What is a region in Geography? Learn the definitions of physical, political, and economic regions, providing examples. Learn the purpose of Regional Geography.
Updated: 11/21/2023
Region in Geography | Physical, Political & Economic
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Frequently Asked Questions
What are the 3 types of regions in geography?
There are three types of regions in geography:
Physical regions are divisions made by the natural processes of Earth, including weather, climate, and terrain.
Political regions are areas broken up by a specific government or set of laws.
Economic regions define different parts of a country with different means of economic output. Each region has a unique industry that gives them the most commerce to contribute to the national government.
What are 2 examples of a region?
Regions may be physical, political, or economic. Examples of each include:
Physical: Sahara Desert, Rocky Mountains
Political: United States, Middle East
Economic: New England and the Pacific Region (both part of the U.S.)
What defines a region?
A region is defined by similar traits. These can be natural factors such as climate, weather, and terrain, or artificial factors such as human government, politics, economy, or culture.
Table of Contents
ShowIn geography, regions are areas which have certain and definable traits in common. These characteristics can be either natural or artificial and a region can be either large or small. A naturally characterized region shares similarities in terms of climate, landscape, and wildlife, for instance, while artificial characteristics include the shared religion, government, or language. Geographers group these places into regions because of the shared traits, but due to the constantly shifting nature of natural and artificial boundaries, a region is always changing.
Geographical regions can also be referred to as geographical areas, districts, and locales. Regions do not necessarily have a specific boundary, but sites within a region may. For example, the Middle East is a region of southwestern Asia. This region is defined by its natural similarities of dry and arid climates and artificial similarities of governmental and political structures. There is no clear boundary for the region of the Middle East, but the countries of Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Libya all have defined borders.
Within a geographical context, regions exist all over the world. They vary based on the conditions found within, whether those may be human-based or terrestrial. Some examples of famous regions around the world include:
- The Amazon is a region in South America made up of land surrounding the Amazon River.
- The Pacific Northwest is part of the United States, a region with a generally wet and cool climate.
- Latin America is a cultural region consisting of people who speak a Latin-based language.
Globalization
What makes a region? A region may be large or small and based on human or territorial factors. Regions exist within regions, as a matter of fact. The largest region technically could be space because it shares similar natural characteristics within a galaxy, such as the planets' revolution around the sun. However, globally speaking here on Earth, the planet itself is the largest region. It has its own unique natural characteristics that make life possible (unlike other planets), which further breaks down into regions of land and sea.
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Continents and oceans are the next largest regions of the Earth and they are divided by their terrain. They are clearly distinguishable from space. These regions are diversified within, meaning that even more regions exist. This globalization of geographical regions goes to show that the unique traits of different parts of Earth allow for different lifestyles, lifeforms, and cultural adaptions to the planet.
Continental Regions
As previously mentioned, continents are considered regions on their own. While there may be many different types of regions on a continent, these landmasses are broken up to attempt to reduce larger areas into more manageable sizes for study. For example, North America is divided from South America based on both land formation and climate. North America tends to be a bit more temperate in climate, while South America is wetter and oftentimes more tropical. A simple territory marker to separate the two is the thinnest part of Central America, which is right above the large landmass of South America.
Likewise, Africa can be detached from Asia at its narrowest connection point. Australia and Antarctica are island continents that stand on their own. The most confusing continental divide is that of Asia and Europe, which are separated by a mountain range rather than a thin strip of land. It can be said that continental divides are also artificial, but before the study of humans and geography became as extensive as it is presently, cultural studies were not as explored as the physical charting of land.
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Regional geography is an important branch of geography as a whole. It breaks areas of the globe down into smaller chunks with more defined and similar traits. There are three types of regions in geography, all of which explain a different aspect of society. They are:
- Physical Regions
- Political Regions
- Economic Regions
Because the borders of these regions are always changing, there may be some overlap between regions. For instance, a physical region may have countries with similar climates, but the economic regions within the physical region may differ tremendously. The following sections will explain the difference between each type of regional geography.
Physical Region
A physical region includes full landmasses and places with similar natural characteristics. Temperature, climate, weather, terrain, vegetation, and wildlife are all parts of physical regions. These traits are not defined by human presence or activity and are the work of Earth itself and the cycle of life. Physical regions are where the acts of humans can take place and are always changing as a result of these factors.
Australia is a physical region; in fact, it is the largest kind of region because it is a continent. On the continent of Australia, physical regions include the Western Plateau, Central Lowland, and Eastern Highlands, which are characterized by their elevation above sea level. The overall climate of Australia is hot and dry, but other regions do exist on the continent. Australia is home to forests, tropical and temperate grasslands, deserts, and even a region similar to the Mediterranean region of Europe with cool and wet winters.
Political Region
Political regions are based more heavily in artificial factors such as the culture and history of the people within them. Essentially, political regions are run by a specific government and have a specific set of laws. Countries and territories are perhaps the best examples of political regions. One country may serve as a political region, but many countries can make up a larger political region. For example, Iran is a sovereign nation with its own government and cultural practices. Therefore, it can be called a political region. However, similar governmental styles and history also take place in neighboring countries, all of which make up the larger political region of the Middle East.
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The 50 States of the United States are also political regions. Each state has its own local government, but the governments all unite together under once central leadership. There are defining boundaries to each state, but they make up the nation as a whole.
Economic Region
Economic regions are a further breakdown of a political region and they often will cross the borders of political regions. While one government may run a country, there are many aspects of the economy which allow the government to do so. Different areas of a country may specialize in different trades or productions that make them valuable to the nation as a whole. They even may assist other economic regions in fulfilling their outputs. Therefore, distinguishing these areas as unique and connecting their importance to the economy can be important to better track their performance and contribution to the national government's ability to run the country.
In the United States, the Bureau of Economic Analysis has identified eight regions of the country which have different means of commerce. New England, the Mideast, the Great Lakes, the Plains, the Southeast, the Southwest, the Rocky Mountains, and the Pacific regions have all been identified as having unique characteristics. All are an important part of the economy of the United States.
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Human geography is one of the two main branches of geography, the other being physical geography. It deals with the affairs of humans, their communities, and their social, political, cultural, and economic relations. Regions play an important role in human geography because they show both the combinations and differentiations of culture throughout the world. Different physical regions can have multiple political and economic regions within, exemplifying the extensive reach of human geography on planet Earth.
With human geography, there are many more broad kinds of regions within the three main branches previously discussed. They, along with examples, include:
- Historical Regions (Political): Colonial America, Western Europe
- Cultural Regions: Latin America, The South (U.S.)
- Tourism Regions (Economic): The Florida Keys, The Caribbean
- National Resource Regions (Physical and Economic): The Amazon, The Gulf of Mexico
- Religious Regions (Political): Amish Country, Israel
- Administrative Regions (Political and Economic): Washington, D.C., Federal District of Brazil (31 Regions)
- Traditional Regions (Political): The Manufacturing Belt (Northern U.S.) and the Sun Belt (Southern U.S.)
- Functional Regions (Political and Economic): New York Port Authority, New York City
- Military Regions (Political): South Pacific Division, Mississippi Valley Division
- Media Regions (Political): Chicago, Los Angeles
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This lesson has defined what a region is in the study of geography and explained the three branches of regions in geography. Following this lesson, the following information should be understood:
- A region is a geographic area with similar traits. These characteristics can be natural or artificial, and regions can be large or small. Regions exist all over the world.
- The largest regions on earth are continents and oceans. They are grouped because of their similar terrain or water characteristics. Continents are broken up as such in order to make studying them more simplistic.
- There are three main types of regional geography: physical, political, and economic.
- Physical regions are the divisions by the natural processes of earth, including factors such as temperature, climate, weather, terrain, and wildlife.
- Regions which are divided by a set or rules or a government are political regions. Countries are a basic example of a political region, though many countries can also exist in a larger political region.
- An economic region is a subset of a political region. Smaller territories within a country may have different physical characteristics or means of commerce which contribute to the overall economy of a nation, so they are divided uniquely.
- Human geography is one of the two main branches of geography. Regions play an important role in human geography because they allow for the study of history, culture, politics, and economics to be conducted more easily.
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Video Transcript
What Are Regions?
Really quickly - shout out loud what region you're from. Okay, honestly there was no reason you had to do that out loud, but picturing you shouting at your computer makes me laugh. However, the activity itself was important. What did you shout? Maybe your state or city, or maybe a part of the country like the South or the West. Or maybe something else entirely. It's actually a trick question, and there's no wrong answer. That's because the word region simply means a specific area with definable characteristics. That's it. So, lots of different things could be regions, and geographers have a few ways to categorize them. Let's take a look at some common types of regions and maybe help you figure out just where you're from.
Physical Regions
Let's start with a region that is defined purely by nature. A physical region is an area with geographic borders, or boundaries, that are part of the natural landscape. For example, in the United States, we have a major physical region called the Great Plains. This is a specific area with definable characteristics. It has a lot of grass, is pretty flat, and commonly is home to things like bison and antelope. So, it's clearly a region, but what makes it a physical region is its borders.
On one side are the Appalachian Mountains and on the other are the Rocky Mountains. So, the Great Plains have two mountain ranges as its borders, indicating where the Plains end and another region begins. Physical regions can be huge (the North American continent is bordered by the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean), or much smaller. For example, where I live in Colorado, we have a physical region called the foothills, which is an area defined by having the mountains on one side and the plains on the other. If you think about it, you can probably find some physical regions in your home state, too.
Political Regions
Now, physical regions exist with or without humans. The Great Plains will be bordered by the mountains whether people live there or not. But, we have other ways of dividing areas into specific regions. If a specific area is defined not by natural borders but by ones created by humans, its called a political region.
Let me ask you, have you ever driven across a state line? When you leave your state, does the geography suddenly change, right along the exact state line? Probably not, and that's because states are not physical regions. Their borders are created by humans, often arbitrarily, making them political regions. However, they're still regions. They're specific areas with shared characteristics: in this case, the people who live there. Political regions are often defined by people who share a cultural, historical, or economic background, but this isn't always true. In general, though, think of your home city, or county, or state, or even country. The borders that define each of these are made by humans, so these are political regions. This is something you can't see with your eyes, as reflected in the map you are looking at below:
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Economic Regions
Now we can get a little bit more specific. You may have noticed that human societies get pretty complicated, so we've found that there are actually multiple ways we can talk about human regions. We may organize ourselves into political regions, but our activities don't always completely align with those borders, especially in terms of the economy.
A region that is defined by common economic characteristics is called an economic region. Let me give you an example. In parts of Wyoming and Montana, cattle ranching is a very important part of the economy. However, this economy is not defined by political borders: the money for ranching jumps right across the Wyoming-Montana state line, so this is clearly an economic region. The way that money is made, spent, and used determines this region, not just political or geographic borders. Some economic regions can get pretty big. When the United States signed the North American Free Trade Agreement, called NAFTA, we agreed to tax-free trade throughout Mexico, the USA, and Canada. Yes, North America is a physical region, but in this sense it is also an economic region as well, defined by a shared system of international trade.
Cultural Regions
Finally, we've got my personal favorite. When a region is defined not by political borders or economic similarities but by people who share a common culture, it's called a cultural region. Have you ever heard somebody talk about the South or the West? At first, it sounds like they're talking about a physical region, but think about it. When we talk about the South, what are we really talking about? We're talking about Southern culture, from fried chicken and sweet tea to hospitality and magnolia gardens. The South itself does not have a strict border or boundaries; it's simply a grouping of people with similar cultural values.
Anthropologists, who are researchers who study human culture, have found many different ways to identify cultural regions. Sometimes, it's by region or language, or types of foods, or even favorite football teams. There are many ways we can identify cultural regions, and it's important to remember that nobody belongs to just one. These regions overlap each other, creating larger and more complex regions until you get to major cultural regions like Americans, North Americans, or even just humans of planet Earth. How's that for a region to belong to?
Lesson Summary
The world is a big place, and there are several ways to organize it into various regions, specific areas with definable characteristics. One way is to look at natural areas that are created by geographic borders, things like mountains or rivers. We call these physical regions. Another option is to organize areas by specific human-made borders, like states or countries, which we call political regions. If an area is defined by similar ideas about how to make, spend, and use money, it could be an economic region, which typically cross political borders. Finally, areas characterized by people with similar values, languages, or ideas are called cultural regions, like the South or the western United States. Sometimes these various regions can be small or large and sometimes they can overlap, but they're always there, defining who you are and where you're from.
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Region in Geography | Physical, Political & Economic
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