Pays d'en Haut

As pays d' en haut ( " the upper country, land up there ", as Pluraletantum: les pays d' en haut, " countries ( Eien ) up there " ) referred to the colonists of New France in the 17th and 18th century, the area around the Great Lakes, west to the upper reaches of the Mississippi.

The pays d' en haut presented here do not formally defined territorial entity with clearly defined boundaries represent, but was in contrast to the pays d' en bas ( " Lower Country " ) defines the areas along the St. Lawrence River, where the French colonization with a permanent settlement and the development of political structures was accompanied, during the French presence in permanently only by Indians populated pays d' en haut to military and trading posts as well as isolated missions limited. Goods grundherrschaftlich organized in Seigneuries the settlements of the pays d' en bas, so shelter the pays d' en bas directly to the governor of New France.

In addition to this structural definition had pays d'en haut but also a geographic frame of reference. Thus, also complained of New France, nor populated south in the areas at the middle reaches of the Mississippi ( the pays d' Illinois) were no longer counted as pays d' en haut.