back country

a sparsely populated rural region remote from a settled area.

Australian. a remote, undeveloped part of a large farm or cattle station.

Origin of back country

First recorded in 1740–50

back-coun·try, adjective

Just as pickers comb the back-country for antiques, a related group search for untenanted old houses.

If You're Going to Live in the Country |Thomas H. Ormsbee and Richmond Huntley
Fearon found "the small and middling tradesmen" always ready to sell out when business got bad and "pack up for the back-country."

Union and Democracy |Allen Johnson
"Oh, they are only back-country folk," said Lambert, rather impatiently.

Hans Brinker |Mary Mapes Dodge
She had been a fossil in a back-country place all her life, and of course they felt she did not know.

Cloudy Jewel |Grace Livingston Hill

They were marched into the palms, and the back-country swallowed them up—all the crew of the Haliotis.

The Day's Work, Volume 1 |Rudyard Kipling

back country

Australian and NZ land remote from a town or settled area