borderland
Between two countries
Borderland is the region along a border between territories, especially nations: the Texas-Mexico borderland.
The term suggests a zone rather than a sharp line—an area where cultures, languages, or influences blend.
Figuratively, borderland describes any transitional space between states or conditions: the borderland between sleep and waking, the borderland of sanity.
Land under jurisdiction
- outpostRemote military station
- settlementResolved dispute or colony
- pioneerEarly explorer or settler
- homesteadFamily farm and dwelling
wilderness · uncharted · expansion · colonist · trapper · scout · westward · prairie
Shape's outer edge length
- fringeOutermost edge or margin
- marginEdge of a page
- peripheryBoundary or outer region
- rimCircular outer boundary
demarcation · borderline · outer reaches · extremity · verge · outskirts · limit · bounds
Point of beginning
- transitionalConnecting two phases
- in-betweenOccupying middle position
- twilightLight after sunset
- duskDimming after sundown
dawn · interstitial · ambiguous · neither-nor · flux · purgatory · limbo · passage
Argued over, unresolved
- contestedArgued against, disputed
- tensionStretched or strained state
- sovereigntySupreme independent authority
- clashViolent disagreement or collision
warfare · invasion · occupation · ceasefire · hostilities · skirmish · patrol · checkpoint
Not domesticated
- backcountrySparsely populated wilderness areas
- outbackRemote interior wilderness
- badlandsArid, heavily eroded terrain
- scrublandArea of low shrubs
heath · moorland · rugged · desolate · harsh · inhospitable · lawless · ungoverned
territory
Land under jurisdiction
- outpostRemote military station
- settlementResolved dispute or colony
- pioneerEarly explorer or settler
homestead · wilderness · uncharted · expansion · colonist · trapper · scout · westward · prairie · emigrant
perimeter
Shape's outer edge length
rim · demarcation · borderline · outer reaches · extremity · verge · outskirts · limit · bounds · confines
threshold
Point of beginning
- transitionalConnecting two phases
- in-betweenOccupying middle position
- twilightLight after sunset
dusk · dawn · interstitial · ambiguous · neither-nor · flux · purgatory · limbo · passage · crossing
disputed
Argued over, unresolved
- contestedArgued against, disputed
- tensionStretched or strained state
- sovereigntySupreme independent authority
clash · warfare · invasion · occupation · ceasefire · hostilities · skirmish · patrol · checkpoint · fortification
untamed
Not domesticated
- backcountrySparsely populated wilderness areas
- outbackRemote interior wilderness
- badlandsArid, heavily eroded terrain
scrubland · heath · moorland · rugged · desolate · harsh · inhospitable · lawless · ungoverned · sparse
hybrid
Thing of mixed parentage
- mestizoBiracial Latin American
- ChicanoMexican-American with activist heritage
- TejanoTexas-Mexican musical style
fusion · bilingual · code-switching · transnational · diaspora · migration · identity · belonging · divided · straddling
- regionsregion, regions, area, areas, zone
- frontierfrontier, pioneer, pioneers, settlers, settler
- hinterlandshinterland, hinterlands, backcountry, back country, backwoods
- landsfarmland, grassland, wetland, marshland, parkland
- place descriptorsregional, local, remote, national, isolated
- region'continent, country, state, province, territory
borderlandheartland
Central region of significance
homeland · motherland · fatherland · sovereign territory · cultural center