Flyover country

Aerial view of Arkansas, part of "flyover country", as seen by an airline passenger

Flyover country, flyover states, and Flyoverland are American phrases describing the parts of the United States between the East and the West Coasts. The terms, which are sometimes used pejoratively, but more often defensively,^[1] refer to the interior regions of the country passed over during transcontinental flights, particularly flights between the nation's two most populous urban agglomerations, the Northeastern Megalopolis and Southern California. "Flyover country" thus refers to the part of the country that some Americans only view by air and never actually see in person at ground level.^[2][3]

Although the term is most commonly associated with states located in the geographic center of the country, the states with the most planes flying over without taking off or landing are located on the East Coast, with number one being Virginia followed by Maryland, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.^[4]

See also

Related descriptions and terms:

• Middle America
• Jesusland
• Heartland
• Hinterland
• Backcountry
• Red states and blue states

References

1. "The Surprising Origin of the Phrase 'Flyover Country'". National Geographic News. 2016-03-14. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
2. Landing in the 'Fly-over' country
3. Techies reject coasts for 'Silicon Prairie'
4. Munroe, Randall (October 21, 2014). "Science Answers Which State Airplanes Are Flying Over The Most". Business Insider. Axel Springer SE. Retrieved December 8, 2015.

Further reading

• de Wit, Cary W. (2007). "Flyover country". In Sisson, Richard; Zacher, Christian K.; Cayton, Andrew Robert Lee. The American Midwest: an interpretive encyclopedia. Indiana University Press. pp. 66–68. ISBN 978-0-253-34886-9.
• Robertson, David (2004). "FLYOVER COUNTRY". In Wishart, David J. Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. University of Nebraska Press. p. 386. ISBN 978-0-8032-4787-1.