The Shires

At the turnwise end of the Sto Plains, below the Carrack Mountains and just outside the influence of the surrounding City-States of Ankh-Morpork, Sto Lat, Pseudopolis and Quirm lies a rural or exurban area known as the Shires. Due to the proximity of the four major cities, it is not quite as rural as the greater Sto Plains widdershins and hubward; it probably includes as many country estates of the neighbouring gentry as working farms (although these may be combined).

A portion is described in Snuff, up the river Quire from Quirm. This area includes Crundells, the country seat of the Ramkins and now Samuel Vimes, and the village of Hangnails, twenty miles up the river. The region seems to be especially devoted to country homes and retirement villas of the affluent from the cities, with most of the local population occupied in their care and feeding. It is also home to a clan of Goblins.

Annotation

Although people use the term 'the Shires' to refer to Middle England there is no obvious place, maybe Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Lincolnshire, Hampshire. Note there are also shires in Scotland and Wales, but things aren't clear. The Shire was the location of Hobbiton of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.