Shire

Shire (/ʃaɪər/) is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries.

The word shire derives from the Old English sċir, from the Proto-Germanic *skizo (Old High German: scira), denoting an 'official charge' a 'district under a governor', and a 'care'.

[1] In the UK, shire became synonymous with county, an administrative term introduced to England through the Norman Conquest in the later part of the eleventh century.

[4] The first shires of Scotland were created in English-settled areas such as Lothian and the Borders, in the 9th century.

King David I more consistently created shires and appointed sheriffs across lowland shores of Scotland.

An alternative name for a shire was a "sheriffdom" until sheriff court reforms separated the two concepts.

Sometimes the nomenclature exists even where "county" is used in place of "shire" as in, for instance, Kentville in Nova Scotia.

Similarly, Dorset, Rutland and Somerset were formerly known as Dorsetshire, Rutlandshire and Somersetshire, but these terms are no longer official, and are rarely used outside the local populations.

Scotland was barely affected by the Norman conquest of England, and the word "shire" prevailed over "county" until the 19th century.

Bedlingtonshire, Craikshire, Norhamshire and Islandshire were exclaves of County Durham, and were incorporated into Northumberland or Yorkshire in 1844.

Colloquially, the term "the Shires" has become used to refer to those counties, particularly of the southern Midlands, which are still largely rural and which are stereotypically thought of as places where a more bucolic lifestyle is possible.

In 1634, eight "shires" were created in the Virginia Colony by order of Charles I, King of England.

[12] "Shire" is the most common word in Australia for rural local government areas (LGAs).

In contrast, South Australia uses district and region for its rural LGA units, while Tasmania uses municipality.

Three LGAs in outer metropolitan Sydney and four in outer metropolitan Melbourne have populations exceeding that of towns or municipalities, but retain significant bushlands and/or semi-rural areas, and most have continued to use "shire" in their titles whilst others have dropped it from theirs.