We explain what a political region is, its characteristics and detailed examples. Also, other types of regions.
What is a political region?
The political regions or political-administrative regions, are the zones into which humanity divides the earth's surface according to the sovereign powers and governments in them. They are the administrative divisions of the territories of the States, but also the administratively or politically similar areas that cover different countries.
Political regions are a specific type of geographic region, which distinguishes between regions based on the political element, that is, based on the administration of power. In these regions there are also competing forces, cultural trends and actors of diverse nature, but these elements, as well as those of a natural, economic, etc. nature, have not been taken into consideration.
See also: Political geography
Examples of political regions
Some examples of political regions are:
- The Mexican Federated State. It is divided into 32 federative entities, each of which represents a specific political region, endowed with its own public powers: Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Mexico City, Coahuila, Colima, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico, Michoacán de Ocampo, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo León, Oaxaca, Puebla, Querétaro, Puebla, Querétaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, Yucatan and Zacatecas.
- China and its special administrative regions They constitute the same country, but with relatively independent political regimes: Hong Kong, Macau, Woolong, etc.
- The State of the Argentine Republic. It is organized into six administrative regions that each cover several provinces: Northwest (Catamarca, Tucumán, Salta, Jujuy), Northeast (Santiago del Estero, Chaco, Formosa, Corrientes, Misiones), Center (Mendoza, San Luis, San Juan, La Rioja, Córdoba), Central East (Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires), Northern Patagonia (La Pampa, Neuquén, Río Negro, Chubut) and Southern Patagonia (Santa Cruz, Tierra del Fuego, Malvinas Islands).
Other types of regions
Apart from the political, geographical regions can be organized according to various criteria, depending on the specific element we decide to focus on. We have, like this:
- Natural regions. When we choose to look at the natural conformation of the land: relief, hydrography, vegetation, climate, etc.
- Economic regions. If we look at the way in which human societies organize their productive and financial tasks.
- Cultural regions. If we look exclusively at the similarity of local cultures (generally using religion or spoken language) and the territories occupied by their practitioners.
- Urban regions. Those that generally comprise a large urban population (a large city) and those others of lesser preponderance that accompany it or depend on it.
Continue with: Region
References
- “Political region” on Wikipedia.
- “The political-administrative region” in Eumed.
- “Region” in Natural Geographic.
- “Region” in The Encyclopaedia Britannica.
