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I will need to be writing on a subject of cultural differences between two populations/cultures in the context that one of them is located in the mountains and the other on a plateau/plain.

Is there a word I can use so that I don't repeat "people who live in the mountains" or "people who live on the plains"?

Thus say "The people who live in the mountains mainly work in harvesting wood and mining" becomes "X mainly work in harvesting wood and mining".

And "The people who live on the plains mainly raise cattle" becomes "Y mainly raise cattle".

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    Plainsman - someone who lives on the plains. Reference.
    – Weather Vane
    Commented Mar 3, 2018 at 22:57
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    highlander, lowlander?
    – Drew
    Commented Mar 3, 2018 at 23:49
  • I agree with @Drew 's suggestion. Having used your own terms to define the two peoples referred to, you could use higlander, lowlander thereafter and be confident of being understood.
    – Nigel J
    Commented Mar 4, 2018 at 1:41
  • @Drew I considered those terms but highlander tends to automatically make one think of Scots.
    – George Bora
    Commented Mar 4, 2018 at 8:44

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You wouldn't capitalize them, unless you're talking about specific groups who have adopted the names.

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    +1. However I would also point out that these terms are not normally used for people living in urbane western society e.g the towns of Utah or Nevada or even in Alpine villages. They are normally only applied to rural communities in pre-industrial societies e.g in Africa.
    – WS2
    Commented Mar 3, 2018 at 23:45
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Savannah dwellers (or people), or Prairie dwellers (or people) are fine for people on the plains, unless there might be some reason to use a generic Plains dwellers .
Savannahs and prairies are very suited to cattle raising. But savannah and prairie have specific geographic locations in the minds of some.

I like mountaineers for those who lives in mountains. So does Merriam-Webster. But some prefer to think of mountainers as mountain climbers.

If referring to high mountains, Alpine people can work. Mountain people will also serve.
There are several options, depending on areas you are writting about, and your audience.

Most simply, you can use Mountain people and Plains people.

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  • The savanna and the prairie are specific types of plains and not interchangeable with each other nor with other types of pains, such as steppes or more to the point the coastal plains where much of the world's population lives.
    – choster
    Commented Mar 3, 2018 at 23:38
  • @choster certainly that is what is in many minds. I articulated the caveat. The OP did not specify about what was being written. It is perfectly possible to write about "a prairie, or "savannah" without being specific as to where it might be. Or, for that matter, "a steppe". It would depend on the weather there. Coastal plains often have a lot of trees, and, unless deforested, areb't especial good for extensive cattle raising.
    – J. Taylor
    Commented Mar 3, 2018 at 23:51
  • The point is that no educated person would call people in coastal Virginia "prairie" or "savanna" etc. dwellers to contrast with their Appalachian counterparts, likewise river Delta Vietnamese vs. montagnards, or lowland Scots vs. Highlanders. Demonstrate such usage in formal writing, please.
    – choster
    Commented Mar 4, 2018 at 3:48
  • @choster...I take your point, however, I am not writing about diverse peoples, I was giving options with valid citations. Given that so far only the OP knows about what he is going to be writing, options seem reasonable to me. Should the OP weigh in on this, I will certainly provide such appropriate recommendations as I can.
    – J. Taylor
    Commented Mar 4, 2018 at 10:09

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