heartland

American  

[hahrt-land, -luhnd] / ˈhɑrtˌlænd, -lənd /

noun

1. the part of a region considered essential to the viability and survival of the whole, especially a central land area relatively invulnerable to attack and capable of economic and political self-sufficiency.

2. any central area, as of a state, nation, or continent.

   a vineyard in California's heartland.

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heartland British  

/ ˈhɑːtˌlænd /

noun

1. the central region of a country or continent

2. the core or most vital area

   the industrial heartland of England

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Etymology

Origin of heartland

First recorded in 1900–05; heart + land

Example Sentences

The community is otherwise mostly present across their coastal heartland in Latakia and Tartus provinces.

From Barron's

The succession of dynastic governments that ruled over China’s heartland were sometimes ethnically Han, and sometimes northerners—Mongols and Manchus especially—who ruled empires now referred to as “Chinese.”

From The Wall Street Journal

The Alawites are a sect that originated in Shia Islam, with their heartland on Syria's Mediterranean coast.

From BBC

Sam Fender, “People Watching” A pint hoisted in the heartland.

From Los Angeles Times

At the brightly lit factory in the southern industrial heartland of Guangzhou, logistics robots zip around ferrying unfinished parts.

From Barron's

Related Words

• backwoods