Herefordshire (/ˈhɛrᵻfərdʃər/; abbreviated Herefs. or Hfds.) is a historic English county in the West Midlands. It is a ceremonial county and a unitary non-metropolitan county and district, also named in legislation as the County of Herefordshire and governed by Herefordshire Council. It borders the English ceremonial counties of Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh preserved counties of Gwent to the south-west and Powys to the west. The Welsh unitary county covering the part of Gwent next to Herefordshire is Monmouthshire.
Hereford is a cathedral city and is the county town; with a population of approximately 55,800 inhabitants it is also the largest settlement. The county is one of the most rural and sparsely populated in England, with a population density of 82/km² (212/sq mi). The land use is predominantly agricultural and the county is well known for its fruit and cider production, and the Hereford cattle breed.
The county constituency of Herefordshire, in the West Midlands of England bordering on Wales, was abolished when the county was divided for parliamentary purposes in 1885. It was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885.
The undivided county was represented from 1290 by two Knights of the Shire until 1832 and three thereafter. After the county was split two new county constituencies were created, the North division or Leominster and the South division or Ross.
The constituency consisted of the historic county of Herefordshire. Although Herefordshire contained a number of parliamentary boroughs, each of which elected one or two MPs in its own right for parts of the period when Herefordshire was a constituency, these areas were not excluded from the county constituency. Owning freehold property of the required value, within such boroughs, could confer a vote at the county election. From 1832 only non-resident owners of forty shilling freeholds, situated in borough seats, could qualify for a county vote on the basis of that property.