The Shire is Frodo’s home region in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth.
It is a peaceful, fertile land in the northwest of Eriador, inhabited mainly by Hobbits. Frodo lives in Hobbiton, a village within the Shire, while his uncle Bilbo’s famous home is Bag End. The story’s opening contrasts this familiar countryside with the wider dangers that Frodo must face.
The Shire has its own customs, local administration, and calendar traditions. Although it appears isolated, it is part of the history of Middle-earth and lies near important routes and older kingdoms. The Shire is not the same as Hobbiton: Hobbiton is one settlement, while the Shire is the larger territory containing it. Bree, Rohan, and Gondor are separate places elsewhere in the narrative.