Near North
/ˌnɪəˈnɔːθ/noun
1 Australian and NZ. China, Japan, and other countries of East and South-East Asia.
2Chiefly Canadian. The southern edge of northern Ontario, extending in a band for 300 miles across Canada, and bounded by the Ottawa River on the east and Lake Superior on the west.
Origin
1930s. From near + north, after Near East.