MODULE 4.

Concept of region.
Any area that is not considered urban is rural. In general, a rural
area or countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities.
[1]

The Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of

Health and Human Services defines the word "rural" as encompassing "...all
population, housing, and territory not included within an urban area. Whatever is
not urban is considered rural."[2]
Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements.an area,
especially part of a country or the world having definable characteristics but not
always fixed boundaries.
"the equatorial regions"
Formal Regions
Regions defined formally, often by government or other structures, are
called formal regions. Cities, towns, states, and countries are all formal regions, as
are things like mountain ranges. FULL ANSWER
In order to be considered a formal region, an area must have a specific
characteristic common throughout the whole place. Formal regions can be defined
by their environmental themes like mountains, natural vegetation, climate or water.
Political areas can make up formal human regions whose boundaries are determined
by rivers, lakes, landforms or ocean coasts.
Formal regions are different from functional regions because functional regions
often have a focal point, such as a city, that is the center of the region, and the rest
of the region is built around that focal point. Examples of functional regions include
New York City and Los Angeles. Examples of formal regions include Canada, the
Islamic world, rice fields and the Rocky Mountains. Formal regions are typically used
to determine and outline government, cultural and economic areas. Delineation of
Formal regions
Regional delineation is the first step in the preparation of any regional development
plan to ensure tentative operational area of planning. With in the planning region
the frame of all regional studies could be undertaken and development envisaged.
Delineation of formal regions involves the grouping together of local units which
have similar characteristics according to certain clearly defined criteria and which
differ significantly from the units outside the region on the basis of certain chosen
criteria.

The criteria can be unemployment rates, activity rate, migration trends, per
capita income etc.

The characteristics should differ significantly from units outside the region.

Two techniques for delineation of formal regions are detailed below.

The delineation depend on the development objectives.

Variables for delineation of formal region (homogeneous):

Land use characteristics
Demographic characteristics
Transport infrastructure
Social service and public utilities
Socio-economic strurcutes
Methods for Delineation of formal regions

Weighted index number methods

Factor analysis

Functional Regions
Functional regions are made up of a central place and surrounding areas affected
by it. Often, this is a metropolitan area that consists of a major city and lots of
smaller towns or cities that surround it. Functional regions are usually understood to
be the areas organised by the horizontal functional relations (flows, interactions)
that are maximised within a region and minimised across its borders so that the
principles of internal cohesiveness and external separation regarding spatial
interactions are met (see, for instance, Farmer and Fotheringham, 2011; [5] Klapka et
al., 2013;[6] Smart, 1974[7]). A functional region is not an abstract spatial concept,
but to a certain extent it can be regarded as a reflection of the spatial behaviour of
individuals in a geographic space. The functional region is conceived as a general
concept while its inner structure, inner spatial flows, and interactions need not
necessarily show any regular pattern, only selfcontainment.
Functional region: A region that is made up of different places that are linked and
function as a unit.
You are probably familiar with many functional regions. Functional regions are often
organized around a central point. A shopping center surrounded by neighborhoods
is one example of a functional region. Another example is a large city that is

connected to the suburbs by a mass transit system. In some ways, the United
States and its associated territories work as a functional unit. The forty-eight
contiguous states and Alaska, Hawaii, and the US territories (including Puerto Rico,
Guam, and the US Virgin Islands, as well as several others) are scattered over a
wide area and have different characteristics. However, since they have political and
economic ties, they function as a unit in many ways.
Formal region: An area or region with features that make it different from
surrounding areas.
Formal regions can be based on just about any feature. Areas including deserts,
mountains, or coastlines are all good examples of formal regions. Many other
factors can set apart a formal region; for instance, population levels, income levels,
and even climate may define a formal region. Industry is another feature that can
characterize a formal region. Detroit, Michigan, and its surrounding suburbs rely
heavily on the auto industry for employment, while Florida relies on the tourist
industry. In both cases the main industry makes the areas unique and sets them
apart as formal regions.
Perceptual region: A region that is reflective of human feelings and attitudes.
In the US it is common to use phrases like back east, out west, the Midwest,
or back home. Although these phrases are common, the way that you interpret
them may not be the same way that I would interpret them. For instance, if you
happen to live on the East Coast of the US, you probably think of Ohio as being a
part of the Midwest; however, if you live on the West Coast you might consider Ohio
to be back east. Perceptional regions are the way we view the world, and our
viewpoint may be very different from someone
DELIMITATION
Boundary delimitation (or simply delimitation) is the drawing of boundaries, particularly of
electoral precincts, states, counties or other municipalities.[1] In the context of elections, it can be
called redistribution and is used to prevent unbalance of population across districts.[1] Unbalanced or
discriminatory delimitation is called "gerrymandering."[2] Though there are no internationally agreed
processes that guarantee fair delimitation, several organizations, such as the Commonwealth
Secretariat, the European Union and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems have
proposed guidelines for effective delimitation.
In international law, the related national delimitation is the process of legally establishing the outer
limits ("borders") of a state within which full territorial or functional sovereignty is exercised.
[3]

Occasionally this is used when referring to the maritime boundaries as well, in this case

called maritime delimitation