The invention provides a region-based controlling method and system of electronic documents. In this method, the electronic document is first encapsulated within a virtual “container”, forming a new electronic file (system), which contains at least a region judgment module, used to judge the current location of the document, and contains a play/display module that controls the status of playing or displaying the document. When the document needs to be played or displayed, the play/display module sends the request to the region judgment module to confirm the current location, and the region judgment module sends the region Authentication request to the region server via the terminal device. After the region authentication session finishes, the response from the region server is received by the terminal device. If the response indicates that the terminal device is within the authorized region, the play/display module will continue to play or display the document, and otherwise the play/display module will reject the request to open the document. By this invention, unauthorized copy and propagation of electronic files can be prevented.