Bindestrichland

• Bindestrich-Land

From Bindestrich (“hyphen”) +‎ Land (“state”). Originally used of North Rhine-Westphalia, which was created by the Allied occupation authorities by dividing the Prussian Rhine Province and joining its northern half to the province of Westphalia.

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Bindestrichland n (strong, genitive Bindestrichlands or Bindestrichlandes, plural Bindestrichländer)

1. a state or political territory whose name contains a hyphen, with the implication that it has been arbitrarily created from merging two regions that share few historical and cultural ties

• Used especially of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and to a lesser degree of Baden-Württemberg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and Saxony-Anhalt.