically commanded by a full General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
(US four stars), a Field Marshal
Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
, or General of the Army
General of the Army
General of the Army is a military rank used in some countries to denote a senior military leader, usually a General in command of a nation's Army. It may also be the title given to a General who commands an Army in the field....
(US five stars), or Generalissimo
Generalissimo
Generalissimo and Generalissimus are military ranks of the highest degree, superior to Field Marshal and other five-star ranks.-Usage:...
(Soviet Union). Due to the large size of this formation, its use is rarely employed. Some of the very few examples of an Army Region are each of the Eastern, Western, and southern (mostly in Italy) fronts in Europe during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The military map unit symbol for this echelon of formation (see Military organization
Military organization
Military organization is the structuring of the armed forces of a state so as to offer military capability required by the national defence policy. In some countries paramilitary forces are included in a nation's armed forces...
and APP-6A
APP-6a
Allied Procedural Publication 6A Military Symbols for Land Based Systems was the NATO standard for military map marking symbols. APP-6A was promulgated in December 1999. The NATO standardization agreement that covers APP-6A is STANAG 2019 , promulgated in December 2000...
) consists of six Xs.
See also
- DVD region
- Region (Europe)Region (Europe)The European Union created a Committee of the Regions to represent Regions of Europe as the layer of EU government administration directly below the nation-state level...
- Regional developmentRegional developmentRegional development is the provision of aid and other assistance to regions which are less economically developed. Regional development may be domestic or international in nature...
- Regional geographyRegional geographyRegional geography is the study of world regions. Attention is paid to unique characteristics of a particular region such as natural elements, human elements, and regionalization which covers the techniques of delineating space into regions....
- Regional stateRegional stateIn political geography, a regional state is a state more centralized than a federation, but less centralized than an unitary state. Regional states include federations in which power has become more centralized, and unitary states in which some power has been devolved to regional governments...
- Carl O. SauerCarl O. SauerCarl Ortwin Sauer was an American geographer. Sauer was a professor of geography at the University of California at Berkeley from 1923 until becoming professor emeritus in 1957 and was instrumental in the early development of the geography graduate school at Berkeley. One of his best known works...
- SubregionSubregionA subregion is a conceptual unit which derives from a larger region or continent and is usually based on location. Cardinal directions, such as south or southern, are commonly used to define a subregion.- United Nations subregions :...
External links
- Map and descriptions of hydrologic unit regions of the United States]
- [ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/NCGC/products/watershed/hu-standards.pdf Federal Standards for Delineation of Hydrologic Unit Boundaries]
- Physiographic regions of the United States