hinterland

Meaning

1. (countable, uncountable) The land immediately next to, and inland from, a coast.
2. (countable, uncountable) The rural territory surrounding an urban area, especially a port.
3. (countable, uncountable) A remote or undeveloped area.
4. (countable, figuratively, uncountable) That which is unknown or unexplored about someone.
5. (countable, uncountable) An area of land far from the sea.
6. (countable, figuratively, uncountable) Anything vague or ill-defined, especially something that is ill understood.

Synonyms

back country

backwoods

interior

backland

boondocks

outback

bush

backwater

back land

poky hole

bushland

inland

wilderness

remote area

back regions

backlands

hinderland

Translations

Hinterland

achterland

arrière-pays

interior

hinterlândia

entroterra

ενδοχώρα

rerepaís

retroterra

hinterlant

hinterland

Landesinnere

cambrousse

hinterland

régions arriérées

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈhɪntə(ɹ)ˌlænd/

Etymology

Cognate with English: hinder

In summary

Borrowed from German Hinterland, from hinter (“behind”) + Land (“land”), cognate to English hinder (“back, rear”) + land. First used in English in 1888 by George Chisholm in his work Handbook of Commercial Geography originally as hinderland, but the current spelling (following German) became more popular. The term is characteristic of a thalassocratic analysis of space (from the point of view of a nation with maritime supremacy, such as 19th-century Britain).