Land behind a coast or the shoreline of a river
Look up
hinterland in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Hinterland is a German word meaning either the 'land of men' or the 'land behind' acity, aport, or similar.[1] Its use in English was first documented by the geographerGeorge Chisholm in hisHandbook of Commercial Geography (1888).[2] Originally the term was associated with the area of a port in which materials for export and import are stored and shipped. Subsequently, the use of the word expanded to include any area under the influence of a particular human settlement.[3]
- An area behind a coast or the shoreline of a river. Specifically, by thedoctrine of the hinterland, the hinterland is the inland region lying behind a port and is claimed by the state that owns the coast.[4]
- Inshipping usage, a port's hinterland is the area that it serves, both for imports and for exports.
- The term is also used to refer to the area around a city or town.
- More generally,hinterland can refer to the rural area economically tied to an urbancatchment area. The size of a hinterland can depend on geography, or on the ease, speed, and cost of transportation between the catchment area and the hinterland.[5]
- Incolonial usage, the term was applied to the surrounding areas of former European colonies in Africa, which, although not part of the colony itself, were influenced by the colony. By analogous general economic usage, hinterland can refer to the area surrounding a service from which customers are attracted, also called the market area.
- In German,Hinterland is sometimes used more generally to describe any sparsely populated area where the infrastructure is underdeveloped, althoughProvinz (analogous toprovince) is more common. In the United States, and particularly in theAmerican Midwest (a region of German cultural heritage located far from ocean ports), it is this meaning and not the one relating to ports that predominates in common use. Analogous terms include "the countryside", "the sticks", "the boonies",backcountry,boondocks,the Bush (in Alaskan usage), theoutback (Australia), and thesertão (Brazil).
- In Germany a local area in the western part of theKurfürstentum Hessen (Electorate of Hesse) is namedHessisches Hinterland (short:Hinterland,Hessian Hinterland) without being the local backcountry to a larger city. Cities there areBattenberg,Biedenkopf andGladenbach. The nameHinterland was in use over many centuries, and nowadays means a smaller area. Lesser known, similar names are given to other areas in Germany (and Switzerland).
- In Italy,hinterland is used to describe themetropolitan area of a city, especially Milan, outside of the main municipality.
Breadth of knowledge
[edit]A further sense in which the term is commonly applied, especially by British politicians, is in talking about an individual's depth and breadth of knowledge (or lack thereof), of matters outside politics,[6] specifically of academic, artistic, cultural, literary and scientific pursuits. For instance, one could say, "X has a vast hinterland", or "Y has no hinterland". The spread of this usage is usually credited toDenis Healey (BritishDefence Secretary 1964–1970,Chancellor of the Exchequer 1974–1979) and his wifeEdna Healey, initially in the context of the lack of hinterland—i.e., interests outside of politics—of former Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher.[7]
