County, a unit of local government in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and other nations influenced by the Anglo-Saxon tradition of government. In England a county was originally a tribal settlement, or even a whole kingdom, known to the Saxons as a shire—a term still preserved, as in the county of Hampshire. With the formation of the United Kingdom, the English county form was adopted in Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. Today counties remain Great Britain's chief governmental division for administrative and related purposes, though in some fields their competence has been reduced as a result of governmental centralizing policies during the 1980s. In the United States they are the largest organized unit in almost all states. In Canada counties are generally less widespread and important than in England. In Australia counties are generally referred to as shires.