无人区 (wú rén qū) — no-man's land; depopulated zone; uninhabited ar…

Definition

An uninhabited area where no people live or pass through — used for deserts, polar regions, or empty zones between borders. Implies complete absence of human activity, not just sparse population.

noun

no-man's landdepopulated zoneuninhabited area

Measure word · 片

Examples

无人区，。
Zhè piàn wú rén qū fēi cháng wēi xiǎn, hěn shǎo yǒu rén jìn qù.
This no-man's land is very dangerous; few people go in.
无人区。
Tàn xiǎn duì jìn rù le shā mò zhōng de wú rén qū.
The expedition entered the no-man's land in the desert.
无人区。
wú rén qū Lǐ méi yǒu rèn hé rén lèi huó dòng de hén jì.
There are no traces of human activity in the no-man's land.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

无人no people

无wúwithout人rénpeople

动宾Verb + object

区qūarea

The absence of 人 and the idea of an 区 name a zone without inhabitants.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 無; 无 is its simplified writing.

For the simplified 无, the story is about 無. 無 drew a person dancing with ox tails held in both hands to pray for rain, then was borrowed for 'have no', so the picture does not explain that meaning.

Open 无 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 區; 区 is its simplified writing.