Shire

For information on the fictional Shire of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, see Shire (Middle-earth)

Shires in Australia

In Australia, a shire is a type of Local Government Area. See that article for a list of lists.

Shires in the United Kingdom

In Great Britain, the term 'shire county' is used to refer to non-metropolitan counties.

It can also be used in a narrower sense, referring only to traditional counties ending in 'shire'. These counties are typically (though not always) named after their county town.

Shires in England

Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire, Worcestershire, Yorkshire.

Of these, all but Huntingdonshire and Yorkshire are still administrative counties. Huntingdonshire is now administred as a district of Cambridgeshire, and Yorkshire is split between East North, South, and West Yorkshire.

The counties of Devon, Dorset and Somerset were occasionally referred to with the "shire" suffix. This usage is now archaic.

Shires in Scotland

Aberdeenshire, Argyllshire, Ayrshire, Banffshire, Berwickshire, Buteshire, Clackmannanshire, Cromartyshire, Dumfriesshire, Dunbartonshire, Inverness-shire, Kincardineshire, Kinross-shire, Kirkcudbrightshire, Lanarkshire, Morayshire, Nairnshire, Peeblesshire, Perthshire, Renfrewshire, Ross-shire, Roxburghshire, Selkirkshire, Stirlingshire, Wigtownshire

In Scotland four counties have alternative names with the "shire" suffix: Angus (Forfarshire), East Lothian (Haddingtonshire), Midlothian (Edinburghshire) and West Lothian (Linlithgowshire).

Sutherland is occasionally still referred to as 'Sutherlandshire', despite there being no town called Sutherland. Also, Morayshire is sometimes called Elginshire.

Shires in Wales

Brecknockshire, Caernarvonshire, Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire, Denbighshire,Flintshire, Monmouthshire, Montgomeryshire, Pembrokeshire, Radnorshire

In Wales, the counties of Merioneth and Glamorgan are occasionally referred to with the "shire" suffix. The only traditional Welsh county that never takes "shire" is Anglesey.

Non-county shires

The suffix -shire was also included in the name of some areas subsequently incorporated into administrative counties, for instance Hallamshire in South Yorkshire, Richmondshire and Cravenshire in North Yorkshire, and Bedlingtonshire, Norhamshire and Islandshire, exclaves of County Durham which were incorporated into Northumberland in 1844. The term shire thus predates the creation of England's counties, referring originally to a more local jurisdiction. The sheriff is the leading official in such places.

Other places formerly called shires include Blackburnshire, Hexhamshire, Leylandshire, West Derbyshire, Salfordshire, Wivelshire, Triggshire, Powdershire, Pydenshire, Coldinghamshire, Bamburghshire, Applebyshire, Carlisleshire, Allertonshire, Howdenshire, Hullshire, Coxwoldshire, Halfshire and Winchcombeshire.

The term "shire" is shared by the Germanic people; Scirii.