Greece Has No Provinces: 13 Regions & 74 Regional Units

Administrative Geography of the Hellenic Republic

Greece is a unitary state, not a federation. It does not have provinces (abolished 2011). Instead, it uses a two-tier decentralized administration:

First Tier: 13 Peripheries (Regions / Περιφέρειες)

1. Attica (Athens)
2. Central Greece
3. Central Macedonia
4. Crete
5. Eastern Macedonia & Thrace
6. Epirus
7. Ionian Islands
8. North Aegean
9. Peloponnese
10. South Aegean
11. Thessaly
12. Western Greece
13. Western Macedonia

Each has an elected governor & council (since 2010 Kallikratis reform).

Second Tier: 74 Regional Units (Περιφερειακές Ενότητες)

• Former prefectures (nomoi) renamed/reorganized.
• Each headed by a Vice Governor (appointed).
• Correspond closely to pre-2010 prefectures.

Third Tier: 332 Municipalities (Δήμοι)

• Merged from 1,034 former municipalities/communities (Kapodistrias 1997 → Kallikratis 2010).
• Elected mayor & council. Responsible for local services.

Special Cases

• Mount Athos (Agio Oros): Autonomous monastic state (UNESCO), own administration, not part of any periphery/unit.
• Decentralized Administrations (7): Central govt field offices coordinating regions (not elected).

So: No provinces. 13 Regions → 74 Regional Units → 332 Municipalities. Clear, hierarchical, unitary.