Shropshire is a county in the west of England, right up against the Welsh border. Its local government sits in Shrewsbury, the old county town. It is a real place-name, so it takes a capital S. English people often say it as SHROP-shuh, with the last part soft, not like a history-book “shire.” The land is mostly hills, farms, and market towns, not one huge city. Though actually, the name is a bit of a twist: it is the old name of Shrewsbury plus the old word for a county, so Shropshire is, in a way, “the shire of Shrewsbury.” You may also meet a Shropshire sheep, a dark-faced breed named after the county, and Shropshire Blue cheese. Those take the place-name; they are not extra map-meanings. In older papers you might see Salop — an old short name for the same county.