Counties. The UK is divided into counties for local government. A county is controlled by a county council, but plenty of large cities now have their own city council. Most counties end with 'shire', such as Warwickshire (named after Warwick), Oxfordshire (named after Oxford) and Leicestershire (named after Leicester), but plenty don't, such as Kent, Essex and Cumbria.
Shire and county originally meant much the same thing, shire being a Saxon word and county coming in with the Normans. However, the in the modern world there are differing meanings of 'county' depending on whether you are talking geographically or administratively.
A shire is an administrative area. The name originates from controlling royal official known as a 'shire reeve' or sheriff. Seen as archaic.
Inverness-shire - UK Parliament constituency - ended in 1918.
Inverness-shire - UK Parliament constituency - was created in 1708.
Shire of Albany ended in 1998.
Shire of Cambooya ended in 2008.
Hobbits are originally from 'The Shire'. Bilbo is from Bag end, in the shire
He lived in Bag End, which was in Hobbiton in the Shire.
Coalville in Leicestershire
dunkirk
Another name for county is a parish, shire, or region.
Shire :)
HI2 answer: Shire