- What is a geographic region?
- Characteristics of geographic regions
- Examples of geographic regions
- Other types of regions
We explain what a geographic region is, its characteristics and detailed examples. Also, other types of regions.
What is a geographic region?
When we speak of a geographic region, we refer to a specific area of the planet that exhibits related geographic characteristics, such as the relief, the weather, vegetation, fauna, the hydrography, the presence human, and so on. In some contexts it may be a synonymous of natural region.
However, what is and what is not a geographic region is a matter of debate, and responds to the classification needs of geographers, which are not always the same. In fact, limits of a geographic region are conventional and depend on the criterion used, which changes with the weather.
Thus, a geographic region may obey a specific object of study, and for the purposes of analysis geographic would be a synonym for "region". In no case, however, should it be confused with scenery.
Characteristics of geographic regions
Geographic regions are characterized by:
- It is about the organization of the land surface in areas that exhibit more or less homogeneous or similar characteristics, and that therefore can be managed as a geographic unit.
- Its limits vary according to the elements taken into account: natural, human, economic, etc. and they are decided by convention.
- It allows a more agile and quick geographic approach to the surface of our planet, discarding irrelevant sectors and focusing on the desired ones.
- It should not be confused with "landscape" or "area".
They can be of three types, depending on the nature of their limits:
- Formal When its limits are instituted in some document, agreement or official treaty, or some type of political entity administers them.
- Functional. When they cover a focal point and other peripherals that depend on it, as is the case with a large town and its satellite cities.
- Vernacular. When they are joined by an imaginary border, drawn according to more or less homogeneous, changing, when not subjective criteria.
Examples of geographic regions
The Mesoamerican region was occupied by different cultures for thousands of years.It is not difficult to give examples of geographic regions, more or less strictly defined. To name just a few:
- The Andean region. The countries are thus known south americans in which territory the most significant part of the Mountain range from the Andes, especially in cases where this implies the presence of the pre-Columbian Quechua or Inca culture, such as Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.
- The Middle East or Middle East. This geographical region encompasses the countries of the Arabian peninsula and the eastern Mediterranean, which are mostly Arabic-speaking and religion islamic, although with notable exceptions. They are located between Asia, Africa Y Europe.
- The region mesoamerican. It can be spoken in these terms to refer to the territorial area formerly covered by the cultures of the Mesoamerican civilization, arisen between centuries XV and XII a. C. and that includes present-day Mexico (the southern half), Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, and the western regions of Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
Other types of regions
Geographic regions can be organized according to various criteria, as we have just seen, depending on the specific element that we decide to focus on. We have, like this:
- Natural regions. When we choose to look at the natural conformation of the terrain: relief, hydrography, vegetation, climate, etc.
- Economic regions. If we look at the type of productive activities and the availability of resources for them that predominate in a portion of the earth's surface.
- Rpolitical regions. If we look at the way in which human societies are organized ethnically, culturally or ideologically.