> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.akua.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Regions
> Understand how regions organize clusters for customer selection
Regions are organizational labels you create to group your clusters and present them to customers during product purchases. Unlike traditional cloud regions tied to specific data centers, Akua regions are flexible labels you define to match your business needs: geographical locations, install environments, or any other organizational structure.
When customers purchase your products, they see and select from your defined regions rather than individual clusters. This abstraction lets you manage multiple clusters behind a single region name, scale infrastructure without changing customer-facing options, and organize installs in ways that make sense for your business.
## How regions work
Regions act as a layer between your infrastructure and your customers. Each region can contain one or more clusters, allowing you to:
* **Group related clusters**: organize clusters by geography, environment, or purpose under a single region name
* **Simplify customer choices**: customers select "US East" or "Europe" rather than specific cluster names
* **Scale transparently**: add or remove clusters within a region without changing what customers see
* **Flexible organization**: name regions however makes sense for your business (geographic, functional, or custom labels)
## Creating and managing regions
Create regions with the public `akua regions create` command or while adding a cluster in the Akua dashboard. Before using the CLI, run `akua regions list`; select an existing region or create one, then pass its ID as `body.region_id` to `akua clusters create`. Choose descriptive names that help customers understand their options, such as "Frankfurt, Germany", "US East", or "Production". A name describes how you organize and present clusters; it does not provision infrastructure or pin a cluster to a cloud-provider location.
Each managed cluster must reference a region, and Akua routes installations to clusters within the selected region. Beyond that relationship, regions do not prescribe cloud-provider placement. You can rename them, reassign clusters between regions, or create new regions as your infrastructure grows.
## How cluster selection works for products
Whether customers purchase through the marketplace or you deploy manually from your dashboard, Akua uses the same cluster selection process. If your region contains multiple clusters, Akua automatically selects one cluster from that region for each install. This automatic selection distributes installs across your clusters, helping balance load and utilize your infrastructure efficiently.
This applies to both:
* **Customer self-service purchases**: when customers select a region during checkout, Akua automatically routes their installation to one cluster in that region
* **Manual installs**: when you deploy products yourself from the dashboard, Akua uses the same selection process based on the region
This means you can add multiple clusters to a single region to increase capacity, and Akua will automatically route installs across them. You don't need to manually assign installs to specific clusters; the platform handles distribution for you.
## Related topics
Set up clusters and assign them to regions.
Understand how clusters work in Akua.
Create products that use regions for customer selection.
See how regions appear to customers during purchases.