In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), an area is an administrative unit that typically is composed of multiple stakes and missions. These areas are the primary church administrative unit between individual stakes or missions and the church as a whole.

History

The areas as they now exist were formed in January 1984. Prior to that time, general authorities served as "area supervisors" and at times resided outside of Salt Lake City. In 1984, 13 initial areas were created; by 1992 there were 22, and by early 2007 there were 31. As of April 2022, there are 23 areas.

Administration

Until 2003, each area had a president and two counselors, all of whom were typically general authorities (area seventies sometimes served as counselors). This three-man body was known as the area presidency. In that year, the church eliminated these presidencies for areas located in the United States and Canada, which were all then placed under the direct supervision of a member of the Presidency of the Seventy, thus freeing more general authorities from specific area assignments. Since these areas were previously administered by area presidencies located at church headquarters in Salt Lake City, the administrative change was not as drastic as it might seem. In April 2018, the church announced that, effective August 1 of that year, areas in the United States and Canada would once again be supervised by a three-man presidency. This enabled the Presidency of the Seventy to more fully assist the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in their duties, and to fill other assignments as needed. The areas outside the United States and Canada continue to be governed by area presidencies that are typically composed of general authorities and area seventies. These presidency members usually reside in a headquarters city located in the geographic boundaries of the area. Area seventies who serve in these presidencies reside in their own homes, which may or may not be in the area headquarters city. In 2019, church leaders stated that the 10 North American areas would be merged into six (the Idaho Area merged into the North America Central Area; the North America Northwest Area merged into the North America West Area; and the Utah North, Utah Salt Lake City, and Utah South areas merged into a single Utah Area. Also in 2019, a structural change occurred in the administration of the Middle East/Africa North Area. In prior years, two general authorities based at church headquarters were assigned oversight for the area. However, beginning in August 2019, a three-man area presidency was established to oversee the area. Two of them were general authorities at church headquarters, while the second counselor was an area seventy living in the area. In 2019, church leaders also announced the division of the Africa Southeast Area, into the Africa Central and Africa South areas, effective August 1, 2020. Two months later, W. Christopher Waddell, second counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, announced in Johannesburg that the new Africa Central Area would be headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. Then in 2022, additional structural changes affected Europe. The Europe and Europe East areas were split into 3 areas and renamed the Europe Central, Europe East, and Europe North areas. The presidency of the Europe Area became the presidency of the Europe Central Area, with the presidency of the Europe East Area becoming three area seventies. The president and first counselor in the Europe East Area were reassigned to fill the same roles in the Europe North Area, with the second counselor being an area seventy. The area seventy who had been serving as the second counselor in the Europe East Area was designated an assistant to the Europe North Area presidency, specifically overseeing Ukraine and Moldova, which will be separate from a specific area at the current time. As of April 2022, the church has 17 areas outside North America and six areas inside North America, for a total of 23. With the changes in Europe, the church now has five area seventies serving in area presidencies. Area assignments are generally announced sometime after April's general conference and are effective August 1.

Summary statistics

Temples O=Operating Temples (includes temporary closures) U=Temples Under Construction A=Temples publicly announced to be constructed T=Total Temples (announced and under construction)

Area details

The following details are current as of August 1, 2019, and are taken from the LDS Church Growth Blog, statistical profiles on cumorah.com, and the Facts and Statistics page of the church's official website (www.churchofjesuschrist.org). Ward and branch totals and membership numbers were last updated in 2015. {| class=wikitable ! colspan=3 |

Africa Central

Headquarters: Nairobi, Kenya Official Website 163,345 Members, 35 Stakes, 20 Districts, 454 Congregations, 11 Missions, 5 Temples President: Thierry K. Mutombo First counselor: Paul B. Pieper Second counselor: Christophe G. Giraud-Carrier ! colspan=3 | Missions: ! colspan=3 | Temples: ! colspan=3 | Geographic coverage: (Areas where the LDS Church has no official presence in italics) Burundi Cameroon Central African Republic Democratic Republic of the Congo Djibouti Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Ethiopia Gabon Kenya Republic of the Congo Rwanda Seychelles Somalia South Sudan Tanzania Uganda {| class=wikitable ! colspan=3 |

Africa South

Headquarters: Johannesburg, South Africa Official Website 165,935 Members, 36 Stakes, 25 Districts, 470 Congregations, 11 Missions, 6 Temples Area president: Carlos A. Godoy First counselor: Denelson Silva Second counselor: Vaiangina Sikahema ! colspan=3 | Missions: ! colspan=3 | Temples: ! colspan=3 | Geographic coverage: (Areas where the LDS Church has no official presence in italics) Angola Botswana Comoros Eswatini Lesotho Madagascar Malawi Mauritius Mayotte (FRA) Mozambique Namibia Réunion (FRA) São Tomé and Príncipe South Africa Zambia Zimbabwe {| class=wikitable ! colspan=3 |

Africa West

Headquarters: Accra, Ghana Official Website 447,186 Members, 134 Stakes, 44 Districts, 990 wards, 606 branches, 17 missions, 9 temples Area president: Alfred Kyungu First counselor: Adeyinka A. Ojediran Second counselor: Isaac K. Morrison ! colspan=3 | Missions: ! colspan=3 | Temples: ! colspan=3 | Geographic coverage: (Areas where the LDS Church has no official presence in italics) Benin Burkina Faso Chad Ghana Gambia Guinea Guinea-Bissau Ivory Coast Liberia Mali Mauritania Niger Nigeria Senegal Sierra Leone Togo Western Sahara {| class=wikitable ! colspan=3 |

Asia

Headquarters: Hong Kong, China Official Website 184,136 Members, 35 Stakes, 34 Districts, 409 Congregations, 10 Missions, 9 Temples Area president: Benjamin M. Z. Tai First counselor: Kelly R. Johnson Second counselor: Michael John U. Teh ! colspan=3 | Missions: ! colspan=3 | Temples: ! colspan=3 | Geographic coverage: (Areas where the LDS Church has no official presence in italics) Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Cambodia China East Timor Hong Kong India Indonesia Laos Malaysia Maldives Myanmar Nepal Pakistan Singapore Sri Lanka Taiwan Thailand Vietnam {| class=wikitable ! colspan=3 |

Asia North

Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan Official Website 241,297 Members, 38 Stakes, 19 Districts, 385 Congregations, 11 Missions, 7 Temples Area president: John A. McCune First counselor: J. Kimo Esplin Second counselor: Christopher H. Kim ! colspan=3 | Missions: ! colspan=3 | Temples: ! colspan=3 | Geographic coverage: (Areas where the LDS Church has no official presence in italics) Guam (US) Japan Micronesia Mongolia; North Korea Northern Mariana Islands (US) Palau South Korea {| class=wikitable ! colspan=3 |

Brazil

Headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil Official Website 1,472,521 Members, 281 Stakes, 40 Districts, 2,176 Congregations, 36 Missions, 20 Temples Area president: Joni L. Koch First counselor: Ciro Schmeil Second counselor: Mark D. Eddy ! colspan=3 | Missions: ! colspan=3 | Temples: ! colspan=3 | Geographic coverage: Brazil {| class=wikitable ! colspan=3 |

Caribbean

Headquarters: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Official Website 399,607 Members, 67 Stakes, 29 Districts, 607 Congregations, 12 Missions, 4 Temples Area president: Jorge F. Zeballos First counselor: Valeri V. Cordon Second counselor: Vern P. Stanfill ! colspan=3 | Missions: ! colspan=3 | Temples: ! colspan=3 | Geographic coverage: (Areas where the LDS Church has no official presence in italics) Anguilla (UK) Antigua and Barbuda Aruba (NED) Bahamas Barbados Bonaire (NED) Cayman Islands (UK) Cuba Curaçao (NED) Dominica Dominican Republic French Guiana (FRA) Grenada Guadeloupe (FRA) Guyana Haiti Jamaica Martinique (FRA) Montserrat (FRA) Puerto Rico (US) Saint Barthelemy (FRA) Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Martin (FRA) Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Sint Maarten (NED) Suriname Trinidad and Tobago Turks and Caicos Islands Venezuela Virgin Islands (UK) Virgin Islands (US) {| class=wikitable ! colspan=3 |

Central America

Headquarters: Guatemala City, Guatemala 822,262 Members, 133 Stakes, 28 Districts, 1,101 Congregations, 19 Missions, 12 Temples Area president: Taylor G. Godoy First counselor: Patricio M. Giuffra Second counselor: Ryan K. Olsen ! colspan=3 | Missions: ! colspan=3 | Temples: ! colspan=3 | Geographic coverage: Belize Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Panama {| class=wikitable ! colspan=3 |

Eurasian

Headquarters: Moscow, Russia 9,491 Members, 3 Stakes, 9 Districts, 82 Congregations, 6 Missions, 1 Temples Area president: Alexey V. Samaykin (Area Seventy) First counselor: Nikolai Ustyuzhaninov (Area Seventy) Second counselor: Aleksandr A. Drachyov (Area Seventy) ! colspan=3 | Missions: ! colspan=3 | Temples: ! colspan=3 | Geographic coverage: (Areas where the LDS Church has no official presence in italics) Armenia Belarus Georgia Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Russia {| class=wikitable ! colspan=3 |

Europe Central

Headquarters: Frankfurt, Germany 223,324 Members, 64 Stakes, 11 Districts, 694 Congregations, 17 Missions, 12 Temples Area president: Ruben V. Alliaud First counselor: Jack N. Gerard Second counselor: James W. McConkie III ! colspan=3 | Missions: ! colspan=3 | Temples: ! colspan=3 | Geographic coverage: (Areas where the LDS Church has no official presence in italics) Albania Andorra Austria Azerbaijan Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Canary Islands (ESP) Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic France Germany Greece Hungary Italy Kosovo Liechtenstein Luxembourg Malta Monaco Montenegro Netherlands North Macedonia Poland Romania San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Switzerland Tajikistan Turkey Turkmenistan Uzbekistan Vatican City {| class=wikitable ! colspan=3 |

Europe North

Headquarters: London, England Official Website 282,145 Members, 67 Stakes, 7 Districts, 560 Congregations, 13 Missions, 9 Temples Area president: Scott D. Whiting First counselor: Marcos A. Aidukaitis Second counselor: Alan T. Phillips ! colspan=3 | Missions: ! colspan=3 | Temples: ! colspan=3 | Geographic coverage: (Areas where the LDS Church has no official presence in italics) Cape Verde Denmark Greenland (DEN) Estonia Finland Iceland Ireland Latvia Lithuania Norway Portugal Azores (POR) Madeira (POR) Sweden United Kingdom Falkland Islands (UK) Gibraltar (UK) Guernsey (UK) Isle of Man (UK) Jersey (UK) Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (UK) {| class=wikitable ! colspan=3 |

Unassigned

As of April 2022, Ukraine and Moldova are not assigned to any of the church's areas. Kyrylo Pokhylko, a Ukrainian area seventy and assistant to the presidency of the Europe North Area has responsibility for the work of the church in those nations. 10,799 Members, 2 Stakes, 3 Districts, 48 Congregations, 2 Missions, 1 Temples Kyrylo Pokhylko (Area Seventy): Assistant to the Europe North Area Presidency ! colspan=3 | Missions: ! colspan=3 | Temples: ! colspan=3 | Geographic coverage: Moldova Ukraine {| class=wikitable ! colspan=3 |

Mexico

Headquarters: Mexico City, Mexico Official Website (Español) 1,507,720 Members, 227 Stakes, 47 Districts, 1,863 Congregations, 32 Missions, 23 Temples Area president: Hugo Montoya First counselor: Sean Douglas Second counselor: Moises Villanueva ! colspan=3 | Missions: ! colspan=3 | Temples: ! colspan=3 | Geographic coverage: Mexico {| class=wikitable ! colspan=3 |

Middle East/ Africa North

Headquarters: Salt Lake City, Utah 5,457 Members, 2 Stakes, 2 Districts, 33 Congregations, 0 Missions, 1 Temples Area president: Anthony D. Perkins First counselor: Adilson de Paula Parrella Second counselor: Roland J. Bäck (Area Seventy) ! colspan=3 | Missions: No Missions ! colspan=3 | Temples: ! colspan=3 | Geographic coverage: (Areas where the LDS Church has no official presence in italics) Afghanistan Algeria Bahrain Egypt Iran Iraq Israel Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Libya Morocco Oman Qatar Saudi Arabia Sudan Syria Tunisia United Arab Emirates Yemen {| class=wikitable ! colspan=3 |

North America Central

Headquarters: Salt Lake City, Utah 1,148,849 Members, 304 Stakes, 2,765 Congregations, 20 Missions, 33 Temples Area president: Randall K. Bennett First counselor: Steven R. Bangerter Second counselor: Ricardo P. Gimenezt ! colspan=3 | Missions: ! colspan=3 | Temples: ! colspan=3 | Geographic coverage: Alberta British Columbia (small eastern sections) Colorado Idaho (except panhandle) Illinois Indiana (small portion) Iowa Kansas Manitoba Michigan (Upper Peninsula) Minnesota Missouri Montana Nebraska Northwest Territories North Dakota Ontario (western) Saskatchewan South Dakota Wisconsin Wyoming {| class=wikitable ! colspan=3 |

North America Northeast

Headquarters: Salt Lake City, Utah Official Website 643,071 Members, 141 Stakes, 5 Districts, 1,300 Congregations, 17 missions, 18 Temples Area president: Allen D. Haynie First counselor: Mathias Held Second counselor: Robert M. Daines ! colspan=3 | Missions: ! colspan=3 | Temples: ! colspan=3 | Geographic coverage: Connecticut Delaware Indiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan New Brunswick Newfoundland New Hampshire New Jersey New York Nova Scotia Nunavut Ohio Ontario Pennsylvania Prince Edward Island Quebec Rhode Island Vermont Virginia Washington, D.C. West Virginia Bermuda (UK) Saint Pierre and Miquelon (FRA) {| class=wikitable ! colspan=3 |

North America Southeast

Headquarters: Salt Lake City, Utah 618,465 Members, 127 Stakes, 1,153 Congregations, 16 Missions, 16 Temples Area president: Craig C. Christensen First counselor: Ahmad S. Corbitt Second counselor: Massimo De Feo ! colspan=3 | Missions: ! colspan=3 | Temples: ! colspan=3 | Geographic coverage: Alabama Arkansas Florida Georgia Indiana (Southern) Kentucky Louisiana Mississippi Missouri (Southern) North Carolina Oklahoma (small portion) South Carolina Tennessee {| class=wikitable ! colspan=3 |

North America Southwest

Headquarters: Salt Lake City, Utah 1,120,569 Members, 259 Stakes, 2 Districts, 1,948 Congregations, 22 Missions, 21 Temples Area president: Jose L. Alonso First counselor: Michael A. Dunn Second counselor: Jonathan S. Schmitt ! colspan=3 | Missions: ! colspan=3 | Temples: ! colspan=3 | Geographic coverage: Arizona Nevada New Mexico Oklahoma Texas California (small portions) Colorado (southwest portion) Louisiana (small portion) Utah (small portions) {| class=wikitable ! colspan=3 |

North America West

Headquarters: Salt Lake City, Utah 1,300,546 Members, 273 Stakes, 1 Districts, 2,219 Congregations, 29 Missions, 24 Temples Area president: Mark A. Bragg First counselor: Takashi Wada Second counselor: Peter M. Johnson ! colspan=3 | Missions: ! colspan=3 | Temples: ! colspan=3 | Geographic coverage: Alaska British Columbia California Hawaii Idaho (Panhandle) Oregon Washington Yukon {| class=wikitable ! colspan=3 |

Pacific

Headquarters: Auckland, New Zealand Official website 581,988 Members, 140 Stakes, 35 Districts, 1,278 Congregations, 17 Missions, 17 Temples Area president: Peter F. Meurs First counselor: Taniela B. Wakolo Second counselor: Jeremy R. Jaggi ! colspan=3 | Missions: ! colspan=3 | Temples: ! colspan=3 | Geographic coverage: American Samoa (US) Australia Cook Islands (NZ) Fiji French Polynesia (FRA) Kiribati Marshall Islands Nauru New Caledonia (FRA) New Zealand Niue (NZ) Pitcairn Islands (UK) Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Tokelau (NZ) Vanuatu Wallis and Futuna (FRA) {| class=wikitable ! colspan=3 |

Philippines

Headquarters: Quezon City, Philippines Official Website 853,254 Members, 125 Stakes, 55 Districts, 1,272 Congregations, 23 Missions, 12 Temples Area president: Carlos G. Revillo Jr. First counselor: Chi Hong (Sam) Wong Second counselor: Michael B. Strong ! colspan=3 | Missions: ! colspan=3 | Temples: ! colspan=3 | Geographic coverage: Philippines {| class=wikitable ! colspan=3 |

South America Northwest

Headquarters: Lima, Peru Official Website (Spanish) 1,327,350 Members, 217 Stakes, 40 Districts, 1,625 Congregations, 30 Missions, 15 Temples Area president: Jorge T. Becerra First counselor: Rafael E. Pino Second counselor: Juan Pablo Villar ! colspan=3 | Missions: ! colspan=3 | Temples: ! colspan=3 | Geographic coverage: Bolivia Colombia Ecuador Perú {| class=wikitable ! colspan=3 |

South America South

Headquarters: Buenos Aires, Argentina Official Website (Spanish) 1,284,696 Members, 181 Stakes, 54 Districts, 1,560 Congregations, 27 Missions, 12 Temples Area president: Joaquin E. Costa First counselor: Alan R. Walker Second counselor: Eduardo Gavarret ! colspan=3 | Missions: ! colspan=3 | Temples: ! colspan=3 | Geographic coverage: Argentina Chile Paraguay Uruguay {| class=wikitable ! colspan=3 |

Utah

Headquarters: Salt Lake City, Utah Official Website 2,173,560 Members, 629 Stakes, 2 Districts, 5,412 Congregations, 10 Missions, 28 Temples Area president: Kevin W. Pearson First counselor: Hugo E. Martinez Second counselor: Brian K. Taylor ! colspan=3 | Missions: ! colspan=3 | Temples: ! colspan=3 | Geographic coverage: Utah; Arizona (small portion); Idaho (small portion); Nevada (small portion); Wyoming (southwest corner)