The new zones of foreign origin (12)

I believe the answer is:

heterogenous

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'new zones of foreign origin' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'the' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
an anagram of 'the' is 'het' which is within the answer.
The remaining letters 'erogenous' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Irish Independent.

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