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For information on the fictional Shire of J. R. R. Tolkien's
The Lord of the Rings, see Shire (Middle-earth)
In Australia, a shire is a type of Local Government
Area. See that article for a list of lists.
In Great Britain, a shire is a county that is named after its prinicpal town. The county takes the name of the town with the
"shire" suffix.
In England, the counties of Devon, Dorset
and Somerset are occasionally referred to with the "shire" suffix.
In Scotland four counties have alternative names with the "shire" suffix: Angus (Forfarshire), East Lothian (Haddingtonshire),
Midlothian (Edinburghshire) and West Lothian (Linlithgowshire). Sutherlandshire is also known as Sutherland.
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.
Administration
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 former shires include Blackburnshire, and Hexhamshire.
In local government terms, the phrase "Shire county" refers to the non-metropolitan administrative counties of England outside London.
The term is often used by political commentators to describe the areas of England outside London and the 'metropolitan counties'
created for the principal conurbations in 1974.
The term "shire" is shared by the Germanic people; Scirii.
See also
Shire is also the name for a breed of large draft horse.
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