Why is Every Place Unique? Why is it, huh? Do you even know???
Place: A Unique Location People possess a very strong sense of place. They typically have strong feelings for hometowns, vacation spots, or schools (like AHS). In order for geographers to draw a distinction from place to place, they need to identify its location. To do this they can use three concepts: Place name, site, and situation.
Place Names It’s pretty simple, sometimes the best way to identify a location is by referring to its name. Places can be named for people (Cleburne), religion (St. Louis), history (Athens), among other things. A Toponym is the name given to a place on Earth. (Like, Alvarado) Tetaumatawhakatangihangakoauaotamateaurehaeaturipukapihimaunga horonukupokaiwhenuaakitanarahu, in New Zeland, has the longest place name in the world. It means, “The summit where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, the climber of mountains, the land-swallower who travelled about, played his nose flute to his loved one.”
Site Site is the physical character of a place. Things like, elevation, water sources, vegetation, wildlife, etc. Site has always been an important consideration for humans when establishing a settlement, and can actually be altered by humans.
Situation This is the location of a place relative to another place. Consider Istanbul Do you ever use situation to describe a place?
Region: A Unique Area A region is an area of Earth with a unique combination of features Regions are unique not because of one particular characteristic, but because of the combination of characteristics. A region gains its character from a combination of cultural features, like language, economic features, like industry, and physical features, like climate. This character is known as its cultural landscape. Literally any space bigger than a place and smaller than Earth can be a region.
Formal Region This is also known as a Uniform or Homogeneous region. This is a region where people share one or more distinct characteristics, like language, political alliance, religion, or cash crop. Be careful not to ignore minority groups!
Functional Region This is also called a nodal region. The characteristic chosen to define a functional region is the focal point and the region diminishes as you move from that focal point or “node.” Think newspaper or shopping center Geographers use this region to help define an economic sphere of influence.
Vernacular Region This is also called a perceptual region. This is an area people believe exists because of their cultural identity. Consider the American South. Cultural features include a higher HS dropout rate, high numbers of Baptists, preference for Republicans, and historically joining the Confederate States of America in the 1860’s.