The Shire is the fictional land that is home to Bilbo and Frodo Baggins in J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendarium.
It is a peaceful region of northwestern Middle-earth inhabited mainly by Hobbits. The Shire contains familiar Hobbit settlements such as Hobbiton, Bywater, and Tuckborough, with daily life organized around farms, gardens, meals, and local customs.
Bilbo lives at Bag End in Hobbiton, and Frodo inherits the same home. Their departures from the Shire begin the central journeys of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
The Shire is not the whole of Middle-earth, and it is distinct from places such as Rivendell, Gondor, and Rohan. Tolkien modeled aspects of its landscape and social life on the English countryside, especially the rural areas he knew as a child.