A region is an an area on Earth's surface marked by a degree of formal, functional, or perceptual homogeneity of some phenomenon. The three main types of regions are formal, functional, and vernacular regions. A formal region, also known as a uniform or homogeneous region, is an area in which everyone shares in common one or more distinctive characteristics. This common characteristic could be a cultural value such as language, an economic activity such as production of a certain crop, or an environmental property such as climate and weather patterns. Whatever the common characteristic is, it sis present throughout the selected region. In certain formal regions, the characteristic may be predominant rather than universal, such as the wheat belt in North America, it is an area in which the predominant crop is wheat, but other crops are grown here as well. A functional region, also known as a nodal region, is a region 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, communication systems or by economic or functional associations. An example of a functional region is the circulation area of a newspaper. That area is centered around the city in which the newspaper is published in. The farther away from the city of circulation, the less people that read the newspaper(this phenomenon is known as distance decay). A vernacular region, also known as perceptual region, is a place that people exists as part of their cultural identity. Perceptual regions vary from person to person. They emerge from a person' s informal sense of place. An example of a vernacular region would be the South. My idea of the southern states may be different than my friend's idea of southern states.
A toponym is the name given to a place on Earth. It may be named after a person, physical features, landscape, religious figures, language origins, or other famous cities, etc. Toponyms can change and are used to distinguish one paericular location from another. Lincoln, Nebraska was named after President Abraham Lincoln who is a famous person. Corpus Christi, Texas is Latin for the body of Christ which has religious origins. Athens, Georgia was named after the ancient city of Athens in Greece. As you can see, toponyms are very common in the United States alone.
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