Scaling databases across multiple regions is a complex but rewarding endeavor that involves various considerations to ensure optimal performance and compliance with regulations like GDPR. The process demands an understanding of database behavior in a multi-region context, including managing replication and addressing potential conflicts in active-active deployments. CockroachDB is highlighted as an example that offers unique capabilities for conflict-free multi-region operations through its consensus replication. Geographic strategies are crucial for optimizing latency by placing data close to users, while awareness of regulations is essential, particularly in regions like the EU and China where data domiciling requirements exist. Performance improvements are achieved by reducing latency and increasing availability, with strategies for measuring these gains through benchmarks and metrics. Balancing consistency and latency is critical, as is ensuring system resilience with contingency plans for regional outages. CockroachDB and configuration management tools like Chef, Puppet, or Ansible can aid in maintaining high availability and managing common issues such as virtual machine failures. For more detailed insights, including architectural guidance for distributed databases, further resources are available.