Looking at Regions

1. Looking at Regions 5 Themes of Geography: Region! “What do places have in common?”

2. “States and territories, borders of a nation!” Political Regions • political refers to government. • area of land where the people are ruled under one government. • Can be called a country or a nation • The world has almost 200 nations.

3. Nations • The world’s largest nation based on land area is Russia. • Russia covers more than 6.5 million square miles.

4. Smallest nation: • Vatican City: located in the middle of Rome, has an area of only one-sixth of one square mile.

5. Borders • Each nation usually has clearly defined borders. • A border, as seen on a map, is a line that divides one nation from another. • Can be invisible line • Can be physical feature (like a river, etc.)

6. Why could borders change? • Empires • Rise and fall • Colony • Area of land ruled by a government in another land • War

7. Subregions • When a region is broken into smaller parts. • Example: • Mexico is broken into 33 smaller political regions called states. • The United States is broken into 50 smaller political regions called states.

8. Subregions • States can be broken down further into: • Cities • Townships • Counties (or parishes in Louisiana) • Neighborhoods • School districts

9. Review: • What makes a region a political region?

10. Commercial Break

11. Cultural Regions • Divide the world into regions based on culture traits. • These kinds of regions are called cultural regions. • Like political regions, cultural regions can be shown on maps. • Like political regions, borders to cultural regions can change. Why?

12. Cultural Region: Language

13. Cultural Region: Religion

14. Review: • What makes a region a cultural region?

15. Summarize: • The world can be studied according to what types of regions? • In a ______________________ people live under the same government. • In a ______________________ people share a culture trait (such as language or religion).