The Inner Banks is a neologism made up by developers and tourism promoters to describe the inland coastal region of eastern North Carolina. Without historical precedent, the term "Inner Banks" is an early 21st-century construct that is part of an attempt to rebrand the mostly agrarian coastal plain east of I-95 as a more attractive region for visitors and retirees.

The Sandhills or Carolina Sandhills is a 10-35 mi wide physiographic region within the U.S. Atlantic Coastal Plain province, along the updip (inland) margin of this province in the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. The extent of the Carolina Sandhills is shown in maps of the ecoregions of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.