Why is 領土{りょうど} more suitable than 領域{りょういき} in this JLPT practise question?


In my JLPT practise book, there is this question:

> その国王{こくおう}は戦{たたか}いに負{ま}け____の一部{いちぶ}を失{うしな}ってしまった。

Which I roughly translate as, "The kingdom lost a part of its ___ _ in the
battle."

The possible answers to fill the space are:

> A 領域{りょういき} (territory)
>
> B 領土{りょうど} (territory)
>
> C 占領{せんりょう} (occupation)
>
> D 領収{りょうしゅう} (receipt)

Both A and B are defined as "territory" and a lot of other overlapping words.
So, going by the kanji, I figured `領土{りょうど}` was more to do with the physical
land, and `領域{りょういき}` was more to do with the dominion. So my answer was
**A**.

The book, though, says the correct answer is **B**.

As is usually the case with JLPT questions, both _could_ work, but what makes
`領土{りょうど}` the more appropriate answer in this case?




A non-academic, franc distinction is that "領域" means 'area' without particular
connotation of possession. It is normally used in mathematics like
"閉曲線Cの囲む領域の面積を求めよ" 'give the area surrounded by the closed curve C'. "領土"
specifically means 'territory land of a country' and has clear mentioning of
possession. In this case it is the best answer.




A non-academic, franc distinction is that "領域" means 'area' without particular
connotation of possession. It is normally used in mathematics like
"閉曲線Cの囲む領域の面積を求めよ" 'give the area surrounded by the closed curve C'. "領土"
specifically means 'territory land of a country' and has clear mentioning of
possession. In this case it is the best answer.

