Places and Regions - Map Interpretation

Welcome to the Map Interpretation activity. In this exercise, you will examine maps of regions and indicate whether they are objective or subjective. There are three maps in total.

What are objective and subjective regions?

Geographer Harm J. de Blij defines regions as "scientific devices that allow us to make spatial generalizations based on artificial criteria we establish for the purpose of constructing them." In other words, the criteria we select for defining a particular region will determine that region's boundaries, but those boundaries may be different depending on the criteria we choose. We could say that this constitutes an objective or scientific approach to regions.

Yet regions may also be defined subjectively, that is according to personal ideas, beliefs, and values of individuals. In these terms, a region's boundaries are less important than what it means to people. For example, what does it mean if you say you're from Southern California, or the Midwest? People have their own perceptions of these regions which are not based on "scientific criteria."

Please examine the following three maps and choose the best answer for the questions:

(1) This map (Fig. 1) illustrates regions based on _______ criteria.
(a) objective
(b) subjective


Figure 1. Languages of Europe. From de Blij and Muller (1997) Geography: Realms, Regions, and Concepts. Eighth Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.: New York.

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