heartland.

A central or core region strongly associated with a people, activity, or tradition.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• industrial heartland
• cultural heartland
• agricultural heartland

On the page

The old manufacturing heartland faced a future without its largest employer.

She traveled to the cultural heartland of the language she had learned abroad.

Politicians praised the heartland while overlooking the diversity within it.

Usage notes

Primary category: setting. Core may be cultural or economic rather than geographically central. Often carries identity claims; political uses can imply that other regions are less representative. Plural: heartlands. No other inflection applies to this noun.