The fictional land home to Bilbo and Frodo Baggins in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth is the Shire.
The Shire is a settled region in the northwestern part of Middle-earth, inhabited mainly by Hobbits. It contains villages and communities such as Hobbiton, Bywater, and Buckland. Bilbo’s home, Bag End, stands in a Hobbit-hole on the Hill above Hobbiton, and Frodo later inherits it.
The Shire is sometimes confused with Hobbiton. Hobbiton is one settlement within the Shire, while the Shire is the larger country. It is also distinct from Bree, another nearby region where Hobbits, Men, and other travellers meet at the Prancing Pony inn.
Tolkien presents the Shire as peaceful, rural, and attached to familiar routines, but it is not isolated from history. Bilbo’s journey and Frodo’s quest begin there, and the events of The Lord of the Rings eventually reach the Shire during the return of the hobbits. Its restoration at the end of the story represents the recovery of home after war and upheaval.