Geographical factor in regional development

Regional development of Russian regions is characterized by a high level of heterogeneity. Researchers highlight a significant number of factors affecting the level of regional development. Geographical factor is recognized as one of the most important factors. The development of border regions is similar to that of Russian regions. The purpose of the research is to determine the differentiation of border regions and to study the dynamics of its change. The object of the research is border regions united in the system. The process of unification of regions is based on geographical location. The subject of the study is the process of regional differentiation. Methods of assessing the convergence of economic entities are the instrument of researching regional differentiation of border regions. The convergence theorem analyzes the interregional differentiation of border regions and considers the possibility of their convergence. As a result of using convergence approaches based on the definition of convergent processes, the coefficient of variation is calculated. On the basis of the calculated values of the coefficient and its change, the possibility of convergence of border regions is assessed and the process of change of interregional differentiation is analyzed. Another direction, on the basis of which the analysis of regional heterogeneity of border regions is based, is the determination of the differentiation coefficient, which allows to determine the level of the gap between polar groups of regions. The goal set in the study will allow assessing the impact of geographical location on economic development and formulating directions of economic policy. Spatial heterogeneityof border regions defined bymeans of mathematical tools can be used when writing the Program and the Strategy for Regional Development, within which one of the competitive advantages will be the location of the territory.