diff --git a/lib/puppet/type/cloudwatch_alarm.rb b/lib/puppet/type/cloudwatch_alarm.rb
index 9c00fafa..c236ebc1 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/type/cloudwatch_alarm.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/type/cloudwatch_alarm.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region'
+require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region.rb'
 
 Puppet::Type.newtype(:cloudwatch_alarm) do
   @doc = 'Type representing an AWS CloudWatch Alarm.'
diff --git a/lib/puppet/type/ec2_autoscalinggroup.rb b/lib/puppet/type/ec2_autoscalinggroup.rb
index 2b343886..8856a756 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/type/ec2_autoscalinggroup.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/type/ec2_autoscalinggroup.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/tag.rb'
-require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region'
+require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region.rb'
 require 'puppet/property/boolean'
 
 Puppet::Type.newtype(:ec2_autoscalinggroup) do
diff --git a/lib/puppet/type/ec2_elastic_ip.rb b/lib/puppet/type/ec2_elastic_ip.rb
index 29aed019..d45a5d53 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/type/ec2_elastic_ip.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/type/ec2_elastic_ip.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region'
+require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region.rb'
 
 Puppet::Type.newtype(:ec2_elastic_ip) do
   @doc = "Type representing an Elastic IP and it's association."
diff --git a/lib/puppet/type/ec2_instance.rb b/lib/puppet/type/ec2_instance.rb
index 96125b78..95008287 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/type/ec2_instance.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/type/ec2_instance.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/tag.rb'
+require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region.rb'
 
 Puppet::Type.newtype(:ec2_instance) do
   @doc = 'Type representing an EC2 instance.'
@@ -93,12 +94,8 @@ def insync?(is)
     end
   end
 
-  newproperty(:region) do
+  newproperty(:region, :parent => PuppetX::Property::AwsRegion) do
     desc 'The region in which to launch the instance.'
-    validate do |value|
-      fail 'region should not contain spaces' if value =~ /\s/
-      fail 'region should be a String' unless value.is_a?(String)
-    end
   end
 
   newproperty(:image_id) do
diff --git a/lib/puppet/type/ec2_launchconfiguration.rb b/lib/puppet/type/ec2_launchconfiguration.rb
index 839a0f6b..a490d10f 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/type/ec2_launchconfiguration.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/type/ec2_launchconfiguration.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region'
+require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region.rb'
 
 Puppet::Type.newtype(:ec2_launchconfiguration) do
   @doc = 'Type representing an EC2 launch configuration.'
diff --git a/lib/puppet/type/ec2_scalingpolicy.rb b/lib/puppet/type/ec2_scalingpolicy.rb
index 922c22ca..32511be3 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/type/ec2_scalingpolicy.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/type/ec2_scalingpolicy.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region'
+require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region.rb'
 
 Puppet::Type.newtype(:ec2_scalingpolicy) do
   @doc = 'Type representing an EC2 scaling policy.'
diff --git a/lib/puppet/type/ec2_securitygroup.rb b/lib/puppet/type/ec2_securitygroup.rb
index 5587c462..1ef502fd 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/type/ec2_securitygroup.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/type/ec2_securitygroup.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/tag'
-require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region'
+require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/tag.rb'
+require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region.rb'
 require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/aws_ingress_rules_parser'
 
 Puppet::Type.newtype(:ec2_securitygroup) do
diff --git a/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc.rb b/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc.rb
index f8c1f14a..7221969f 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/tag'
-require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region'
+require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/tag.rb'
+require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region.rb'
 
 Puppet::Type.newtype(:ec2_vpc) do
   @doc = 'A type representing an AWS VPC.'
diff --git a/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc_customer_gateway.rb b/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc_customer_gateway.rb
index 42aeaf8a..f9721056 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc_customer_gateway.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc_customer_gateway.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/tag'
-require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region'
+require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/tag.rb'
+require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region.rb'
 
 Puppet::Type.newtype(:ec2_vpc_customer_gateway) do
   @doc = 'Type representing an AWS VPC customer gateways.'
diff --git a/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc_dhcp_options.rb b/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc_dhcp_options.rb
index f4ace4fe..f504ad7f 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc_dhcp_options.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc_dhcp_options.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/tag'
-require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region'
+require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/tag.rb'
+require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region.rb'
 
 Puppet::Type.newtype(:ec2_vpc_dhcp_options) do
   @doc = 'Type representing a DHCP option set for AWS VPC.'
diff --git a/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc_internet_gateway.rb b/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc_internet_gateway.rb
index 423d31a4..7ef6fb67 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc_internet_gateway.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc_internet_gateway.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/tag'
-require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region'
+require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/tag.rb'
+require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region.rb'
 
 Puppet::Type.newtype(:ec2_vpc_internet_gateway) do
   @doc = 'Type representing an EC2 VPC Internet Gateway.'
diff --git a/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc_routetable.rb b/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc_routetable.rb
index c576613c..4fdeb4f0 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc_routetable.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc_routetable.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/tag'
-require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region'
+require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/tag.rb'
+require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region.rb'
 
 Puppet::Type.newtype(:ec2_vpc_routetable) do
   @doc = 'Type representing a VPC route table.'
diff --git a/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc_subnet.rb b/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc_subnet.rb
index f2d1acf8..86c8f73f 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc_subnet.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc_subnet.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/tag'
-require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region'
+require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/tag.rb'
+require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region.rb'
 
 Puppet::Type.newtype(:ec2_vpc_subnet) do
   @doc = 'Type representing a VPC Subnet.'
diff --git a/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc_vpn.rb b/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc_vpn.rb
index 10806a81..c4822a24 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc_vpn.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc_vpn.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/tag'
-require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region'
+require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/tag.rb'
+require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region.rb'
 
 Puppet::Type.newtype(:ec2_vpc_vpn) do
   @doc = 'Type representing an AWS Virtual Private Networks.'
diff --git a/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc_vpn_gateway.rb b/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc_vpn_gateway.rb
index 22e56eaf..d9ef918a 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc_vpn_gateway.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/type/ec2_vpc_vpn_gateway.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/tag'
-require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region'
+require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/tag.rb'
+require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region.rb'
 
 Puppet::Type.newtype(:ec2_vpc_vpn_gateway) do
   @doc = 'A type representing a VPN gateway.'
diff --git a/lib/puppet/type/elb_loadbalancer.rb b/lib/puppet/type/elb_loadbalancer.rb
index 000a1822..970aa249 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/type/elb_loadbalancer.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/type/elb_loadbalancer.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/tag'
-require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region'
+require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/tag.rb'
+require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region.rb'
 
 Puppet::Type.newtype(:elb_loadbalancer) do
   @doc = 'Type representing an ELB load balancer.'
diff --git a/lib/puppet/type/rds_db_parameter_group.rb b/lib/puppet/type/rds_db_parameter_group.rb
index dd013a5c..a286c099 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/type/rds_db_parameter_group.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/type/rds_db_parameter_group.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region.rb'
+
 Puppet::Type.newtype(:rds_db_parameter_group) do
   @doc = 'Type representing an RDS DB Parameter group.'
 
@@ -22,12 +24,8 @@
     end
   end
 
-  newproperty(:region) do
+  newproperty(:region, :parent => PuppetX::Property::AwsRegion) do
     desc 'The region in which to create the db_parameter_group.'
-    validate do |value|
-      fail 'region should be a String' unless value.is_a?(String)
-      fail 'region should not contain spaces' if value =~ /\s/
-    end
   end
 
 end
diff --git a/lib/puppet/type/rds_db_securitygroup.rb b/lib/puppet/type/rds_db_securitygroup.rb
index 42bc4831..703c202a 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/type/rds_db_securitygroup.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/type/rds_db_securitygroup.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region.rb'
+
 Puppet::Type.newtype(:rds_db_securitygroup) do
   @doc = 'Type representing an RDS instance.'
 
@@ -32,12 +34,8 @@
     end
   end
 
-  newproperty(:region) do
+  newproperty(:region, :parent => PuppetX::Property::AwsRegion) do
     desc 'The region in which to create the db_securitygroup.'
-    validate do |value|
-      fail 'region should be a String' unless value.is_a?(String)
-      fail 'region should not contain spaces' if value =~ /\s/
-    end
   end
 
   newproperty(:ip_ranges, :array_matching => :all) do
diff --git a/lib/puppet/type/rds_instance.rb b/lib/puppet/type/rds_instance.rb
index 6e8ea4b1..6c65e196 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/type/rds_instance.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/type/rds_instance.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region.rb'
+
 Puppet::Type.newtype(:rds_instance) do
   @doc = 'Type representing an RDS instance.'
 
@@ -49,12 +51,8 @@
 Not applicable. Must be null.'
   end
 
-  newproperty(:region) do
+  newproperty(:region, :parent => PuppetX::Property::AwsRegion) do
     desc 'The region in which to launch the instance.'
-    validate do |value|
-      fail 'region should be a String' unless value.is_a?(String)
-      fail 'region should not contain spaces' if value =~ /\s/
-    end
   end
 
   newproperty(:db_instance_class) do
diff --git a/lib/puppet/type/sqs_queue.rb b/lib/puppet/type/sqs_queue.rb
index dc72d9b3..2f4fa054 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/type/sqs_queue.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/type/sqs_queue.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+require_relative '../../puppet_x/puppetlabs/property/region.rb'
+
 Puppet::Type.newtype(:sqs_queue) do
   @doc = "Type representing a SQS Queue"
   ensurable
@@ -43,13 +45,8 @@
      munge(&:to_s)
   end
 
-  newproperty(:region) do
+  newproperty(:region, :parent => PuppetX::Property::AwsRegion) do
     desc 'The name of the region in which the SQS queue is located'
-    validate do |value|
-      fail 'region should be a String' unless value.is_a?(String)
-      fail 'You must provide a non-blank region name for SQS Queues' if value.nil? || value.empty?
-      fail 'The name of a region should contain only alphanumeric characters or dashes' unless value =~ /^([a-zA-Z]+-+)+\d$/
-    end
   end
 
   newproperty(:visibility_timeout) do
diff --git a/spec/unit/provider/rds_instance/v2_spec.rb b/spec/unit/provider/rds_instance/v2_spec.rb
index b081b1c2..c98537d7 100644
--- a/spec/unit/provider/rds_instance/v2_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/provider/rds_instance/v2_spec.rb
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
     Puppet::Type.type(:rds_instance).new(
       ensure: 'present',
       name: 'awesome-db-5',
-      region: 'us-west-1',
+      region: 'sa-east-1',
       db_name:  'mysqldbname3',
       engine: 'mysql',
       engine_version: '5.6.19a',
diff --git a/spec/unit/type/sqs_queue_spec.rb b/spec/unit/type/sqs_queue_spec.rb
index ab631385..f614d1ff 100644
--- a/spec/unit/type/sqs_queue_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/type/sqs_queue_spec.rb
@@ -29,46 +29,46 @@
     end
 
     it 'should create a valid instance' do
-      type_class.new({name: 'name', region: 'us-east-1'})
+      type_class.new({name: 'name', region: 'sa-east-1'})
     end
 
     it 'should set delay seconds should get set with a valid value' do
-      queue = type_class.new({name: 'queue', region: 'us-east-1', delay_seconds: 450})
+      queue = type_class.new({name: 'queue', region: 'sa-east-1', delay_seconds: 450})
       expect(queue[:delay_seconds]).to eq("450")
     end
 
     it 'delay seconds should default to 0' do
-      queue = type_class.new({name: 'queue', region: 'us-east-1'})
+      queue = type_class.new({name: 'queue', region: 'sa-east-1'})
       expect(queue[:delay_seconds]).to eq("0")
     end
 
     it 'visibility_timeout should default to 30' do
-      queue = type_class.new({name: 'queue', region: 'us-east-1'})
+      queue = type_class.new({name: 'queue', region: 'sa-east-1'})
       expect(queue[:visibility_timeout]).to eq('30')
     end
 
     it 'should set visibility_timeout with a valid value' do
-      queue = type_class.new({name: 'queue', region: 'us-east-1', visibility_timeout: 123})
+      queue = type_class.new({name: 'queue', region: 'sa-east-1', visibility_timeout: 123})
       expect(queue[:visibility_timeout]).to eq("123")
     end
 
     it 'should set message_retention_period should get set with a valid value' do
-      queue = type_class.new({name: 'queue', region: 'us-east-1', message_retention_period: 360})
+      queue = type_class.new({name: 'queue', region: 'sa-east-1', message_retention_period: 360})
       expect(queue[:message_retention_period]).to eq("360")
     end
 
     it 'should set message_retention_period to default to 345600' do
-      queue = type_class.new({name: 'queue', region: 'us-east-1'})
+      queue = type_class.new({name: 'queue', region: 'sa-east-1'})
       expect(queue[:message_retention_period]).to eq("345600")
     end
 
     it 'should set maximum_message_size should get set with a valid value' do
-      queue = type_class.new({name: 'queue', region: 'us-east-1', maximum_message_size: 2048})
+      queue = type_class.new({name: 'queue', region: 'sa-east-1', maximum_message_size: 2048})
       expect(queue[:maximum_message_size]).to eq("2048")
     end
 
     it 'should set maximum_message_size to default to 262144' do
-      queue = type_class.new({name: 'queue', region: 'us-east-1'})
+      queue = type_class.new({name: 'queue', region: 'sa-east-1'})
       expect(queue[:maximum_message_size]).to eq("262144")
     end
 
@@ -81,26 +81,23 @@
   context 'erroring values' do
     it 'should error with incorrect range value for delay seconds' do
       expect do
-        type_class.new({name: 'queue', region: 'us-east-1', delay_seconds: 1024})
+        type_class.new({name: 'queue', region: 'sa-east-1', delay_seconds: 1024})
       end.to raise_error(Puppet::Error, /delay_seconds must be an integer between 0 and 900/)
     end
 
      it 'should require something that looks like a region' do
       expect do
-        type_class.new ({name: 'somename', :region => 'us_east_1'})
-      end.to raise_error(Puppet::Error, /The name of a region should contain only alphanumeric characters or dashes/)
+        type_class.new ({name: 'somename', :region => 'sa-east-1 '})
+      end.to raise_error(Puppet::Error, /region should not contain spaces/)
       expect do
-        type_class.new ({name: 'somename', :region => '123'})
-      end.to raise_error(Puppet::Error, /The name of a region should contain only alphanumeric characters or dashes/)
-      expect do
-        type_class.new ({name: 'somename', :region => 'europe'})
-      end.to raise_error(Puppet::Error, /The name of a region should contain only alphanumeric characters or dashes/)
+        type_class.new ({name: 'somename', :region => 1})
+      end.to raise_error(Puppet::Error, /region should be a String/)
      end
 
      it 'should require a non-blank region' do
       expect do
         type_class.new ({name: 'somename', region: ''})
-      end.to raise_error(Puppet::Error, /You must provide a non-blank region name for SQS Queues/)
+      end.to raise_error(Puppet::Error, /region should not be blank/)
     end
     it 'should require a name' do
       expect do