hinterland
noun
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When you're dealing with geography, it helps to know your hinterland from your umland. In the late 19th century, geographer George Chisholm took note of the German word Hinterland (literally "land in back of") and applied it specifically to the region just inland from a port or coastal settlement. (Chisholm spelled the word hinderland, but English speakers eventually settled on hinterland.) Early in the 20th century, another geographer adopted the German Umland ("land around") to refer to the territory around an inland town. What hinterland and umland have in common is a reference to a region economically tied to a nearby city. Nowadays, hinterland has a less technical use as well—it can be used for land that is simply out in the sticks. It can also be applied figuratively.
Examples of hinterland in a Sentence
Lauren Mowery, Forbes.com, 31 Mar. 2025
Vance and his wife Usha visited an American military base in Greenland’s remote icy hinterland after the Second Lady scaled back plans for a more public-facing trip that sparked outrage among local officials and ordinary people.
—Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 28 Mar. 2025
The sheer immensity of the tent city is jaw-dropping, a hinterland oblivion of yurts and RVs, all stretching into the distance as far as the eye can see.
—Barrett Swanson, Harper's Magazine, 2 Jan. 2025
Celebrity can be as alluring as royalty to someone who grew up eating gruel in the hinterlands, though such concepts must be imparted somehow.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 16 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hinterland
Cite this Entry
“Hinterland.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hinterland. Accessed 15 Apr. 2025.
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hinterland
noun
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