You can use .replaceWith()
$(function() {
$(".region").click(function(e) {
e.preventDefault();
var content = $(this).html();
$('#map').replaceWith('<div class="region">' + content + '</div>');
});
});
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<div id="map">
<div class="region"><a href="link1">region1</a></div>
<div class="region"><a href="link2">region2</a></div>
<div class="region"><a href="link3">region3</a></div>
</div>