diff --git a/concurrent_map.go b/concurrent_map.go
index 0e2319c..9365ec9 100644
--- a/concurrent_map.go
+++ b/concurrent_map.go
@@ -5,11 +5,13 @@ import (
 	"sync"
 )
 
-var SHARD_COUNT = 32
+var DEFAULT_SHARD_COUNT = 32
 
 // A "thread" safe map of type string:Anything.
-// To avoid lock bottlenecks this map is dived to several (SHARD_COUNT) map shards.
-type ConcurrentMap []*ConcurrentMapShared
+// To avoid lock bottlenecks this map is dived to several (m.numShards()) map shards.
+type ConcurrentMap struct {
+	maps []*ConcurrentMapShared
+}
 
 // A "thread" safe string to anything map.
 type ConcurrentMapShared struct {
@@ -19,16 +21,33 @@ type ConcurrentMapShared struct {
 
 // Creates a new concurrent map.
 func New() ConcurrentMap {
-	m := make(ConcurrentMap, SHARD_COUNT)
-	for i := 0; i < SHARD_COUNT; i++ {
-		m[i] = &ConcurrentMapShared{items: make(map[string]interface{})}
+	m := ConcurrentMap{
+		maps: make([]*ConcurrentMapShared, DEFAULT_SHARD_COUNT),
+	}
+	for i := 0; i < DEFAULT_SHARD_COUNT; i++ {
+		m.maps[i] = &ConcurrentMapShared{items: make(map[string]interface{})}
 	}
 	return m
 }
 
+// Creates a new concurrent map with size shards.
+func NewWithSize(size int) ConcurrentMap {
+	m := ConcurrentMap{
+		maps: make([]*ConcurrentMapShared, size),
+	}
+	for i := 0; i < size; i++ {
+		m.maps[i] = &ConcurrentMapShared{items: make(map[string]interface{})}
+	}
+	return m
+}
+
+func (m ConcurrentMap) numShards() int {
+	return len(m.maps)
+}
+
 // Returns shard under given key
 func (m ConcurrentMap) GetShard(key string) *ConcurrentMapShared {
-	return m[uint(fnv32(key))%uint(SHARD_COUNT)]
+	return m.maps[uint(fnv32(key))%uint(m.numShards())]
 }
 
 func (m ConcurrentMap) MSet(data map[string]interface{}) {
@@ -93,8 +112,8 @@ func (m ConcurrentMap) Get(key string) (interface{}, bool) {
 // Returns the number of elements within the map.
 func (m ConcurrentMap) Count() int {
 	count := 0
-	for i := 0; i < SHARD_COUNT; i++ {
-		shard := m[i]
+	for i := 0; i < m.numShards(); i++ {
+		shard := m.maps[i]
 		shard.RLock()
 		count += len(shard.items)
 		shard.RUnlock()
@@ -191,11 +210,11 @@ func (m ConcurrentMap) IterBuffered() <-chan Tuple {
 // It returns once the size of each buffered channel is determined,
 // before all the channels are populated using goroutines.
 func snapshot(m ConcurrentMap) (chans []chan Tuple) {
-	chans = make([]chan Tuple, SHARD_COUNT)
+	chans = make([]chan Tuple, m.numShards())
 	wg := sync.WaitGroup{}
-	wg.Add(SHARD_COUNT)
+	wg.Add(m.numShards())
 	// Foreach shard.
-	for index, shard := range m {
+	for index, shard := range m.maps {
 		go func(index int, shard *ConcurrentMapShared) {
 			// Foreach key, value pair.
 			shard.RLock()
@@ -249,8 +268,8 @@ type IterCb func(key string, v interface{})
 // Callback based iterator, cheapest way to read
 // all elements in a map.
 func (m ConcurrentMap) IterCb(fn IterCb) {
-	for idx := range m {
-		shard := (m)[idx]
+	for idx := range m.maps {
+		shard := (m).maps[idx]
 		shard.RLock()
 		for key, value := range shard.items {
 			fn(key, value)
@@ -266,8 +285,8 @@ func (m ConcurrentMap) Keys() []string {
 	go func() {
 		// Foreach shard.
 		wg := sync.WaitGroup{}
-		wg.Add(SHARD_COUNT)
-		for _, shard := range m {
+		wg.Add(m.numShards())
+		for _, shard := range m.maps {
 			go func(shard *ConcurrentMapShared) {
 				// Foreach key, value pair.
 				shard.RLock()
diff --git a/concurrent_map_bench_test.go b/concurrent_map_bench_test.go
index 47cb8d8..b5d258c 100644
--- a/concurrent_map_bench_test.go
+++ b/concurrent_map_bench_test.go
@@ -177,10 +177,10 @@ func GetSet(m ConcurrentMap, finished chan struct{}) (set func(key, value string
 }
 
 func runWithShards(bench func(b *testing.B), b *testing.B, shardsCount int) {
-	oldShardsCount := SHARD_COUNT
-	SHARD_COUNT = shardsCount
+	oldShardsCount := DEFAULT_SHARD_COUNT
+	DEFAULT_SHARD_COUNT = shardsCount
 	bench(b)
-	SHARD_COUNT = oldShardsCount
+	DEFAULT_SHARD_COUNT = oldShardsCount
 }
 
 func BenchmarkKeys(b *testing.B) {
diff --git a/concurrent_map_test.go b/concurrent_map_test.go
index c3d5f05..0bf0fd9 100644
--- a/concurrent_map_test.go
+++ b/concurrent_map_test.go
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ type Animal struct {
 
 func TestMapCreation(t *testing.T) {
 	m := New()
-	if m == nil {
+	if m.maps == nil {
 		t.Error("map is null.")
 	}
 
@@ -426,9 +426,9 @@ func TestConcurrent(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestJsonMarshal(t *testing.T) {
-	SHARD_COUNT = 2
+	DEFAULT_SHARD_COUNT = 2
 	defer func() {
-		SHARD_COUNT = 32
+		DEFAULT_SHARD_COUNT = 32
 	}()
 	expected := "{\"a\":1,\"b\":2}"
 	m := New()