Greece Jurisdictions

Introduction
Knowing the jurisdictions of Greece helps to know where records are located. The major administrative subdivisions of modern Greece are: (highest to lowest) Region [Perifereia - Περιφέρεια], county or prefecture [Nomos - Νομός], the district or province [Eparchia - Επαρχία], and the municipality [Dimos - Δήμος]. A community is known as koinotis.

History of Administrative Jurisdictions
"The first administrative division of Greece took place on 3 April 1833. The land was divided in ten nomos [county], which were divided in 42 eparhia [district], and those in turn were divided into several dimos [municipality].   Subsequently the administrative structure of Greece went through many changes during the years.  The most extensive changes took place in 1912, and 1999.

"Not only boundaries but also names of counties have changed. Some counties were divided in two, as is the county Argolidokorinthias which became the county Argolidos and county Korinthias. Today there are 52 nomos in Greece.  Each nomos is divided into several eparhias.  Each eparhia [district], is divided in several dimos [municipality].  Each dimos governs several towns.  Before 1999 the large towns and cities were governed by a Mayor who was the head of a dimos [municipality], and the smaller towns were governed by a community president who was the head of a koinotis [community].  In 1999 the following changes occurred:  1) The“communities” were dissolved, 2) the boundaries and the names of the “municipalities” have changed, 3) the locations of the Town Halls were changed."


 * Source: See, Catsakis, Lika. GEOGRAPHIC AND ADMINISTRATIVE BOUNDARY CHANGES IN GREECE, for an explanation of the effect of boundary changes on locating records.

On January 1, 2011, the Kallidratis administrative reform was implemented. Greece now consists of thirteen regions subdivided into a total of 325 municipalities. The 54 old prefectures and prefecture-level administrations have been largely retained as sub-units of the regions. Seven decentralised administrations group one to three regions for administrative purposes on a regional basis. There is also one autonomous area, Mount Athos (Greek: Agio Oros, "Holy Mountain"), which borders the region of Central Macedonia.


 * Source: See, Wikipedia: Greece Administrative Districts

Municipality Contact Information

 * Municipality (Town Hall) addresses
 * Click on link, Δήμοι – Email  (Τελευταία Ενημέρωση 12-6-2020) to download file

List and Map of Former Provinces
'''Some genealogy records are filed and organized by region (periferia). Others are arranged by county or prefecture (nomos).''' The provinces of Greece ("eparchia") were sub-divisions of some of the country's county (nomos)s. From 1887, the provinces were abolished as actual administrative units, but were retained for some state services, especially finance services and education, as well as for electoral purposes. The provinces were finally abolished after the 2006 local elections, as part of the wide-ranging administrative reform known as the "Kapodistrias Project", and replaced by enlarged municipalities (demoi). This is a list of the former provinces of Greece and their capitals, sorted by county (nomos), as they stood in 1991. On January 1, 2011, the Kallikratis administrative changes revised some of these. See Wikipedia article, Greece Administrative Changes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greece#Administrative_divisions Provinces of Greece, Wikipedia