Shire (administrative unit)

The Shire (pronunciation [ ˈʃaɪə ], as part of the name -shire mostly [ -ʃə ] or more rarely [ -ʃɪə ]) was an administrative area (comparable to Gau or Pagus ) in the Anglo-Saxon period , according to which the amount of taxes was determined. Taxes were to be paid to the Shires' administrative offices. These Shires were named after these administrative offices, e.g. B. Oxfordshire or Lancashire .

With the Norman conquest of England , the Shires were incorporated into the territorial units of the Normans . Although they kept their traditional names, they became the so-called counties . Shires still exist in Australia today as local administrative units .

In the English colony of what is now the United States , eight shires were founded in Virginia in 1634 , later renamed to countys . From 1664 to 1683 there was also the York Shire in the province of New York , which was then reclassified to countys .

In Australia there is also the common name Shire for the Local Government Area (LGA) in the states of New South Wales , Victoria , Queensland and Western Australia .