11/20/22, 6:21 PM Concept Of Region In Geography - UPSC (Geography Optional)

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Concept of Region in Geography – UPSC (Geography

Optional)
By LotusArise January 25, 2021 17 Comments

In this article, You will read Concept of Region in Geography for UPSC IAS
(Geography Optional).

Concept of Region in Geography

In geography, regions are the areas that are broadly divided by its physical
characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human
geography), and the interaction of humanity and the environment
(environmental geography).
Geographic regions and sub-regions are mostly described by their imprecisely
defined, and sometimes transitory boundaries, except in human geography,
where jurisdiction areas such as national borders are defined in law.
‘Regions’ or ‘Landschaft’ is a similar concept that came into existence in Mid
19th centaury from the “German School”.
At first, geographers where trying to classify the world into a natural region
by the homogeneity and uniformity between physical attributes of the area or
space.
In the 20th century regions were classified into different categories (
different functional regions or planning regions) with the help of different
statistical methods showing functional homogeneity in multiple attributes
At present, the Region and regionalization get wide spectrum through the
planning process in any country or a state or small unit of a natural, functional,
or vernacular region of the word; to achieve the goal of sustainable
development.

Definition of Region
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A region is an area on the earth’s surface marked by certain properties that are
homogeneous inside and distinct from outside it.

A Region is defined as a part of the Earth’s surface with one or many similar
characteristics that make it unique from other areas. Regional geography studies
the specific unique characteristics of places related to their culture, economy,
topography, climate, politics, and environmental factors such as their different
species of flora and fauna.

The concept of Region is generally linked with Space and has Spatial dimensions.

It is sometimes also used to as ‘Subjective’ (a ‘mental construct’) or ‘spaceless’.

However, for most Geographers, Region is an Objective Reality linked with space,
defined in terms of Space.

Sometimes a part of a District (sometimes even a village) is called Region,

Sometimes a District, a State, a group of States is regarded as Region.

Some important definition given by geographers are below:

The Region is an area of the earth Surface. – Taylor

A region is an unit area of the earth’s surface differentiated by its specific
characteristics. – F. J. Monkhouse
The Region is a geographic area or areas which given civilisation, standard of a
people seems to require for the fulfillment of the aspiration through a material
resource. – C Aronovic
Any Surface over the earth’s surface where physical conditions are homogenous
is a region. – Woolfgang & Joerg
Regions are genuine entities, each of Which expresses both natural and cultural
differentiation from its neighbours. – G. T. Ranner
“A region is a complex of land, water, air, plant, animal and man, regarded under
their spatial relationship as together constituting a definite portion of the earth
surface.” – A .J. Herbertson
“A region is a domain where many dissimilar things are artificially brought
together have subsequently adopted themselves to a common existence.” –
Vidal-de-La-Blache

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“A region is an area of specific location which in some way very distinctive from
other areas and which extends as far as the distinction extends.” – Richard
Hartshorne
“A region is an area within which the combination of environment and
demographic factors have erected a homogeneity of economic and social
structure.” – T.T. Woofer
“An area throughout which a particular set of physical type of economic life.” –
R.E.Dicknision
Region is an are delineated on the basis of homogeneity of land –character, and
occupance. – R.S. Platt.

Why Geographers Use regions?

Geographers study a very wide range of issues from a spatial perspective. Regions
are one way to organize and simplify this vast amount of information. Even
though regions are “made-up” by the geographer, they are designed in such a way
that the information they provide will be useful.

Biologists do the same thing when they divide living organisms into different
groups with similar characteristics to better understand the great variety of living
organisms.

Development of Regional Geography

Regional geography has its roots in Europe; specifically with the French and
geographer Paul Vidal de la Blanche. In the late 19th century, De la Blanche
developed his ideas of the milieu and pays. The milieu was the natural
environment and pays was the country or local region.

Before becoming the target of systematic concerns, regional studies sought,

above all, to identify specificities, curiosities, and descriptions of the most
different parts of the globe.

From the mid-eighteenth century several forms of description, classification and

analysis techniques have been created without the intention to develop a more
“scientific” point of view about the term region.

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These concerns have become more common in the early twentieth century when
the systematization of a “regional geography” began to take its first steps, both in
Europe and in the United States.

Main geographers who developed the first theoretical definitions on the regional
phenomenon: Alfred Hettner, in Germany, Vidal-de-la-Blache, in France, and A. J.
Herbertson, in Great Britain.

The first systematic definition of the notion of the region was made by Herbertson,
in an article dated 1905. With regard to its more methodological aspects, it can be
said that the purpose is to create a “systematic geography“, and seeks to find ”
geographical divisions orders on the globe“.

The concern to define regionalization as a classification process, It makes explicit

reference to the biology classification procedures (Organic theory of
Regionalisation), thus demonstrating a deductive bias, based on the demarcation
criteria, divides the world into major natural regions”.

Herbertson (1905) proposes four “classes of phenomena” for such regions, in the
following order of importance:

1. configuration (mainly the elements of geology and geomorphology of the

earth);
2. climate (air masses, temperature, and precipitation levels);
3. vegetation; and
4. population densities

Setting natural regions would be, in this sense, “the necessary step for the final
solution of the problems of geography” as these definitions would allow the
establishment of a sound and lasting cuts on the earth’s surface even to
understand the economic functions, which each portion of the space would fulfill
since it was believed that the productive activities had clear causal relationships
with natural elements such as climate, geology, landform, vegetation and soil of
each area. This true “physical regionalization” of the world at the time was followed
by several similar attempts, mainly conducted by Russian geographers Gregg,
1974.

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Paul shows that in this period the region was a fact of physical geography, a fact of
nature in virtually all that was written on the subject.

Gomes (1995) also noted that “the concept of natural region is born from this idea
that the environment has some ownership on the orientation of the society
development.” Most of these definitions had a deterministic or “environmentalist”
Bias.

Regional geography began to develop in the United States specifically and parts
of Europe in the period between World Wars I and II.

During this time, geography was criticized for its descriptive nature with
environmental determinism and lack of a specific focus. As a result, geographers
were seeking ways to keep geography as a credible university-level subject.

In the 1920s and 1930s, geography became a regional science concerned with
why certain places are similar and/or different and what enables people to
separate one region from another. This practice became known as areal
differentiation.

In the U.S., Carl Sauer and his Berkeley School of geographic thought led to the
development of regional geography, especially on the west coast. During this time,
regional geography was also led by Richard Hartshorne who studied German
regional geography in the 1930s with famous geographers such as Alfred Hettner
and Fred Schaefer.

Hartshorne defined geography as a science “To provide accurate, orderly, and

rational description and interpretation of the variable character of the earth
surface.”

For a short time during and after WWII, regional geography was a popular field of
study within the discipline. However, it was later critiqued for its specifically regional
knowledge and it was claimed to have been too descriptive and not quantitative
enough.

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The economic region was the main focus of regional research from the 1930s to
the 1970s. Quite substantial results were reached in that field. During the last forty
years, regional geography has ceased to appear central to most geographers. In
fact, the new interest in place and territory shows a renewal in this field much
more than a decline. Some geographers are, however, very critical of the regional
idea.

Some Examples of Regions

Global regions
Continental regions
Geographical regions
Planning Regions
Palaeogeographic Regions
Physiographic Regions
Historical Regions
Tourism regions
Natural regions
Natural resource regions
Hydrological regions
Religious regions
Political regions
Socio Cultural Region
Administrative regions
Local administrative regions
Traditional or informal regions
Functional region
Military regions
Culture Region
Geographical regions

Characteristics of Region
The major Characteristics of the regions are-

A region is an area of a specific location.

Distinctiveness: Every region is a distinct geographical area;
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Uniqueness
Homogeneity: Homogeneity in one ore more geographical element within the
boundary;
Heterogeneity: Heterogeneity in those elements towards its regional
boundaries;
Dynamic/ Changing character: A region has dynamic character because its
features where change during times; whether it is physical or human elements,
single or multiple feature elements or functional or planning regions;
geographical features where dynamics;
Hierarchy: Every region has some kind of hierarchical arrangement.
Dynamic Scale: A region can be different in scale according to its shape and
size.
Problematic: Every region have similar problems within its boundary;
Purposive: A region is delineated for specific proposes.
Resourceful: A region should be resourceful or have some specific resources so
that they were utilized in the planning process.

Structure of Region
Node
Zone
Area

Node – Here polarization or centralization of Phenomenon is found. Nodes

develop in functional regions but unidentified in formal regions.

Zone – it is segment of space/part of an area where intensity and magnitude of

phenomenon is maximum.

Area– It include Node + Zone + Transitional Boundaries.

Thus Region is Node + Zone + Transitional Boundaries.

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Typology of Region
The three main types of regions are formal, functional, and vernacular regions.

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Formal, Functional, and Perceptual Regions: Examples included!

Formal region

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A formal region is a geographical region that is homogeneous and uniform

within a specified criterion. This specified criterion could be physical, social, or
political. Example – Himalayan Region, Sub-Tropical Region, etc.
A formal region is also known as a uniform or homogeneous region.
It is an area in which everyone shares in common one or more distinctive
characteristics. This common characteristic could be a cultural value such as
language, an economic activity such as the production of a certain crop, or an
environmental property such as climate and weather patterns. Whatever the
common characteristic is, it is present throughout the selected region.
In certain formal regions, the characteristic may be predominant rather than
universal, such as the wheat belt in North America, it is an area in which the
predominant crop is wheat, but other crops are grown here as well.
Its is further divided in ‘Single feature Region ‘(ex. Physiographic regions of
India),“Multiple Feature region’ (ex. Resource Region or Planning region), and
‘Compage region’ (ex. Agricultural region of the World).
Whittlessy (1956) defined ‘compage region’ as a uniform region where all the
features of the physical, biotic and social environment are functionally
associated with the human occupance.

Functional Region

A functional region that displays a certain functional coherence, an

interdependence of parts when defined on the basis of certain criteria is known
as a functional region.
A functional region, also known as a nodal region, organized around a node or
focal point. It is sometimes referred as a polarized region and is composed of
heterogeneous units such as cities, towns & villages which are functionally
inter-related. Example – National Capital Region.
The characteristic chosen to define a functional region dominates at a central
focus or node and diminishes in importance outward.
The region is tied to the central point by transportation, communication
systems or by economic or functional associations.
The functional linkage keep in changing in nature and volume.
An example of a functional region is the circulation area of a newspaper. That
area is centered around the city in which the newspaper is published in. The
farther away from the city of circulation, the less people that read the
newspaper (this phenomenon is known as distance decay).

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Vernacular region

A “vernacular region” is a distinctive area where the inhabitants collectively

consider themselves interconnected by a shared history, mutual interests, and a
common identity. Such regions are “intellectual inventions” and a form of
shorthand to identify things, people, and places.
Vernacular regions reflect a “sense of place,” but rarely coincide with
established jurisdictional borders.
A vernacular region, also known as Perceptual region or Adhoc Region, is a
place that people exist as part of their cultural identity.
These regions vary from person to person. They emerge from a person’s
informal sense of place. An example of a vernacular region would be the
Cultural region or Transitional regions, depressed areas, etc.

A planning region can be defined as a geographical region where designing and

implementation of the development plan is possible for tackling of regional
problems. It could be both formal & functional and generally transitional in
nature: Example – Delhi Metropolitan Region.

Apart from the above Classification, there are other typologies of regions adopted
for different purposes which we will see in the next article.

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17 COMMENTS   Oldest 

urmila
 1 year ago

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