Regions of Greece

Summary

The regions of Greece (Greek: περιφέρειες, romanizedperiféreies) are the country's thirteen second-level administrative entities, counting decentralized administrations of Greece as first-level. Regions are divided into regional units, known as prefectures until 2011.

Regions of Greece
Περιφέρειες της Ελλάδας (Greek)
CategoryUnitary state
LocationHellenic Republic
Number13 Regions
1 Autonomous Region
Populations197,810 (North Aegean) – 3,812,330 (Attica)
Areas2,307 km2 (891 sq mi) (Ionian Islands) – 18,810 km2 (7,260 sq mi) (Central Macedonia)
Government
Subdivisions

History

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The current regions were established in July 1986 (the presidential decree officially establishing them was signed in 1987), by decision of the interior minister, Menios Koutsogiorgas, as second-level administrative entities, complementing the prefectures (Law 1622/1986).[1] Before 1986, there was a traditional division into broad historical–geographical regions (γεωγραφικά διαμερίσματα), which, however, was often arbitrary; not all of the pre-1986 traditional historical-geographic regions had official administrative bodies. Although the post-1986 regions were mostly based on the earlier divisions, they are usually smaller and, in a few cases, do not overlap with the traditional definitions: for instance, the region of Western Greece, which had no previous analogue, comprises territory belonging to the Peloponnese peninsula and the traditional region of Central Greece.

As part of a decentralization process inspired by Interior Minister Alekos Papadopoulos, they were accorded more powers in the 1997 Kapodistrias reform of local and regional government. They were transformed into fully separate entities by the 2010 Kallikratis Plan (Law 3852/2010), which entered into effect on 1 January 2011. In the 2011 changes, the government-appointed general secretary (γενικός γραμματέας) was replaced with a popularly elected regional governor (περιφερειάρχης) and a regional council (περιφερειακό συμβούλιο) with five-year terms. Many powers of the prefectures, which were also abolished or reformed into regional units, were transferred to the region level. The regional organs of the central government were in turn replaced by seven decentralized administrations, which group from one to three regions under a government-appointed general secretary.

List of regions

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  1. Attica / Αττική
  2. Central Greece / Στερεά Ελλάδα
  3. Central Macedonia / Κεντρική Μακεδονία
  4. Crete / Κρήτη
  5. Eastern Macedonia and Thrace / Ανατολική Μακεδονία και Θράκη
  6. Epirus / Ήπειρος
  7. Ionian Islands / Ιόνια νησιά
  8. North Aegean / Βόρειο Αιγαίο
  9. Peloponnese / Πελοπόννησος
  10. South Aegean / Νότιο Αιγαίο
  11. Thessaly / Θεσσαλία
  12. Western Greece / Δυτική Ελλάδα
  13. Western Macedonia / Δυτική Μακεδονία
  14. Mount Athos / Άγιον Όρος
Map showing modern regions of Greece

Bordering the region of Central Macedonia there is one autonomous region, Mount Athos (Agion Oros, or "Holy Mountain"), an autonomous monastic community under Greek sovereignty. It is located on the easternmost of the three large peninsulas jutting into the Aegean from the Chalkidiki peninsula.

Region Seat Area
(km2)
Governor (1 January 202431 December 2028) Population Population density
(residents/km2)
GDP
(million €)
GDP per capita
()
1 Attica Athens 3,808 Nikos Hardalias [el]
(ND)
3,812,330 1001.11 110,546 28,997
2 Central Greece Lamia 15,549 Fanis Spanos
(ND)
546,870 35.17 10,537 19,007
3 Central Macedonia Thessaloniki 18,811 Apostolos Tzitzikostas
(ND)
1,874,590 99.66 32,285 16,559
4 Crete Heraklion 8,336 Stavros Arnaoutakis
(PASOK–KINAL)
621,340 74.54 11,243 18,421
5 Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Komotini 14,157 Christodoulos Topsidis [el]
(Independent)
606,170 42.82 9,265 15,272
6 Epirus Ioannina 9,203 Alexandros Kahrimanis [el]
(ND)
336,650 36.58 5,079 14,221
7 Ionian Islands Corfu 2,307 Giannis Trepeklis [el]
(Independent)
206,470 89.50 4,130 17,726
8 North Aegean Mytilene 3,836 Kostas Moutzouris [el]
(Independent)
197,810 51.57 3,330 16,638
9 Peloponnese Tripoli 15,490 Dimitris Ptochos [el]
(ND)
581,980 37.57 9,809 16,580
10 South Aegean Ermoupoli 5,286 George Hatzimarkos [el]
(ND)
308,610 58.38 7,646 24,828
11 Thessaly Larissa 14,037 Dimitris Kouretas [el]
(PASOK–KINAL)
730,730 52.06 11,608 15,772
12 Western Greece Patras 11,350 Nektarios Farmakis [el]
(ND)
680,190 59.93 10,659 14,332
13 Western Macedonia Kozani 9,451 Giorgos Amanatidis [el]
(ND)
282,120 29.85 5,506 18,786
(14) Mount Athos Karyes 336 Anastasios Mitsialis 2,146 6.38

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Ν.1622/86 "Τοπική Αυτοδιοίκηση - Περιφερειακή Ανάπτυξη - Δημοκρατικός Προγραμματισμός", (ΦΕΚ 92/τ.Α΄/14-7-1986)