Editing Hinterland (section)

== Geographic region ==
* An area behind a coast or the shoreline of a river. Specifically, by the ''doctrine of the hinterland,'' the hinterland is the inland region lying behind a port and is claimed by the state that owns the coast.<ref name="Kerr2008">{{cite book |author=Douglas Kerr |title=Eastern Figures: Orient and Empire in British Writing |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gUjqAQAAQBAJ&q=%22doctrine+of+the+hinterland%22&pg=PA11 |date=June 1, 2008 |publisher=Hong Kong University Press |isbn=978-962-209-934-0 |page=11}}</ref>
* In [[shipping]] 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 urban [[catchment 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Woodburn |first=Allan |date=23 January 2009 |title=Hinterland connections to seaports |url=http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/trans/doc/2009/wp5/ECE-TRANS-WP5-GE1-03-inf04e.ppt |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011161813/http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/trans/doc/2009/wp5/ECE-TRANS-WP5-GE1-03-inf04e.ppt |archive-date=11 October 2012 |access-date=2023-04-24 |format=ppt |publication-place=[[University Of Westminster]]}}</ref>
* In [[History of colonialism|colonial]] 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, although ''Provinz'' (analogous to ''province'') is more common. In the United States, and particularly in the [[American 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 (Alaska)|the Bush]] (in Alaskan usage), the [[outback]] (Australia), and the ''[[sertão]]'' (Brazil).
* In Germany a local area in the western part of the ''Kurfürstentum Hessen'' ([[Electorate of Hesse]]) is named ''Hessisches Hinterland'' (short: ''Hinterland'', [[Hessian Hinterland]]) without being the local backcountry to a larger city. Cities there are [[Battenberg (Eder)|Battenberg]], [[Biedenkopf]] and [[Gladenbach]]. The name ''Hinterland'' 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 the [[metropolitan area]] of a city, especially Milan, outside of the main municipality.