Hinterland

Hinterland is a term that may be used in several ways in geography. It has a more specific meaning to economic geographers, when it is used to designate the region that is economically connected to an economic urban hub, usually a port or city. In this context the “hinterland” in effect refers to the market area, or distribution area, for the economic center. It may also be used in a general way to identify a region generally devoid of urban development that extends beyond the margin of such development but is still influenced by it. In the core and periphery concept, the term “hinterland” is often used interchangeably for the periphery, and therefore makes up the outer margin of a functional region. The word is sometimes used in reference to political control as well, to indicate a zone beyond the formal political or legal boundaries of a state or other political unit, but nevertheless swayed by its policies.

In a more general sense, the term is equivalent to other English terms such as “backwoods,” “outback,” “frontier,” and “back country.” Hinterland used in this way often characterizes an undeveloped region located inland from a strip of coastal settlement. 

In economic geography an entrepoˆ t is often considered to have a hinterland. The hinterland region is the larger market space through which the goods and services provided by the entrepoˆ t are dispersed. It is also the region that may provide raw materials for export to the entrepoˆ t. The size and function of the hinterland will modify, depending on the rate of growth (or lack thereof) of the entrepoˆ t. Lower-order economic centers may emerge in the hinterland, which function as distribution centers for the larger entrepoˆt, and often acquire secondary production functions, sometimes developing hinterlands of their own on a smaller scale.

The concept of an economic hinterland is a key part of Central Place Theory. Each central place is serviced by a hinterland, or market area. The size of the hinterland is determined by the range of the good or service in question—the hinterland’s radius is the equivalent to the range of the good or service in question. The range of a good or service is the distance that consumers will travel to access it. Different types of goods have different ranges. So-called higher-order goods and services, like automobiles, dental care, legal advice, etc., that are expensive and are used infrequently will have a large range, and therefore a much larger hinterland associated with them than lower-order goods. Lower-order goods, like a loaf of bread, gasoline, a car wash, etc., are used frequently and are generally inexpensive. These have a small range, and the hinterland connected to such goods and services is much smaller than with higher-order products. Thus, there is a hierarchy of hinterlands, with smaller hinterlands (lower-order goods and services) clustered within the hinterlands of higher-order goods and services. Central Place Theory suggests that these hinterlands are not circular, but rather take the form of hexagons.