Province vs. Region — What's the Difference?

Historically, a province was a territory outside the capital, conquered by and part of a Roman empire.

Region is sometimes used to categorize areas with similar economic activities.

A province can refer to a distinct geographic area within a country.

In geography, regions are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and the environment (environmental geography). Geographic regions and sub-regions are mostly described by their imprecisely defined, and sometimes transitory boundaries, except in human geography, where jurisdiction areas such as national borders are defined in law.

A province is an area within a country that is managed by its own government.

A large, usually continuous segment of a surface or space

Informally, a province can mean a region outside the main or metropolitan areas.

A portion of the earth's surface distinguished from others by some characteristic

A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman provincia, which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy.

A bioregion.

A principal administrative division of a country or empire

A political district or unit, often with its adjacent lands

The whole of a country outside the capital, especially when regarded as lacking in sophistication or culture

An area of the body having natural or arbitrarily assigned boundaries

An area of special knowledge, interest, or responsibility

An area of interest or activity; a sphere

A territory governed as an administrative or political unit of a country or empire.

An approximate degree or amount

(Ecclesiastical) A division of territory under the jurisdiction of a metropolitan.

Any considerable and connected part of a space or surface; specifically, a tract of land or sea of considerable but indefinite extent; a country; a district; in a broad sense, a place without special reference to location or extent but viewed as an entity for geographical, social or cultural reasons.

Provinces Areas of a country situated away from the capital or population center.

An administrative subdivision of a city, a territory, a country.

An area of knowledge, activity, or interest

(historical) Such a division of the city of Rome and of the territory about Rome, of which the number varied at different times; a district, quarter, or ward.

The range of one's proper duties and functions; scope.

An administrative subdivision of the European Union.

(Ecology) An area of land, less extensive than a region, having a characteristic plant and animal population.

A subnational region of Chile; equivalent to province.

Any of various lands outside Italy conquered by the Romans and administered by them as self-contained units.

(Ontario) regional municipality

A region of the earth or of a continent; a district or country.

Ellipsis of administrative region

An administrative subdivision of certain countries, including Canada and China.

(figuratively) The inhabitants of a region or district of a country.

(Roman history) An area outside Italy which is administered by a Roman governor.

(anatomy) A place in or a part of the body in any way indicated.

(Christianity) An area under the jurisdiction of an archbishop, typically comprising a number of adjacent dioceses.

(obsolete) Place; rank; station; dignity.

(Roman Catholicism) An area under the jurisdiction of a provincial within a monastic order.

(obsolete) The space from the earth's surface out to the orbit of the moon: properly called the elemental region.

The parts of a country outside its capital city.

One of the grand districts or quarters into which any space or surface, as of the earth or the heavens, is conceived of as divided; hence, in general, a portion of space or territory of indefinite extent; country; province; district; tract.

An area of activity, responsibility or knowledge; the proper concern of a particular person or concept.

Tract, part, or space, lying about and including anything; neighborhood; vicinity; sphere.

A country or region, more or less remote from the city of Rome, brought under the Roman government; a conquered country beyond the limits of Italy.

The upper air; the sky; the heavens.

A country or region dependent on a distant authority; a portion of an empire or state, esp. one remote from the capital.

The inhabitants of a district.

A region of country; a tract; a district.

Place; rank; station.

A region under the supervision or direction of any special person; the district or division of a country, especially an ecclesiastical division, over which one has jurisdiction; as, the province of Canterbury, or that in which the archbishop of Canterbury exercises ecclesiastical authority.

The extended spatial location of something;

The proper or appropriate business or duty of a person or body; office; charge; jurisdiction; sphere.

A part of an animal that has a special function or is supplied by a given artery or nerve;

Specif.: Any political division of the Dominion of Canada, having a governor, a local legislature, and representation in the Dominion parliament. Hence, colloquially, The Provinces, the Dominion of Canada.

A large indefinite location on the surface of the Earth;

The territory occupied by one of the constituent administrative districts of a nation;

The approximate amount of something (usually used prepositionally as in `in the region of');

The proper sphere or extent of your activities;

A knowledge domain that you are interested in or are communicating about;

A province can also signify a specific cultural or demographic area within a nation.

A region is a significant area of land that can be identified by certain characteristics.

In some contexts, a region is an official administrative area within a country.

A region can denote an area with cultural, economic, or historic commonality.

It can refer to an area defined by its climatic conditions.

A province is an administrative division within a country, like a state in the U.S.

A region is a broad term that refers to any significant area distinguished by specific characteristics.

Some do, some don’t; it varies based on whether it's an administrative region.

Yes, regions can be significant for cultural identity and heritage.

Sometimes regions are administrative units, but not always.

No, the size of provinces and regions can vary greatly and is not a distinguishing factor.

Many provinces do have their own capital cities.

Yes, provinces are specific to individual countries.

Becoming a province typically involves legal and political processes within a country.

Yes, provinces often have their own laws within the framework of the national constitution.

Yes, a province can be considered a region but with additional administrative functions.

Yes, some regions, like geographical or cultural regions, can span multiple countries.

There are geographical, administrative, cultural, and economic regions, among others.

Yes, provinces usually play a role in the national governance structure.

Regions can be used to provide targeted weather forecasts for specific areas.