Abstract

At a theoretical level, regional identity has been described as the result of three components or factors: historical, cultural, and environmental (Lison, 1997). The present research was interested in learning about the role of the natural environment in the regional identity of a group of 120 inhabitants of Southern Patagonia known as "Magellan", in what we call "Regional Ecological Identity" (REI). A non-experimental, cross-sectional correlational study was carried out using two instruments: one measuring ecological regional identity, and the other regionalism. The results indicate that the ecological environment is valued as a central component of the Magellan Identity surpassing the historic and cultural. Identification with the natural environment is positively associated with regionalism and with age. These results are discussed in relation to the characteristics of the sample evaluated as well as the potential generalization of these findings to other similar regional categories.