There are synonyms with varying connotations: fatherland, motherland, mother country, country of origin, and native land.
In apartheid South Africa the concept was given a whole new meaning. The white government transformed the 13% of its territory that had been exempted from white settlement into regions of home-rule. Then they tried to bestow independence on these regions, so that they could then claim that the other 87% was white territory. See Bantustan.
[Could have a whole section on aspirations to attain a homeland: Basque separatists, Israeli-Arab conflict, Tibet, Kurdistan.]
See also: homeland security