Regions 1, 2, 3, 4 each border multiple others. The left (4) and right (4) regions share no border, so they can share a colour. Exactly 4 colours needed here.

The four colour theorem took 124 years from conjecture to proof. The 1976 proof was the first major theorem verified by computer.

Five outer regions (an odd number) force the ring to use 3 colours: no 2-colouring of a 5-cycle exists. The centre region is adjacent to all five, touching all three ring colours, so it must be a fourth colour. This shows four is genuinely sometimes necessary.