Who runs local government in Armenia?

Armenia has one tier of local self-government: communities (hamaynkner), each with an elected council (avagani) and a community head. Since 2015 the government has merged small communities in several rounds – from over 900 to 308 by the end of 2021, and further since. The country is also divided into 10 regions (marzer) run by governors appointed by the government, plus Yerevan, which is itself a self-governing community.

Republic of Armenia · Unitary republic (parliamentary) · Caucasus

The levels of government below the nation

Level	How it is chosen	What it does
Regions – marzer (10)	Marz governor appointed and dismissed by government decree, ratified by the President	Carries out government regional policy and co-ordinates state services; not self-governing.
Yerevan (capital community)	City council (65 members) elected by party lists; council elects the mayor	City services; divided into 12 administrative districts.
Communities – hamaynkner (308 at end-2021; fewer after later mergers)	Council (avagani) directly elected; in most communities the council elects the community head, under rules changed with the mergers	Local roads, water, kindergartens, waste, culture, property and land tax.
Settlements within merged communities	Not self-governing; served by an administrative representative of the community head	Day-to-day contact for villages that were once separate communities.

Three questions about local power in Armenia

Are local leaders elected?

Community councils are directly elected; community heads and the Yerevan mayor are, in most cases, elected by their councils. Marz governors and village administrative representatives are appointed.

Which laws set up local government?

The Constitution (Chapter 14), the Law on Local Self-Government and the Law on Local Self-Government in Yerevan. Elders' and Church influence is informal.

Who are local leaders accountable to?

Voters judge councils at elections; marz governors and the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure supervise the legality of community decisions; courts settle disputes.

Traditional and customary authority

There is no customary authority in law. The Constitution recognises the exclusive mission of the Armenian Apostolic Church in the spiritual life and national identity of the Armenian people; the Church is influential but has no formal local power.

Community and neighbourhood power

Residents can take part through council meetings, public hearings and local referendums. Village life in merged communities still centres on the old village, with an administrative representative and informal respect for elders. Communities with national minorities (such as Yazidi villages) were initially left out of mergers.

Points to know

Merged communities usually join 20–30 settlements around a former district town, rather like Soviet districts.
Yerevan became a self-governing community only after a 2008 law; before that it was run like a region.
A 2018 law allows the government to create inter-municipal unions, but by 2020 the only real co-operation was in property and land tax administration (OECD).

Local terms

Hamaynk: Community: the basic unit of local self-government.
Avagani: Community council of elected members.
Marz: Region run by an appointed governor.

Sources

Constitution of Armenia (1995, rev. 2020), Constitute Project, checked 14 October 2026
Armenia: country profile (territorial organisation, responsibilities, finance), OECD–UCLG World Observatory on Subnational Government Finance and Investment (SNG-WOFI), checked 14 October 2026
Regions, Government of the Republic of Armenia, checked 14 October 2026
Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Armenia, Central Electoral Commission, checked 14 October 2026