without ceremonial representative. Barony: Area administered by a Baron and/or Baroness, the ceremonial representative(s) of the Crown. Minimum members required 25. Canton: Local branch reporting through a barony (local chapter, which may be on the way to becoming a shire). Province: Equivalent of barony without ceremonial representative. Riding: Local branch reporting through a province. Shire: Local branch reporting directly to a kingdom or principality. Minimum members required 5. College: Institutional branch based at a school, research facility, etc. (may be a part of a larger local group or report directly to a principality or kingdom). Stronghold: Institutional branch based at a military installation (may be a part of a larger local group or report directly to a principality or kingdom). Port: Institutional branch based at a military installation in situations where groups of members will be detached for long periods, as with ships at sea (may be a part of a larger local group or report directly to a principality or kingdom). Groups are active all over the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, Japan, South Africa, and New Zealand, with scattered groups elsewhere, including China, Israel, Panama and Thailand. At one time there was even a group on the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, known as the "Shire of Curragh Mor" (anglicized Irish for "Big Boat"), and the shire's arms played on the Nimitz's ship's badge. There is also an active chapter in South Korea, the Stronghold of Warrior's Gate, with a mix of active duty military personnel from the several services and military-connected civilians. There are also non-territorial, usually called "households", which are not part of the Society's formal organization, the largest of which is the Mongol Empire-themed Great Dark Horde. Kingdoms The twenty SCA Kingdoms and the geographic areas they cover are (in order of founding) The West Kingdom was created when the Society originated in 1966. It currently includes Northern California, most of Nevada, and Alaska, as well as Japan, Korea, and the Pacific Rim (excluding Australia and New Zealand). The Kingdom of the East was created in 1968. In the United States it covers eastern Pennsylvania, eastern New York, Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. In Canada, it covers Quebec, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland. The Middle Kingdom was created in 1969. Its current borders include Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, lower Michigan, and parts of Kentucky, Iowa and