heartland
/ˈhɑɹtlənd/ noun C1- Synonym of heart (“the seat of the affections or love”).
- The interior part of a region, especially when contrasted with coastal parts or when regarded as particularly powerful or significant.
- In the geopolitical theory of the English geographer Halford John Mackinder (1861–1947): the interior of the world island comprising north-central Eurasia, regarded as politically powerful.
- Residential districts and planning areas outside the city centre; the new towns of Singapore collectively.
- The states in the centre of the United States, chiefly regarded as politically and socially conservative; also, the people living in such states collectively.
- A region or part of a region particularly associated with or significant for a characteristic, such as an activity, a faith, support for a political party or other organization, etc. · The home counties are the Conservative heartland.· We stayed in the heartland of the French wine-growing regions.
Plural heartlands
From the library
Meanwhile, the devastating conditions back on the plains required comprehensive environmental interventions to prevent further destruction of the American heartland.
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