shire
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thumb|upright=1.1|Three Shire Heads bridge, where three shires in England ([[Cheshire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire) meet]] Shire () is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries. It is generally synonymous with county (such as Cheshire and Worcestershire). English counties are among the oldest extant national divisions in the world.
~11 min read
Article
17 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Origins
- Shires in the United Kingdom
- Shire names in England
- Shire names in Scotland
- Shire names in Wales
- Non-county "shires"
- England
- Scotland
- "The Shires"
- Shires in the United States
- New York and New England
- Virginia
- Shires in Australia
- In fiction
- See also
- References
thumb|upright=1.1|Three Shire Heads bridge, where three shires in England ([[Cheshire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire) meet]] Shire () is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries. It is generally synonymous with county (such as Cheshire and Worcestershire). English counties are among the oldest extant national divisions in the world.
It was first used in Wessex from the beginning of Anglo-Saxon settlement, and spread to most of the rest of England in the 10th century. Today, 23 counties bear the "-shire" suffix in England, 23 in Scotland, and 10 in Wales.