Comarca

A comarca (Spanish: [koˈmaɾka], Portuguese: [kuˈmaɾkɐ], Catalan: [kuˈmarkə]) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain, and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term marca, meaning a "march, mark", plus the prefix co-, meaning "together, jointly".

The comarca is known in Aragonese as redolada (IPA: [reðoˈlaða]) and in Basque as eskualde (IPA: [es̺kualde]). In addition, in Galician, comarcas are also called bisbarras (IPA: [bizˈβarɐs]).

Although the English word "county" and its near synonym "shire" have similar meanings, they are usually translated into Spanish and Portuguese as condado, a term which in the Iberian Peninsula refers only to regions historically ruled by a conde (count or earl). However, "comarca" is occasionally used such as in the Spanish Wikipedia entry for comarca and some translations of The Lord of the Rings (see below).