regions

A region is a general concept describing an area that shares certain characteristics or is defined for the purpose of analysis, governance, or administration. Regions may be bounded by political authorities, by physical features such as rivers or mountains, or by cultural and economic ties. The exact boundaries of a region are often disputed and can change over time as conditions evolve.

Types of regions include administrative regions, such as states, provinces, or districts created by governments; cultural regions defined by language, ethnicity, or historical ties; economic regions formed by trade patterns, labor markets, or development programs; and natural or ecological regions defined by climate, vegetation, or geology. Urban or metropolitan regions describe functional areas around cities that share economic and social links.

Regionalization is the process of delineating regions for study or policy. It uses criteria such as geography, demographics, economy, language, and governance structure, often employing data analysis and geographic information systems. Boundaries may be drawn top-down by authorities or emerged bottom-up through local cooperation, and they can shift with population change, environmental conditions, or political reforms.

In mathematics, the term region is used to describe a connected area of space, commonly a connected open subset of a plane or space. In everyday use, the term remains flexible, reflecting the practical purpose of dividing space into manageable parts for analysis, planning, administration, and understanding global diversity.