The “sense of place” that humans possess may apply to a larger area of Earth rather than to a specific point. Region was defined at the beginning of the chapter as an area of Earth distinguished by one or more distinctive characteristics. People, activities, and environment display similarities and regularities within a region and differ in some ways from those of other regions. A region gains uniqueness from possessing not a single human or environmental feature but a combination of them.

A particular place can be included in more than one region, depending on how the region is defined. The designation “region” can be applied to any area larger than a point and smaller than the entire planet. Geographers most often apply the concept at one of two scales:

• Several neighboring countries that share important features, such as those in Latin America.

• Many localities within a country, such as those in southern California.

Cultural Landscape

A region derives its unified character through the cultural landscape—a combination of cultural features such as language and religion, economic features such as agriculture and industry, and physical features such as climate and vegetation. The southern California region can be distinguished from the northern California region, for example.

The contemporary cultural landscape approach in geography—sometimes called the regional studies approach—was initiated in France by Paul Vidal de la Blache (1845–1918) and Jean Brunhes (1869–1930). It was later adopted by several American geographers, including Carl Sauer (1889–1975) and Robert Platt (1891–1964). Sauer defined cultural landscape as an area fashioned from nature by a cultural group. “Culture is the agent, the natural area is the medium, the cultural landscape is the result.”

Formal Region

Geographers identify three types of regions—formal, functional, and vernacular. A formal region, also called a uniform region, is an area within which everyone shares in common one or more distinctive characteristics. The shared feature used to define the region could be a cultural value such as a common language, an economic activity such as production of a particular crop, or an environmental property such as climate. In a formal region, the selected characteristic is present throughout.

Some formal regions are easy to identify, such as countries or local government units. Montana is an example of a formal region, characterized with equal intensity throughout the state by a government that passes laws, collects taxes, and issues license plates. The formal region of Montana has clearly drawn and legally recognized boundaries, and everyone living within them shares the status of being subject to a common set of laws.

In other kinds of formal regions, a characteristic may be predominant rather than universal . For example, the North American winter wheat belt is a formal region in which wheat is the most commonly grown crop, but other crops are grown there as well. And the winter wheat belt can be distinguished from the corn belt, which is a region where corn is the most commonly grown crop

Formal Region: Indigenous Peoples & Languages of Alaska

The language boundaries represent traditional territories at around 1900.

In identifying a formal region, it is important to recognize the diversity of cultural, economic, and environmental factors, even while making a generalization. A minority of people in a region may speak a language, practice a religion, or possess resources different from those of the majority. Although a region may be described by certain positions its inhabitants hold in society based on their gender or ethnicity, individuals within that region may not all conform to that description.

Functional Region

A functional region, also called a nodal region, is an area organized around a node or focal point. 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 or communications systems or by economic or functional associations.

Geographers often use functional regions to convey information about economic areas. A region’s node may be a shop or service, with the boundaries of the region marking the limits of the trading area of the activity. People and activities may be attracted to the node, and information may flow from the node to the surrounding area.

An example of a functional region is the reception area of a TV station. At the center of its service area, a TV station’s over-the-air signal is strongest, and the percentage of cable and satellite dish receivers tuned to that station is highest. At some distance from the center, more people are watching a station originating in another city. That place is the boundary between the nodal regions of the two TV market areas

Designated market areas (DMAs) within Florida are examples of functional regions. In the case of westernmost Florida, the node–the TV station–is in an adjacent state (Mobile, Alabama). The state of Florida is an example of formal region.

The United States is broken up by Media Markets that serve a functional region around a major city.

Advertisers and News is reported within this area. It wouldn't make any sense to get advertisements and news for Dubuque Iowa if you lived in Duncanville Texas.

Social media offer numerous examples of functional regions. Although social media can be used to interact equally with someone nearby and someone far away, in reality we interact more with people nearby and less with people far away. Nonetheless, new technology can break down some traditional functional regions. Through the Internet, customers can shop at distant stores, and newspapers composed in one place are delivered to customers elsewhere.

Vernacular Region

A vernacular region, or perceptual region, is an area that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity. Such regions emerge from people’s informal sense of place rather than from scientific models developed through geographic thought.

As an example of a vernacular region, Americans frequently refer to the South as a place with environmental and cultural features perceived to be quite distinct from those of the rest of the United States. Many of these features can be measured. Environmentally, the South is a region where the last winter frost occurs in March and rainfall is more plentiful in winter than in summer. Cultural features include relatively high adherence to the Baptist religion and joining the Confederacy during the Civil War.