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historical region

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Also known as historic region, historical area, historic area, historical territory, historic territory, former region, former area, former territory

geographic or cultural region which existed in the past, that may or may not exist anymore

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Category:Historical regions
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Historical regions
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Encyclopedic overview

Historical regions (or historical areas) are geographical regions that had a cultural, ethnic, linguistic or political significance as distinct entities at some point in recorded history, regardless of latter-day borders and administrative divisions. There are some historical regions that can be considered as "active", for example: Moravia, which is held by the Czech Republic, is both a recognized contemporary region of the country as well as a historical one. They are used as delimitations for studying and analysing social development of period-specific cultures without any reference to contemporary political, economic or social organisations.

The fundamental principle underlying this view is that older political and mental structures exist which exercise greater influence on the spatial-social identity of individuals than is understood by the contemporary world, bound to and often blinded by its own worldview - e.g. the focus on the nation-state.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “historical region” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.