- published: 06 Sep 2013
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The hinterland is the land or district behind a coast or the shoreline of a river. Specifically, by the doctrine of the hinterland[clarification needed], the word is applied to the inland region lying behind a port, claimed by the state that owns the coast. The area from which products are delivered to a port for shipping elsewhere is that port's hinterland. The term is also used to refer to the area around a city or town.
Hinterland was from German, where it means literally "the land behind" (a city, a port, or similar), with the English cognate hind land. In English, the term was first used in 1888 by George Chisholm in his work Handbook of Commercial Geography. In German this word sometimes also describes the part of a country where there are only a few people and where the infrastructure is underdeveloped; although Provinz (equal to "province") is more common. The direct analogy in English is "backcountry" or "the countryside". See also the Bush of Alaskan and the Outback of Australian usage.