heartland

Noun

1.

heartland - the central region of a country or continent; especially a region that is important to a country or to a culture

airspace, area, belt, confines, continental shelf, corridor, country, department, district, division, environs, ground, hinterland, inland, inlands, interior, land, midland, midlands, milieu, neighborhood, offshore rights, part, parts, place, precincts, premises, purlieus, quarter, region, salient, section, soil, space, terrain, territory, three-mile limit, twelve-mile limit, up-country, vicinage, vicinity, zone