metropolises. Not all national regions are equally endowed with elements in this vector of
characteristics. The disparate attributes of the regions reflect the evolution of economic activity due
to geography, location, historical economic development, and entrepreneurial behaviour.
National regions can be ranked on the basis of the quantitative values of their demographic
and economic variables, thereby providing a portrait of the range of economic (manufacturing) activity
as it is dispersed (or concentrated) over the national regions.
Regional economists have traditionally distinguished between two classes of regions,
administrative and programming (Paelinck and Nijkamp, 1975). The demographic characteristics in
an administrative region allows it to be classified into one of four categories - polarised, contiguous,
periphery, and natural. A programming region is a combination of one or more administrative regions.
2.1 Administrative Region
A country is politically defined by a border, as are its provinces, regions, and counties. An
administrative region is an area defined by an administrative boundary. Political boundaries are
national borders, while administrative boundaries are regional borders separating regions within a
nation. An administrative region defines an individually circumscribed geographic area with a
demographic and economic structure. However, an administrative region’s economic structure may
not always be confined within its administrative boundaries. Intersectoral linkages may create input-
output relationships causing an economic structure to extend beyond a single administrative boundary
into an adjoining administrative region, thus creating interregional economic linkages.
Administrative regions are significant since they serve as a starting point for government
intervention and planning. Economic policy aimed at a specific administrative region may have no
effect on that region if the intersectoral and interregional linkages are not clearly identified (Paelinck
and Nijkamp, 1975). In the EU, regional policy measures through the European Reconstruction and
Development Fund (ERDF) aim at the administrative region and its counties.
2.2
Programming Region