Can somebody describe the difference between these words(physical distance and
maybe politeness of these words, or any aspects that you think are important
to understand these).

Can all these words be used with any objects like buildings, pens, people,
dogs etc.? Or is it more common to use some words more then others when
talking about some of these?

付近、近辺、辺り、近所、周辺, 辺(thank you
[user1205935](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/users/1628/user1205935))

I've found
[this](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/4485/expressing-
neighborhood-in-japanese) link, but it's about expressing the idea of being in
the surrounding of a town so it's not exactly what I need.
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nuances meaning word-choice
Difference between words that describe the idea of neighborhood/being close to something
I'll take a stab at this with my personal experience and some dictionary
entries:

[付近](http://www.weblio.jp/content/%E4%BB%98%E8%BF%91) \- This just means a
place nearby. The dictionary examples, 駅の付近をうろつく and 付近の図書館, just show an idea
of general "nearbyness." In English you might liken it to "around" or "in the
vicinity of" or even just "area"

[近辺](http://www.weblio.jp/content/%E8%BF%91%E8%BE%BA) \- The dictionary's
definition is 近いあたり。近所。近傍。付近。「学校の―」「新宿―」 so I think it's safe just to call
this one a synonym of the others. If you look at the kanji it's just a simple
combination of near and area, so it's a nearby area. It's worth noting that 近辺
only has [43 entries on
alc](http://eow.alc.co.jp/search?q=%E8%BF%91%E8%BE%BA), so it would appear not
to be widely in use.

[辺り](http://www.weblio.jp/content/%E8%BE%BA%E3%82%8A) \- This is another one
that is defined basically in terms of the others, however this one has a much
more general meaning of nearby. For example, you can say ビルの辺り to refer to an
area near a building, or 目の辺り or 首の辺り to refer to someone's eyes or around
one's neck.

[近所](http://www.weblio.jp/content/%E8%BF%91%E6%89%80) \- This is the most
basic word that you learn for "neighborhood," as in your neighborhood where
you live. In its various uses it retains the meaning of being around where you
live.

[周辺](http://www.weblio.jp/content/%E5%91%A8%E8%BE%BA) \- This refers to the
outer edges of something, like the outskirts or periphery. It has this literal
meaning but can also be used in a more metaphorical way, like to describe the
people around you.

辺 by itself is one that I hear just used to point out a general location, like
そこら辺 or この辺.
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answer
I think ssb's answer is spot on, but I'll add a bit more info on the
formality.

The rough ordering of formality:

```

    More formal ...  近辺 > 周辺 > 付近 >> 近所 > 辺り >> 辺  ...  Less formal
    
```

IMO the above is the approximate ordering of formality. Note the the two ">>"
in the middle. The words in the left most partition sound a bit odd if you use
it in daily, frank conversations. Words in the next partition are frank, but
can also be used in formal conversations (and writings). The right most word
(辺) would be weird to be used in formal context if used to mean proximity (if
it's used as a different meaning ("edge") then it can be used in a formal
situation).
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