In accordance with an embodiments, a favorable merging or grouping of simply connected regions into which the array of information samples is sub-divided, is coded with a reduced amount of data. To this end, for the simply connected regions, a predetermined relative locational relationship is defined enabling an identifying, for a predetermined simply connected region, of simply connected regions within the plurality of simply connected regions which have the predetermined relative locational relationship to the predetermined simply connected region. Namely, if the number is zero, a merge indicator for the predetermined simply connected region may be absent within the data stream. In accordance with even further embodiments, a spatial sub-division of an area of samples representing a spatial sampling of the two-dimensional information signal into a plurality of simply connected regions of different sizes by recursively multi-partitioning is performed depending on a first subset of syntax elements contained in the data stream, followed by a combination of spatially neighboring simply connected regions depending on a second subset of syntax elements within the data stream being disjoined from the first subset, to obtain an intermediate sub-division of the array of samples into disjoint sets of simply connected regions, the union of which is the plurality of simply connected regions. The intermediate sub-division is used when reconstructing the array of samples from the data stream.