Flyover country and flyover states are
American phrases describing the parts of the
contiguous United States
The contiguous United States, also known as the U.S. mainland, officially referred to as the conterminous United States, consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the District of Columbia of the United States in central North America. The te ...
between the
East
East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...
and
West Coasts.
The origins of the phrases and the attitudes of their supposed users are a source of debate in American culture; the terms are often regarded as
pejoratives
A pejorative word, phrase, slur, or derogatory term is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility ...
, but are sometimes "reclaimed" and used defensively.
Definition
The terms refer to the interior regions of the country passed over during
transcontinental flights, particularly flights between the nation's two most populous
urban agglomeration
An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...
s: the
Northeastern Megalopolis
The Northeast megalopolis, also known as the Northeast Corridor, Acela Corridor, Boston–Washington corridor, BosWash, or BosNYWash, is the most populous megalopolis exclusively within the United States, with slightly over 50 million resident ...
and
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...
. "Flyover country" thus refers to the part of the country that some Americans—especially those of urban, wealthier,
white-collar status—only view by air when traveling and never actually see in person at ground level.
See also
*
Central United States
The Central United States is sometimes conceived as between the Eastern United States, Eastern and Western United States, Western as part of a three-region model, roughly coincident with the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau's d ...
*
Great Plains
The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...
*
Heartland
*
Middle America
*
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...
*
Coastie
The term coastie or coasty (more often heard and seen as the plural coasties) is a pejorative term used in Midwestern U.S. universities (especially the University of Wisconsin-Madison) to denote students who come from outside the region, mainly fr ...
, a pejorative term for people not from the Midwest, especially from the aforementioned Coasts
References
Further reading
*
* {{cite encyclopaedia, encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of the Great Plains, editor1-link=David J. Wishart, editor1-first=David J., editor1-last=Wishart, publisher=University of Nebraska Press, year=2004, isbn=978-0-8032-4787-1, article=FLYOVER COUNTRY, first=David, last=Robertson, pages=386
Regions of the United States
Central United States
Political terminology of the United States
Pejorative terms
Regionalism (politics)
Rural society in the United States