Such variety of criteria hampers the complete opening of essence of region in one determination. In fact a region must be examined simultaneously and as an element of territorial organization of national economy, and as an element of the system of settling apart, and as an element of social organization of society is places of all spheres of life-support and vital functions of man.

A region is the integral system with it by a structure, functions, connections with an external environment, history, culture, terms of life of population. Characterize it: high dimension; plenty of associate subsystems of different types with local aims; managements; hierarchicalness of structure; considerable delay of co-ordinating influences at high dynamic quality of elements; incomplete definiteness of the states of elements. In functioning of region a determining role is played by a population, labour collectives. Effective management a region, on principle it is impossible a city without the account of social factor. Dependences between the elements of this difficult system can not be described linear functions, because life of society is usually characterized nonlinear processes. Study of public life in a region possibly only on the basis of, I.e. excretions of subsystems the joint functioning of which determines the dynamics of development of region.

A main factor, providing intercommunication and co-operation of the indicated subsystems, integrating them in the single socio-economic system, is activity of people. Man organic part each of subsystems. He is part of nature, basic component of productive forces of national economy and, finally, part of population, because through connections and relationships with other people forms social-territorial community actually.

So, based on aforesaid, it is possible to take next determination of region for basis.

A region is territory in the administrative scopes of subject of Federation, characterized: by a complexity, integrity, specialization and dirigibility, I.e. by the presence of политико-административных organs of management.

There are quite a bit variants of classification of regions of Russia on the level of socio-economic development. So, the specialists of federal departments of Russia and scientists of WOUNDS select three group of regions with high-quality different descriptions of the state of economy and social sphere: developed regions with the high enough level of production and life of people; regions with middle economic potential; problem regions with the low level of socio-economic development. In a group last the depressed and backward regions are selected.