Put simply, a functional region is a defined geographical area centered around a specific focal point with a specific function. A functional region is distinguished by a centralized hub with surrounding areas and structures that relate to a common activity.
What region is best described as functional?
The 5 Themes of Geography
- Location. Most geographic studies begin by learning the location of places. ...
- Place. Place describes the human and physical characteristics of a location. ...
- Human-Environment Interaction. This theme considers how humans adapt to and modify the environment. ...
- Movement. Humans move—a lot! ...
- Regions. Regions divide the world into manageable units for geographic study. ...
What is a good example of a functional region?
What is the most famous tree?
- Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi, Sri Lanka.
- General Sherman, USA.
- Burke & Wills Dig Tree, Australia.
- Major Oak, England.
- Methuselah, USA.
- Boab Prison Tree, Australia.
- El Arbol Del Tule, Mexico.
What are three examples of functional regions?
Region Types and Examples
- Formal Region. While many regions can be characterized by attributes they have in common the formal region definition refers to a specific type of region that is characterized by a ...
- Functional Region. The functional region definition states that it is a type of region that is defined by a specific social or economical attribute.
- Vernacular Region. ...
What does a functional region focus on?
The name “functional region” provides an excellent clue to its definition. It is a region that is based around a specific activity, a region which has a primary function. Within a functional region, there is usually a central hub or point of distribution for whatever function or activity the region is concerned with.
What is a functional region simple definition?
Functional Region (aka Nodal Region) Definition: An area organized around a central focal point or node. The characteristic chosen to define a functional region dominates at the node (aka core) and diminishes as one moves away from the node (aka the periphery).
What is called functional region?
A functional region is made up of a specific location and area surrounding it. Areas containing a kind of service, such as cable television, or points on a map that are a terminal for an activity, such as travel or communication via telephone can also be named as functional regions.
What is a functional region kid definition?
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. Atlanta is a good example.
What's an example of a functional region?
A functional region is distinguished by a centralized hub with surrounding areas and structures that relate to a common activity. For example a trade route transportation hub or a shopping center would all be considered functional regions.
What is a functional region in human geography?
A functional region is also called a nodal region because it is defined by a social or economic function that occurs between a node or focal point and the surrounding areas. For example the circulation area of the New York Times is a functional region and New York is the node.
Where are functional regions?
A functional region in geography is an area centered on a node, focal point, or central hub surrounded by interconnecting linkages. The primary node in a functional region features surrounding areas with common social, political, or economic purposes that relate to trade, communications, or transportation.
What is a functional region quizlet?
A functional region, also called a nodal region, is an area organized around a nod or focal point. Formal region. 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.
How is a school a functional region?
A school district is a functional region which has a higher concentration of schools. These schools form the nodal point which draws students from different parts of a city, thus interlinking these areas.
Is a city a functional region?
A functional region is a region that serves a function. Places within in an area are linked together through a common factor. For example, a city and its surrounding suburbs creates a functional region.
What is a functional region in Florida?
The functional region in Florida are Orange Blossom Cannonball and Orlando Sentinel. The vernacular regions of Florida are the Palm Beach counties ( Miami metropolitan area) and The Glades (interior region)
What are the 3 types of regions in geography?
There are three types of regions: formal, functional, and vernacular.
What is functional region?
A functional region is an area organized around a central hub or focal point. The surrounding places depend on the central hub by political, social, and economic ties, like trade routes, radio and television networks, internet connectivity, and transportation. To be classified as a functional region, the entire area must have one common characteristic activity. The maximum occurrence of this activity is in the focal point, and it steadily diminishes as one goes away from this point. A functional region is characterized by a continuous flow to and from the central hub, and the areas surrounding it. Thus, the entire region behaves as a unit where one particular activity is concerned.
What is the focal point of a functional region?
A television station serves as the focal point of a functional region, which is the area that receives signals from it. Obviously, places nearest to the station receive the strongest signal, which decreases in strength as the distance from the station increases.
How is the central hub interlinked to the other areas in the functional region?
Thus, the central hub is interlinked to the other areas in the functional region by transport, communication, and trade routes. As the distance from the hub increases, tourists can decide if they want to visit the port or go somewhere else.
What is metropolitan area?
Thus, metropolitan areas are functional regions in which surrounding areas are connected to an urban center by commerce and employment pathways. In several countries, including the US, metropolitan areas encompass territories of multiple cities, suburbs, districts, or even states, and play an important economic and political role.
What are the three types of regions?
There are three types of regions: formal, functional, and vernacular or perceptual.
What is a school district?
School District. A school district is a functional region which has a higher concentration of schools. These schools form the nodal point which draws students from different parts of a city, thus interlinking these areas.
What is functional region?
A functional region is a territorial unit resulting from the organisation of social and economic relations in that its boundaries do not reflect geographical particularities or historical events. It is thus a functional sub-division of territories. The most typical concept used in defining a functional region is that of labour markets
Why are nodal regions called nodal regions?
They are also called nodal regions because they usually revolve around a focal center ,such as the downtown core of an urban region or the local service area surrounding a library or post office or shopping mall (Dunford, 2009).
What is functional region?
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. Atlanta is a good example. The Atlanta metro area includes over 140 cities and towns.
Why are functional regions important?
Functional regions are important because formal regions don't always tell the whole story. After all, when you move from Atlanta into Marietta or Jonesboro or another suburb, your life is still much the same as it would be if you were in the actual city of Atlanta.
What is geography in science?
If you ask a bunch of different people, you're likely to get many different responses! Lesson Summary. Geography is the study of the earth and the people in it. Often, the earth is divided into regions, or areas that are distinguished from other places.
Is Atlanta a formal region?
Cities, towns, states, and countries are all formal regions, as are things like mountain ranges. Formal regions often nest inside one another, so that when you are standing in the middle of Atlanta, you are in the city of Atlanta, which is part of Fulton County, which rests inside the state of Georgia, which is in the country of the United States, ...
What is functional region?
The functional region definition states that it is a type of region that is defined by a specific social or economical attribute. The attribute is generally positioned in the center of the region and serves as a type of focal point. Functional regions can also be known as nodal regions because the attribute that defines the region are usually centered in a node point. Imagine you want to order a pizza, but when you input your address into the delivery system, it says that the restaurant doesn't deliver to your address. The reason you can't fulfill your pizza craving is because you are not in the functional region of the restaurant's delivery. The restaurant is the node where the pizza is made and where they delivers stems from that node.
What is a formal region?
While many regions can be characterized by attributes they have in common the formal region definition refers to a specific type of region that is characterized by a very uniform attribute that is found across the entire region. The attribute could be anything from climate to political as long as the attribute is common and distributed throughout the region. Let's say that you travel to the state of Maine to go hunting. Maine is a formal region of the United States and has a common state government. If you discover that there is a state law in Maine prohibiting hunting during the time you are visiting, it will apply to the entire region. Another example of a formal region would be the continent of Antarctica. Antarctica is a formal region with regards to climate because the entire continent has the same climate across the region. There are not any parts of Antarctica that are significantly different from each other. It is also formal in the sense that it does not have any government or permanent human inhabitants.
What are the two key concepts of defining a region?
In brief, the two major keys to defining a region for economic analysis are (1) choosing an appropriate scale, and (2) capturing a functional economic area. These two interrelated concepts will be discussed in more detail below.
What is the difference between a small scale region and a large scale region?
“Scale” in this context refers to the size of the egionr chosen. A small-scale region might consist of only one ZIP code, while a large-scale region might include multiple counties in one or more states.
What is county boundary?
In the U.S., county boundaries are mostly artifacts of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century politics, not contemporary economics. As such, they very often do not capture a single FEA. For example, a county may have a primary central place, but a community on the county border has much closer trade links with
Can a FEA be divided?
Just as a political area may be split into several FEAs, an FEA may be divided by one or more political boundaries. Ideally the economist would model only FEAs and completely ignore other boundaries, but politics and economics are so intertwined that this is not always feasible. So while it is usually safe to ignore most county boundaries, state or province boundaries are much more significant and should be taken into account.
Defining A Functional Region
Examples of Functional Regions
- Metropolitan Areas The biggest examples of functional regions are metropolitan areas, and you can think of the city that the metropolitan area is based around as of the central hub or focal point of the region. The major city within a metropolitan area is where most commerce and activity takes place, being the most densely populated portion of the functional region. The city or centr…
Other Types of Geographical Regions
- Outside of functional regions, other types of geographical regions include formal regions and perceptual or vernacular regions. Formal regions are the regions that have boundaries recognized by different cities, states, and countries. Meanwhile, perceptual regions are regions that are based around cultural factors and attributes. Formal Regions A formal region is defined by officially rec…
Newspaper Circulation
- Where the circulation of a local newspaper is concerned, a city and its suburbs can be considered as one functional region. The city itself serves as a central hub where the newspaper’s editorial and publishing offices are located, and it is connected by various routes to the suburbs. These routes include a flow of information from the suburbs to the newspaper office, and the circulatio…
Departmental Store
- A departmental store draws customers from a particular trade area, which can be called its functional region. In this case, the focal point is represented by the places nearest to the store. Obviously, this is the area which will have the most number of customers, as people tend to shop from nearby stores. As the distance from the store increases, ...
Metropolitan Area
- A metropolitan area is a good example of a functional region, where the central hub is the innermost part which is densely populated and has a high number of industries offering employment. This hub is connected to its surrounding regions by communication pathways, trade, and transport routes, as people undertake daily commutes to reach their place of employment i…
School District
- A school district is a functional region which has a higher concentration of schools. These schools form the nodal point which draws students from different parts of a city, thus interlinking these areas. Since the students have to commute to school daily, the central hub is connected to the surrounding areas by transportation routes. The higher number of schools will draw more re…
Harbors
- Harbors can serve as the focal point of a larger functional region along the coast. Since such areas receive a large number of tourists, it leads to a growth of jobs, infrastructure, local trades like fishing and handicrafts, etc. People drawn to the ports can be either tourists or those who seek employment in the tourism industry. Thus, the central hub is interlinked to the other areas i…
Television Station
- A television station serves as the focal point of a functional region, which is the area that receives signals from it. Obviously, places nearest to the station receive the strongest signal, which decreases in strength as the distance from the station increases. Places which lie outside the coverage area of the station have to receive signals from another station, which forms another f…
Branch Banks
- A branch bank is a way to ensure that banking services can be made available to people in their own region or locality, away from the home branch of the bank. In this branching system, the bank establishes a number of branches, each of which caters to specific parts of a larger target area. So, in this case, the area covered by a particular branch can be classified as a functional region, …