Regions, and the Cultural Landscape

Introduction
The “sense of place” that humans possess may apply to a larger area of Earth rather than to a specific point. A person may feel attachment as a native or resident of the Baltimore area, or the area of attachment could encompass all of Maryland or the U.S. Mid-Atlantic area. An area of Earth defined by one or more distinctive characteristics is a region.

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 Los Angeles region can be distinguished from the New York region, southern California from northern California, the Southwest from the Midwest. Carl Sauer, a famous American geographer (1889–1975) ,defined cultural landscape as an area fashioned from nature by a cultural group. “Culture is the agent, the natural area the medium, the cultural landscape is the result.” Ultimately, Sauer and other geographers believed that it was the combination of both physical and human characteristics that uniquely defined places and areas.

Types of Regions

The designation of “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.

A particular place can be included in more than one region depending on how the region is defined. Geographers identify three types of regions—formal, functional, and vernacular.

Thinking Geographically: Identifying Regions
A formal region, also called a uniform region or a homogeneous region, is an area within which everyone shares in common one or more distinctive characteristics.

A vernacular region, or perceptual region, is a place that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity

A functional region, also called a nodal region, is an area organized around a node or focal point.

Formal Regions:

Using maps A,B, and C above, create a list of states that voted for the Democratic and Republican candidates in the 2004, 2008, and 2012 Presidential election. If asked to create regions based on which states voted for which candidate, how would you do it?

Vernacular Regions:

Using the map above, look at the varying definitions of "The South". Identify the 6 characteristics people use to define "The South"? How would you describe "The South" in the United States? Explain why you chose this characteristic to define the region.

Functional Regions:

Compare the 4 maps above. What regions of the United States are covered by the different phone companies? What differences do you see in the areas defined in these maps compared to the map examples above?