Bilbo Baggins’s home region in J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendarium is the Shire.
The Shire is a peaceful, fertile country in the northwestern part of Middle-earth. It is inhabited mainly by Hobbits, whose communities include Hobbiton, Bywater, Michel Delving, and Tuckborough. Bilbo and Frodo Baggins live in Hobbiton, while Samwise Gamgee is from nearby Bag End’s local community.
Tolkien presents the Shire as a land of gardens, farms, inns, lanes, and comfortable homes. Its ordinary rural life contrasts sharply with the wars and supernatural dangers beyond its borders. This contrast helps explain why Bilbo and Frodo’s adventures feel so disruptive: both begin as residents of a sheltered society.
The Shire is not the same place as Bree, another settlement where Hobbits and Men meet. It is also distinct from Gondor and Rivendell, which lie far to the south and east. After the War of the Ring, Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin help restore the Shire after its brief occupation and industrialization under Saruman’s agents.