Who runs local government in Greece?

Greece has two elected levels: 13 regions and 332 municipalities, each with a directly elected head and council. Big reforms called Kallikratis (2010) and Kleisthenis (2018) merged and then reshaped municipalities and changed how councils are elected. The state also keeps seven appointed decentralised administrations, and Mount Athos is a self-governing monastic area under the Constitution.

Hellenic Republic · Unitary parliamentary republic · Southern Europe

The levels of government below the nation

Level	How it is chosen	What it does
Decentralised administrations (7)	Headed by an official appointed by the national government	State supervision of local authorities and state services such as forestry and migration.
Regions (perifereies, 13)	Regional governor and council directly elected for five years (last October 2023)	Regional development, regional roads, public health, agriculture.
Municipalities (dimoi, 332)	Mayor and council directly elected for five years (last October 2023)	Local services, urban environment, social care, preschool, sport and culture.
Communities (koinotites) inside municipalities	Community council or, in the smallest, a community president, elected at the same time	Represent villages and neighbourhoods; advise the municipality.

Three questions about local power in Greece

Are local leaders elected?

Mayors, regional governors and their councils are directly elected; community councils are elected; the heads of decentralised administrations are appointed.

Which laws set up local government?

Article 102 of the Constitution guarantees local self-government; Laws 3852/2010 (Kallikratis) and 4555/2018 (Kleisthenis) set the structure. Mount Athos's status is in the Constitution.

Who are local leaders accountable to?

Voters; independent supervisory bodies and the decentralised administrations check legality; the Court of Audit; courts.

Traditional and customary authority

Mount Athos is a self-governing community of 20 Orthodox monasteries under Article 105 of the Constitution: a Holy Community of monastery representatives governs it, and the state is represented by a civil governor. In Thrace, three Muftis (Muslim religious leaders) are appointed by the state; since Law 4511/2018, using them for Islamic family-law cases is optional for Muslim citizens. The Orthodox Church has great social influence but no local government role.

Community and neighbourhood power

The Kleisthenis reform (Law 4555/2018) widened citizen participation, including local referendums, residents' consultation committees and neighbourhood councils, but the Council of Europe found these were used little in practice (for example only 20 of 332 municipalities had set up youth councils).

Points to know

Kallikratis (2010) cut municipalities from 1,034 to 325; Kleisthenis split a few, giving 332.
Kleisthenis brought in proportional representation for councils in 2019; later laws changed the system again to give winning mayors a working majority.
Women are barred from entering Mount Athos under its centuries-old rules, which the Constitution protects.

Local terms

Dimos: Municipality.
Perifereia: Region, with an elected governor.
Kleisthenis: The 2018 local government reform, named after the founder of Athenian democracy.

Sources

Constitution of Greece (1975, rev. 2019), Constitute Project, checked 14 October 2026
Greece: country profile (territorial organisation, responsibilities, finance), OECD–UCLG World Observatory on Subnational Government Finance and Investment (SNG-WOFI), checked 14 October 2026
Greece: monitoring of the European Charter of Local Self-Government (2025 report), Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities (CARTA-MONITOR), checked 14 October 2026