Following the implementation on 1 January 2011 of the Kallikratis Plan, the administrative divisions of Greece consist of two main levels: the regions and the

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

. In addition, a number of decentralized administrations overseeing the regions exist as part of the Ministry of the Interior, but are not entities of local government. The old

prefectures A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

were either abolished and divided or transformed into regional units in 2011. The

administrative regions Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

are divided into regional units which are further subdivided into

. The Eastern Orthodox monastic community on

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the peni ...

is an autonomous self-governing entity.

Administrative divisions

Municipalities

The first level of government is constituted by the municipalities (δήμοι, ''dímoi''; sing. δήμος, '' dímos''), which have resulted from merging several former municipalities and communities (themselves the subject of a previous reform with the 1997

Kapodistrias plan Kapodistrias reform ( el, Σχέδιο Καποδίστριας, "Kapodistrias Plan") is the common name of law 2539 of Greece, which reorganised the country's administrative divisions. The law, named after 19th-century Greek statesman Ioannis Kap ...

). They are run by a mayor (δήμαρχος, '' dímarchos'') and a municipal council (δημοτικό συμβούλιο, ''dimotikó symvoúlio''), elected every 5 years. The municipalities are further subdivided into municipal units (δημοτικές ενότητες, ''dimotikés enótites'') and finally into communities (κοινότητες, ''koinótites''). Although communities have their own councils, their role is purely advisory to the municipal-level government.

Regions

The second level is composed of the regions (περιφέρειες, ''periféreies''; sing. περιφέρεια, ''periféreia''), run by a regional governor (περιφερειάρχης, ''perifereiárchis'') and a regional council (περιφερειακό συμβούλιο, ''perifereiakó symvoúlio''), popularly elected every 5 years. The regions are divided into 74 regional units (περιφερειακές ενότητες, ''perifereiakés enótites''), usually but not always coterminous with the former

. Each regional unit is headed by a vice-regional governor (αντιπεριφερειάρχης, ''antiperifereiárchis''), drawn from the same political block as the regional governor.

Decentralized administrations

The third level is composed of the new decentralized administrations (αποκεντρωμένες διοικήσεις, ''apokentroménes dioikíseis''), comprising two or three regions (except for

Attica Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean ...

and

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

), run by a government-appointed

general secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

, assisted by an advisory council drawn from the regional governors and the representatives of the municipalities. Kallikratis dioikisi

Decentralized Administration of Attica, with the capital of

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace, with the capital of

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

Decentralized Administration of Epirus and Western Macedonia, with the capital of

Ioannina Ioannina ( el, Ιωάννινα ' ), often called Yannena ( ' ) within Greece, is the capital and largest city of the Ioannina regional unit and of Epirus, an administrative region in north-western Greece. According to the 2011 census, the c ...

Decentralized Administration of Thessaly and Central Greece, with the capital of

Larissa Larissa (; el, Λάρισα, , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 144,651 according to the 2011 census. It is also capital of the Larissa regiona ...

Decentralized Administration of Peloponnese, Western Greece and the Ionian, with the capital of

Patras ) , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 = , demographics1_info2 = , timezone1 = EET , utc_offset1 = +2 ...

Decentralized Administration of the Aegean, with the capital of

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saro ...

Decentralized Administration of Crete, with the capital of

Heraklion Heraklion or Iraklion ( ; el, Ηράκλειο, , ) is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in Gree ...

Monastic community of Mount Athos (self-governing, excluded from the Kallikratis Plan)

History

From 1 January 2011, in accordance with the

Kallikratis programme The Kallikratis Programme ( el, Πρόγραμμα Καλλικράτης, Prógramma Kallikrátis) is the common name of Greek law 3852/2010 of 2010, a major administrative reform in Greece. It brought about the second major reform of the count ...

, the administrative system of

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

was drastically overhauled. The former system of 13 regions, 54

and 1033 municipalities and communities was replaced by 7 decentralized administrations, 13 regions and 325 municipalities. From 2019 there are 332 municipalities (

Kleisthenis I Programme Kleisthenis I Programme ( el, Πρόγραμμα Κλεισθένης Ι, Prógramma Kleisthénis I) is the common name of Greek law 4555/2018 of July 2018, a major administrative reform in Greece. It brought about the third major reform of th ...

). The first elections to the restructured Greek local government areas were held between 7 November and 14 November 2010.

References