Regional Administration

The Constitution stipulates that the administration of the State is organized according to the principle of the decentralization. Since 1986, the country has been divided into Regions which constitute the decentralized administrative units of the State.

Presently, there are thirteen regions throughout the country:

1) Eastern Macedonia and Thrace
2) Central Macedonia
3) Western Macedonia
4) Epirus
5) Thessaly
6) Ionian Islands
7) Western Greece
8) Central Greece
9) Attica
10) Peloponnesus
11) Northern Aegean
12) Southern Aegean
13) Crete

The "Kallikratis" programme, which has been in full force since Jan 2011, focused on restructuring decentralized administration, reducing the number of municipalities (from 1.034 to 325), as well as enhancing them by conferring new functions to local level. The "Kallikratis" reforms also introduced concrete measures to address the financial crisis by enhancing transparency, supporting innovation and the use of new technologies, ensuring the financial autonomy of local authorities and strengthening their role in the formulation and implementation of policies at local level.