During the first administrative division of independent Greece in 1833–1836 and again from 1845 until their abolition with the Kallikratis reform in 2010, the prefectures were the country's main administrative unit. They are now defunct, and have been approximately replaced by regional units. They are called departments in ISO 3166-2:GR and by the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names. The prefectures were the second-degree organization of local government, grouped into 13 regions or (before 1987) 10 geographical departments, and in turn divided into provinces and comprising a number of communities and municipalities. The prefectures became self-governing entities in 1994, when the first prefectural-level elections took place. The prefects were previously appointed by the government. By 2010, their number had risen to 51, of which one, the Attica Prefecture, where more than a third of the country's population resided, was further subdivided into four prefecture-level administrations (νομαρχίες, sing. νομαρχία). In addition, there were three super-prefectures (υπερνομαρχίες, sing. υπερνομαρχία) controlling two or more prefectures. With the Kallikratis reform, which entered into force on 1 January 2011, the prefectures were abolished. Many, especially in the mainland, were retained in the form of regional units (περιφερειακές ενότητες) within the empowered regions, which largely took over the prefectures' administrative role.

Organization

The "Prefectural Self-Governments" were formed in 1994 and replaced the previous prefectures, whose councils and prefects were appointed by the government. Prefectures were governed by a Prefectural Council (νομαρχιακό συμβούλιο) made up of 21 to 37 members, led by the Prefect (νομάρχης) and presided by a Council President (πρόεδρος). Other organs of the prefectures were: Super-prefectures had their own organs (Council, Committee and Super-prefect). Prefectural councillors were elected via public election every four years. Three-fifths of all seats went to the combination winning a majority and two-fifths of the seats going to remaining parties based on a proportional system. Prefect became the president of the victorious electoral combination. Victorious is a combination which attains more than 42% in the first round of the prefectural elections. If no combination passes this threshold, a second round takes place between the two combinations that took the most votes in the first round.

Duties

The State ultimately oversaw the actions of local governments, including the prefectures, but the Constitution of Greece and the Code of Prefectural Self-Government still provided communities and municipalities with legal control over the administration of their designated areas. The Code of Prefectural Self-Government did not include a non-restrictive list of prefectural duties, but a general rule, according to which the newly formed Prefectural Self-Governments had all the duties of the previous prefectures, which are related to their local affairs. Nonetheless, the affairs of "(central) state administration" belonging to the prefects before 1994 are now exerted by the Presidents of the Regions (περιφερειάρχης). The Prefectural Self-Governments kept the "local affairs of prefectureal level" not belonging to the "(central) state administration". With certain laws specific affairs of certain ministries were transferred to the Prefectural Self-Governments (sanitary committees, urban-planning services etc.).

List of prefectures

History

The following prefectures have been part of the Greek state since independence: Notes: There were several short-lived prefectures in areas of present Albania and Turkey, during the Greek occupation of those areas during World War I and the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) respectively: