Hinterland is a German word meaning "the land behind" (a city, a port, or similar). The term's use in English was first documented by geographer George Chisholm in his Handbook of Commercial Geography (1888).
The term hinterland has several meanings. It may refer to:
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 of other matters (or lack thereof), 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 to Denis Healey (British Defence Secretary 1964–1970, Chancellor of the Exchequer 1974–1979) and his wife Edna Healey, initially in the context of the supposed lack of hinterland of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
The term figures prominently in numerous works of popular culture. See .