Heartland is a geopolitical term used to refer to the central areas of Eurasia and the United States. In Eurasia it is remote and inaccessible from the periphery. The term Heartland has a particular importance in the works of Sir Halford Mackinder. He believed that the Heartland was the strategic region of the foremost importance in the world. See Heartland (geopolitics).
The term Heartland is also frequently used to describe the region in the United States that lies west of the Ohio River and Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains. It is also used for other areas of the US which are culturally similar to the Heartland; for example, the Stater Bros. supermarket chain, which is concentrated in the Inland Empire counties of southern and central California, ran TV commercials for many years using the slogan "in the Heartland" to refer to inland counties such as San Bernardino County, Kern County and Riverside County being culturally more similar to the central United States than to coastal California.
In addition, the term can also be applied to the central region of any nation of economic, geopolitical or cultural significance.
Other meanings:
For the brewery in New York City, see Heartland Brewery. For the New Zealand television series, see Heartland (television series). The United States political television show Heartland with John Kasich on Fox News Channel. This show was formerly called From the Heartland. See Heartland with John Kasich. For the freight transportation company, see Heartland Express. For the 1979 movie, starring Rip Torn and Conchata Ferrell, see Heartland (film). Heartland is a 1964 novel by Wilson Harris For the "Heartland" area in Canada, see Southern Saskatchewan. Heartland (band) is the name of a country music band. Heartland Payment Systems is a credit card and payroll service provider. Heartland (song) is a song by U2 from the Rattle and Hum album.
