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Updates: 

The NUTS code scheme was revised again in 2010. All codes for Greece now begin with EL instead of GR.

Update 6 to "Geopolitical Entities and Codes" is dated 2011-11-30. For Greece, it assigns FIPS codes to the regions (peripheries).

As of 2011-01-01, the departments were abolished as governmental units. The 13 regions, or peripheries, remain. There are also seven "decentralized administrations", or dioikeseis (dioceses), each containing one or more peripheries. The number of municipalities was reduced from 1,033 to 325. Mount Athos is not part of any periphery or diocese. This reorganization is called the Kallikratis plan, in honor of an ancient Greek architect.

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter number II-1, dated 2010-02-03, changes the ISO codes for the regions from Roman numerals to letters. It changes the name of one region from Ionioi Nisoi to Ionia Nisia. It also changes the Greek names of some of the departments.

The NUTS code scheme was revised in 2003. The code for Attica region changed from GR3 to GR30, and for Attica department, from GR3 to GR300.

International standard ISO 3166-2 was published on December 15, 1998. It superseded ISO/DIS 3166-2 (draft international standard). The draft standard included listings of the following two departments:

GR-A1 Attiki
GR-02 Attiki (ypoloipo - rest of)(ELOT)

ELOT is the Greek national standards organization, and was the source for some of the information incorporated into the draft standard. The second listing, GR-02, was omitted from the final standard. My interpretation is that GR-A1 originally referred to Greater Athens, and GR-02 meant the rest of Attica, excluding Greater Athens. The board of experts apparently decided that Attica was really only one department, so they combined the two listings into one, using the code GR-A1 for it.

Country overview: 

Short name	GREECE
ISO code	GR
FIPS code	GR
Language	Greek (el)
Time zone	+2 ~
Capital	Athens

 

Greece in 1900 occupied only a fraction of its present extent. Crete was independent until 1913, when it was annexed to Greece. The Dodecanese Islands, after a number of changes, became part of Greece in 1947. The Northern Aegean Islands and most of Epirus and Macedonia were transferred from the waning Ottoman Empire to Greece in 1913 at the conclusion of the Balkan Wars. At the same time, most of Thrace was annexed by Bulgaria. The parts of Thrace which now belong to Greece were acquired from Bulgaria in the Treaties of Sèvres and Lausanne. Greece was occupied by the Axis during World War II.

Other names of country: 

1. Danish: Grækenland
2. Dutch: Griekenland, Griekse Republiek (formal)
3. English: Hellenic Republic (formal)
4. Finnish: Kreikka
5. French: Grèce f
6. German: Griechenland n
7. Greek: Elliniki Dimokratia (formal)
8. Icelandic: Grikkland
9. Italian: Grecia f
10. Norwegian: Hellas, Republikken Hellas (formal)
11. Portuguese: Grécia f, República f Grega (formal), República f Helénica (formal)
12. Russian: Греция, Греческая Республика (formal)
13. Spanish: Grecia f, República f Helénica (formal)
14. Swedish: Grekland
15. Turkish: Yunanistan Cumhuriyeti (formal)

Origin of name: 

through Latin, originally from Greek Graikos: inhabitant in a section of Epirus

Primary subdivisions: 

Greece is divided into 7 apokentromenes dioikiseis (sing. apokentromeni dioikisi: decentralized administrations) and one autodioikito (self-governed part, an autonomous monastic community).

Administration	HASC	Code	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Capital
Aegean	GR.AI	46	503,697	9,122	3,522	Piraeus
Attica	GR.AT	35	3,894,573	3,808	1,470	Athens
Crete	GR.CR	47	594,368	8,336	3,219	Heraklion
Epirus and Western Macedonia	GR.EM	12	630,709	18,654	7,202	Ioannina
Macedonia and Thrace	GR.MH	11	2,481,759	32,969	12,729	Thessaloniki
Mount Athos	GR.MA	99	1,961	336	130	Karyai (Karyes)
Peloponnese, Western Greece and the Ionian Islands	GR.PW	24	1,528,771	29,147	11,254	Patras
Thessaly and Central Greece	GR.TC	23	1,298,259	29,586	11,424	Larissa
8 divisions			10,934,097	131,958	50,950
Administration: Except for Mount Athos, which is an autodioikito. HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. Code: Codes used by Hellenic Statistical Authority (source [3]). First digit corresponds to the NUTS region containing the administration (see NUTS table below). Population: 2001-03-18 census (usual residents).

Postal codes: 

Greece uses five-digit postal codes, with a space after the third digit. The first three digits indicate the department or city. Postal codes for Greek addresses can be identified by prefixing them with "GR-".

Further subdivisions:

The decentralized administrations are divided into 13 periphereies (sing. periphereia, peripheries), which existed before the Kallikratis plan but with lesser authority. These are further divided into 74 periphereiakes enotites (sing. periphereiaki enotita: peripheral units), most of which match the former departments, and which have no administrative function under the new plan. They are in turn subdivided into 325 demoi (sing. demos: municipalities). Mount Athos is autonomous, and not included in any of these sets of divisions. Here is the current set of peripheries, with Mount Athos shown for completeness:

Periphery	Greek name	Abv	ISO	ex-ISO	FIPS	NUTS	DA	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Capital
Aegean North	Voreio Aigaio	AN	K	XI	GR65	EL41	GR.AI	205,235	3,836	1,481	Mytilene
Aegean South	Notio Aigaio	AS	L	XII	GR61	EL42	GR.AI	298,462	5,286	2,041	Hermoupolis
Attica	Attiki	AT	I	IX	GR54	EL30	GR.AT	3,894,573	3,808	1,470	Athens
Crete	Kriti	CR	M	XIII	GR60	EL43	GR.CR	594,368	8,336	3,219	Heraklion
Epirus	Ipeiros	EP	D	IV	GR58	EL21	GR.EM	336,392	9,203	3,553	Ioannina
Greece Central	Sterea Ellada	GC	H	VIII	GR63	EL24	GR.TC	558,144	15,549	6,004	Lamia
Greece West	Dytiki Ellada	GW	G	VII	GR55	EL23	GR.PW	721,541	11,350	4,382	Patras
Ionian Islands	Ionia Nisia	II	F	VI	GR57	EL22	GR.PW	209,608	2,307	891	Corfu
Macedonia Central	Kentriki Makedonia	MC	B	II	GR59	EL12	GR.MH	1,874,597	18,811	7,263	Thessaloniki
Macedonia East and Thrace	Anatoliki Makedonia kai Thraki	MT	A	I	GR53	EL11	GR.MH	607,162	14,158	5,466	Komotini
Macedonia West	Dytiki Makedonia	MW	C	III	GR56	EL13	GR.EM	294,317	9,451	3,649	Kozani
Mount Athos	Agio Oros	MA			GR52		GR.MA	1,961	336	130	Karyai
Peloponnese	Peloponnisos	PP	J	X	GR62	EL25	GR.PW	597,622	15,490	5,981	Tripolis
Thessaly	Thessalia	TS	E	V	GR64	EL14	GR.TC	740,115	14,037	5,420	Larissa
14 divisions								10,934,097	131,958	50,949
Abv: Codes designed to be used in place of HASC codes by those who prefer to consider the peripheries rather than the decentralized administrations as primary subdivisions. ISO: Periphery codes from ISO 3166-2. For full identification in a global context, prefix "GR-" to the code (ex: GR-E represents Thessaly). ex-ISO: Former ISO codes, replaced 2010-02-03. They don't have the prefix "GR-". FIPS: Geopolitical Entities and Codes (U.S. standard). NUTS: Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics. This is a European standard maintained by Eurostat. Truncating these codes to the first three characters produces a still higher-level subdivision of Greece, as shown in the table below. DA: HASC code of decentralized administration containing this periphery. Population: 2001-03-18 census (usual residents).

 

Greece has also defined larger units called diamerismata (regions). The regions have few or no administrative functions. Their purposes include education, tourism, and historic pride.

The draft standard ISO/DIS 3166-2 had two lists of regions: geographical regions and administrative regions. Each administrative region had an ISO code which was a Roman numeral. The final standard showed the same 13 administrative regions, but their ISO codes had been switched around. The codes are shown here as in the final standard (column ex-ISO). In 2010, the Roman numeral codes were replaced by letter codes.

NUTS level-1 divisions of Greece

NUTS	Division	Greek name
EL1	North Greece	Voreia Ellada
EL2	Central Greece	Kentriki Ellada
EL3	Attica	Attiki
EL4	Aegean Islands and Crete	Nisia Aigaiou, Kriti

Territorial extent: 

The departments all include tiny islets adjacent to their shores, too numerous to mention.

1. Attica includes a string of islands down the Peloponnese coast, as well as a fragment of the coast itself around the Methana Peninsula, along the coast of Argolis. The islands are Salamis, Aegina, Idra (Hydra), Spetses, Kythera (Cythera, Cerigo), Antikythera, Dokos, Poros, and Angistri.
2. Corfu consists of the islands of Corfu (Kerkyra), Paxi, Othoni, Erikoussa, Antipaxi, and Mathraki.
3. Cyclades consists of the islands of Naxos, Andros, Amorgos, Tinos, Paros, Mykonos, Siros, Kea, Thira (Santorini), Kithnos, Ios, Serifos, Sifnos, Folegandros, Anafi, Makronissi, Reneia, Kimolos, Polyaigos, Antiparos, Donousa, Herakleia, Thirasia, and Skhinousa.
4. Dodecanese consists of the islands of Rhodes, Karpathos, Kos, Kalymnos, Leros, Patmos, Nisyros, Telos, Symi, Kassos, Khalke, and Saria (the "twelve islands"), as well as small islands as far west as Kinaros and Ofidoussa, as far east as Megiste, and as far north as Agathonesi and Farmakonesi.
5. Euboea consists of the islands of Euboea, Skyros, Megalonisos Petalion, and Stira.
6. Evros includes the island of Samothraki (Samothrace)
7. Heraklion occupies an east-of-center part of the island of Crete, and includes the island of Dia.
8. Imathia includes an exclave surrounded by Pieria, containing the village of Elafos.
9. Kavala includes the island of Thasos.
10. Kefallinia consists of the islands of Kefallinia, Ithaki (Ithaca), Kalamos, Kastos, Atokos, Petalas, and Oxia.
11. Khalkidiki includes the island of Amoliani.
12. Khania is at the west end of Crete.
13. Khios consists of the islands of Khios, Psara, Oinousses, and Antipsara.
14. Laconia includes the island of Elafonesi.
15. Lasithi is at the east end of Crete, and includes the islands of Koufonesi, Elasa, and Dragonada.
16. Lesvos consists of the islands of Lesvos (Lesbos), Limnos, and Agios Eustratios.
17. Levkas consists of the islands of Levkas, Meganissi, and Arkoudi.
18. Magnesia includes most of the islands of the Northern Sporades: Skopelos, Alonnisos, Skiathos, Pelagos, Gioura, Skantzoura, and Piperi.
19. Messinia includes the islands of Sapientza, Shiza, Prote, and Venetiko.
20. Mount Athos occupies the easternmost of three rocky peninsulas off Khalkidiki.
21. Rethymnon occupies a west-of-center part of the island of Crete, and includes the island of Gaudos.
22. Samos consists of the islands of Samos, Ikaria, Fourni, and Thimena.
23. Zakynthos consists of the island of Zakynthos and the Strofades islands.

The UN LOCODE page  for Greece lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions. This information can be put together to approximate the territorial extent of subdivisions.

Origins of names: 

1. Achaea: new application of the name of Agamemnon's kingdom in Homeric epics
2. Agion Oros (Mount Athos): Greek: Holy Mountain
3. Aitolia and Akarnania: from legendary patriarch Aitolos; pre-Indo-European akarna: rocky, -anes: dwellers
4. Arcadia: from Arkas, legendary king, changed into a bear (arktos)
5. Argolis: probably from Ancient Greek argos: white, brilliant, or Pelagic for high fortress
6. Attica: ancient Greek Attike: Athenian (region)
7. Boeotia: from ethnic name Boiwtoi: battler
8. Corfu: Greek stous Koruphous: with peaks, for two peaks on the island. Kerkyra: European root kerk: bend
9. Corinth: Greek Korinthos, from Pelagic kar: peak, or Ancient Greek koruthos: of the helmet
10. Cyclades: Ancient Greek kyklos: circle (islands supposedly arranged in a circle around Delos)
11. Dodecanese: Greek dodeka: twelve, nesos: island (twelve main islands in nomos)
12. Euboea: Greek eu: good, bous: bull (i.e. rich in cattle)
13. Heraklion: Modern Greek for sanctuary of Hercules
14. Ilia: possibly from Greek elos: swamp
15. Kefallinia: Ancient Greek kefale: head (i.e. mountain)
16. Khalkidike: Colonized from Khalkis, in Euboea. Ancient Greek khalkos: bronze, for local industry
17. Khania: Arabic khniyah: wine-seller's cabaret
18. Laconia: from ethnic name Lakones, from a word for lowlands or basin
19. Levkas: Ancient Greek leukos: white, for a white cliff near the city
20. Messinia: related to Greek mesos: middle (between Pylos and Sparta)
21. Mount Athos: the Greek name, Hagion Oros (one of several possible transliterations), means "holy mountain"
22. Samos: pre-Hellenic for upland
23. Thessalonika: after Thessalonike, wife of Kassandros, a general under Alexander the Great. The name means victorious over Thessaly, and commemorates a conquest by her father, Philip II

Peripheries:

1. Aegean: after Aegeus, legendary king of Athens, father of Theseus. In the legend, Aegeus drowned himself in this sea.
2. Epirus: new application of Ancient Doric Apeiros: shore, originally meaning all of continental Greece
3. Macedonia: probably from ethnic name
4. Peloponnese: Greek nesos: island: island of Pelops, a mythical king, son of Tantalus
5. Thessaly: from ethnic name Thessalos
6. Thrace: from ethnic name Thrax

Change history: 

At the turn of the century, there were several departments with compound names: Achaea and Ilia, Aitolia and Acarnania, Argolis and Corinth, Attica and Boeotia, Fthiotis and Fokis. They appear to have been composed of two divisions each, on a lower level than the department. When they were split into two departments, in effect the lower-level divisions were simply promoted to department status. In the same way, Messinia seems to have been composed of two lower-level divisions named Messinia and Triphylia, and Laconia composed of Laconia and Lacedæmonia, but these lower-level divisions never became departments.

1. 1913: Crete, the Northern Aegean Islands, and most of Epirus and Macedonia annexed to Greece. This added the departments of Heraklion, Rethymnon, Khania, Lasithi, Lesbos, Khios, Samos, Yannina, Florina, Kozani, Salonica, Serres, and Drama, and the autonomous community of Mount Athos. Under the Ottoman Empire, Epirus had been the vilayet of Yannina (Ioannina); Macedonia, the vilayet of Salonica and part of Monastir; and the Northern Aegean Islands, part of the vilayet of Archipelago.
2. 1920: Bulgarian territory annexed to Greece, becoming the department of Thrace (about equivalent to the modern departments of Xanthi and Rodopi).
3. 1923: More Bulgarian territory annexed to Thrace department (modern Evros). Greece lost a section of Epirus to Albania.
4. 1926-09-10: Greece officially recognized the status of Mount Athos as an autonomous community.
5. ~1930: Pella department split from Thessaloniki. Thrace department divided into Evros and Rodopi.
6. ~1937: Thesprotia department formed from parts of Ioannina and Preveza (?).
7. ~1939: Kilkis department split from Thessaloniki. Achaea and Ilia department split into Achaea department and Ilia department.
8. ~1947: Attica and Boeotia department split into Attica department and Boeotia department. Fthiotis and Fokis department split into Fthiotis department and Fokis department. Imathia and Pieria departments split from Thessaloniki. Kastoria department split from Florina (?). Argolis and Corinth department split into Argolis department and Corinth department. Xanthi department split from Rodopi. Magnesia department split from Larissa. Karditsa department split from Trikala. Evritania department split from Aitolia and Acarnania.
9. 1947: Dodecanese department annexed to Greece. This area was the southern part of Archipelago vilayet under the Ottoman Empire. It was occupied by Italy in 1912, and granted to Italy by the Treaty of Sèvres in 1922. It became the colony of Isole Italiane dell'Egeo in 1930.
10. ~1955: Levkas department split from Preveza, and transferred from Epirus region to Ionian Islands.
11. ~1968: Attica department divided into Attica and Piraeus. At the same time, Greater Athens region split from Central Greece and Euboea. Greater Athens consisted of the urban parts of Attica and Piraeus departments. The regions at that time were as shown below.

Region	ISO	Corresponds to modern peripheries
Aegean Islands	80	Aegean North, Aegean South
Crete	90	Crete
Epirus	30	Epirus
Greater Athens	A	Attica (Athens and Piraeus only)
Central Greece and Euboea	0	Attica (remainder), Greece Central, Greece West (Aitolia and Akarnania)
Ionian Islands	20	Ionian Islands
Macedonia	50,60	Macedonia Central, Mac. East and Thrace (Drama, Kavala), Mac. West
Peloponnese	10	Greece West (Achaea, Ilia), Peloponnese
Thrace	70	Macedonia East and Thrace (remainder)
Thessaly	40	Thessaly
ISO: Codes from ISO/DIS 3166-2:1996 (draft standard), attributed to a source in the Hellenic Organization for Standardization (ELOT). Many other sources give the same list of regions, except that ISO/DIS 3166-2 divides Macedonia into two regions: Macedonia I (50) and Macedonia II (60). It gives no indication of which departments belong to each of the Macedonian regions. The final standard (1998) lists the 13 regions shown under Other subdivisions.

1. ~1969: Grevena department split from Kozani.
2. ~1987: Ten regions reorganized to make 13 regions. At the same time, Attica and Piraeus departments merged once again to form Attica. The resulting list of departments was as follows.

Department	HASC	ISO	FIPS	NUTS	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Reg	Capital
Achaea	GR.AK	13	GR38	EL232	318,928	3,271	1,263	GW	Patras (Patrai)
Aitolia and Akarnania	GR.AA	01	GR31	EL231	219,092	5,461	2,109	GW	Missolongi (Mesolongion)
Arcadia	GR.AD	12	GR41	EL252	91,326	4,419	1,706	PP	Tripolis (Tripolitza)
Argolis	GR.AG	11	GR36	EL251	102,392	2,154	832	PP	Nauplion
Arta	GR.AR	31	GR20	EL211	73,620	1,662	642	EP	Arta
Attica	GR.AT	A1	GR35	EL300	3,894,573	3,808	1,470	AT	Athens (Athenai)
Boeotia	GR.BT	03	GR33	EL241	123,913	2,952	1,140	GC	Levadeia
Corfu	GR.CF	22	GR25	EL222	111,081	641	247	II	Corfu (Kerkyra)
Corinth	GR.CN	15	GR37	EL253	144,527	2,290	884	PP	Corinth (Korinthos)
Cyclades	GR.CY	82	GR49	EL422	109,956	2,572	993	AS	Hermoupolis (Ermoupole)
Dodecanese	GR.DO	81	GR47	EL421	188,506	2,714	1,048	AS	Rhodes (Rodos)
Drama	GR.DR	52	GR04	EL114	102,184	3,468	1,339	MT	Drama
Euboea	GR.EU	04	GR34	EL242	207,305	4,167	1,609	GC	Khalkis (Chalkida)
Evritania	GR.ET	05	GR30	EL243	19,518	1,869	722	GC	Karpenissi (Karpenesion)
Evros	GR.ES	71	GR01	EL111	149,283	4,242	1,638	MT	Alexandroupolis
Florina	GR.FL	63	GR08	EL134	54,109	1,924	743	MW	Florina
Fokis	GR.FK	07	GR32	EL245	37,866	2,120	819	GC	Amfissa
Fthiotis	GR.FT	06	GR29	EL244	169,542	4,441	1,715	GC	Lamia
Grevena	GR.GR	51	GR10	EL131	32,567	2,291	885	MW	Grevena
Heraklion	GR.IR	91	GR45	EL431	291,225	2,641	1,020	CR	Heraklion (Candia, Megalokastron)
Ilia	GR.IL	14	GR39	EL233	183,521	2,618	1,011	GW	Pyrgos
Imathia	GR.IM	53	GR12	EL121	142,471	1,701	657	MC	Veroia
Ioannina	GR.IO	33	GR17	EL213	161,027	4,990	1,927	EP	Ioannina (Yannina)
Karditsa	GR.KT	41	GR23	EL141	120,265	2,636	1,018	TS	Karditsa
Kastoria	GR.KS	56	GR09	EL132	53,702	1,720	664	MW	Kastoria
Kavala	GR.KV	55	GR14	EL115	141,499	2,111	815	MT	Kavala (Cavalla)
Kefallinia	GR.KF	23	GR27	EL223	37,756	904	349	II	Argostoli (Argostolion)
Khalkidiki	GR.KD	64	GR15	EL127	96,849	2,918	1,127	MC	Polygyros
Khania	GR.KN	94	GR43	EL434	148,450	2,376	917	CR	Khania (Canea)
Khios	GR.KH	85	GR50	EL413	53,106	904	349	AN	Khios
Kilkis	GR.KK	57	GR06	EL123	86,424	2,519	973	MC	Kilkis
Kozani	GR.KZ	58	GR11	EL133	153,939	3,516	1,358	MW	Kozani
Laconia	GR.LC	16	GR42	EL254	92,811	3,636	1,404	PP	Sparta (Sparte)
Larisa	GR.LR	42	GR21	EL142	282,156	5,381	2,078	TS	Larisa (Larissa)
Lasithi	GR.LT	92	GR46	EL432	75,736	1,823	704	CR	Agios Nikolaos
Lesvos	GR.LS	83	GR51	EL411	108,288	2,154	832	AN	Mytilene
Levkas	GR.LV	24	GR26	EL224	21,888	356	137	II	Levkas (Leucadia)
Magnesia	GR.MG	43	GR24	EL143	205,005	2,636	1,018	TS	Volos (Nea Ionia)
Messinia	GR.MS	17	GR40	EL255	166,566	2,991	1,155	PP	Kalamata (Kalamai)
Mount Athos	GR.MA	69	GR15	EL127	1,961	336	130	MC	Karyai (Karyes)
Pella	GR.PL	59	GR07	EL124	143,957	2,506	968	MC	Edessa
Pieria	GR.PI	61	GR16	EL125	126,412	1,516	585	MC	Katerini
Preveza	GR.PV	34	GR19	EL214	58,144	1,036	400	EP	Preveza
Rethymnon	GR.RT	93	GR44	EL433	78,957	1,496	578	CR	Rethymnon (Rethymni)
Rodopi	GR.RD	73	GR02	EL113	111,237	2,543	982	MT	Komotini
Samos	GR.SM	84	GR48	EL412	43,841	778	300	AN	Samos (Limin Vatheos, Vathy)
Serrai	GR.SR	62	GR05	EL126	194,483	3,968	1,532	MC	Serrai (Serres)
Thesprotia	GR.TP	32	GR18	EL212	43,601	1,515	585	EP	Hegoumenitsa
Thessaloniki	GR.TN	54	GR13	EL122	1,084,001	3,683	1,422	MC	Thessaloniki (Salonica)
Trikala	GR.TR	44	GR22	EL144	132,689	3,384	1,307	TS	Trikala (Trikkala)
Xanthi	GR.XN	72	GR03	EL112	102,959	1,793	692	MT	Xanthi
Zakynthos	GR.ZK	21	GR28	EL221	38,883	406	157	II	Zakynthos (Zante)
52 divisions					10,934,097	131,957	50,949
Department: except for Mount Athos, which is an autonomous monastic community. HASC: Former HASC codes before reorganization. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. Note: Mount Athos is not specifically mentioned in the standard, so I assume it's included in GR15 Khalkidiki. NUTS: Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics. Same note applies for Mount Athos. Population: 2001-03-18 census. Reg: Periphery, keyed to the Abv column in the table of peripheries below. Capital: Where two names are given, the first is the name most commonly found in English text. The second is a variant transliteration, a more Greek-like version, or an older name for the same city.

1. 1993-11-01: Under the Maastricht Treaty, the European Union replaced the European Communities, of which Greece was a member.
2. 2011-01-01: Greece reorganized under the Kallikratis plan. The regions, or peripheries, became the primary administrative divisions. The departments lost their administrative function, and were designated as "peripheral units", with some minor changes.

Other names of subdivisions: 

These names are officially spelled with the Greek alphabet. There are many transliteration schemes, giving rise to many variant names. For English names, I chose the spellings that are most often met in literature or news reports. A knowledge of the variations in transliteration schemes makes it easier to recognize variant names. The pronunciation of the letter Beta in Ancient Greek was like our B, but in Modern Greek more like V, so it may be transliterated either way. Likewise, Eta is usually E for Ancient Greek words, I for Modern. Gamma-Gamma is a diphthong, pronounced (and usually transliterated) "NG". Delta may be represented as D or DH; Gamma as G or Y; Phi as F or PH; Rho as R or RH; Kappa as K or C; Chi as KH or CH; and Upsilon as Y, U, or I, or, after a vowel, V or F. There is a diacritical mark similar to a reversed apostrophe called "rough breathing". In transliteration, it may be ignored, or may be shown as H. For example, it comes at the start of Ellas/Hellas, meaning Greece.

Departments:

1. Achaea: Acaia (Portuguese); Achaïa, Ahaïa, Akhaïa (variants); Achaïe (French)
2. Aitolia and Akarnania: Acarnania and Ætolia, Aetolia and Acarnania, Aitolia kai Akarnania, Aitolia-Akarnania, Etolía Akarnanía (variants); Atolien und Akarnien (German); Etólia e Acarnania (Portuguese); Étolie-Acarnanie (French)
3. Arcadia: Arcadie (French); Arkadhía, Arkadía (variants); Arkadien (German)
4. Argolis: Argolída (variant); Argolide (French); Argolide (Portuguese)
5. Attica: Atica (Portuguese); Atikí, Attikí (variants); Attika (German); Attique (French)
6. Boeotia: Beócia (Portuguese); Béotie (French); Böotien (German); Viotía, Voiotía (variants)
7. Corfu: Corcyra (obsolete); Corcyre (French-obsolete); Corfou (French); Kérkira, Kérkira, Kérkyra (variants); Korfu (German)
8. Corinth: Corinthia, Korinthía (variants); Corinthie (French); Corínzia (Portuguese); Korinth (German)
9. Cyclades: Cicladas (Portuguese); Cicladi (Italian); Cyclades (French); Kikládes, Kikladhes, Kykládes (variants); Kykladen (German)
10. Dodecanese: Dhodhekanisos, Dodekánis, Dodekánisos, Dodekánissa, Dodekánissos, Dodekánnisos (variants); Dodécanèse (French); Dodecanésia (Portuguese); Dodecaneso (Italian); Dodekanes (German); Sporades du Sud (French-variant)
11. Drama: Dhráma (German)
12. Euboea: Eubea (Italian); Eubée (French); Eubéia (Portuguese); Euböa, Ewwia (German); Euripos, Negropont (obsolete); Évia, Évvoia (variants); Nègrepont (French-obsolete)
13. Evritania: Euritanía (Portuguese); Eurytanie (French); Evrytanía (variant)
14. Evros: Euros (Portuguese); Hevros (variant); Héwros (German)
15. Fokis: Fócida (Portuguese); Fokída, Phocis, Phokis (variants); Phocide (French)
16. Fthiotis: Fthiótida, Phthiotis (variants); Ftiótida (Portuguese); Phthiotide, Phtiotide (French)
17. Grevena: Grewena (German)
18. Heraklion: Candia (obsolete); Candie (French-obsolete); Héracleion, Héraclion (French); Herákleion, Irákleio, Irákleion, Iráklio, Iráklion (variants)
19. Ilia: Elia, Elis, Ileía, Ilís (variants); Élida (Portuguese); Élide (French)
20. Imathia: Eimathía (variant); Emathia (Portuguese); Émathie (French)
21. Ioannina: Ianina (French-variant); Janina (Serbian); Jannina, Yanina, Yannina (variants)
22. Karditsa: Carditsa (French-variant); Kardhítsa (variant)
23. Kavala: Cavalla (French); Cavalla, Kavalla (variants); Kawála (German)
24. Kefallinia: Cefalonia (Italian); Cefalônia (Portuguese); Cephalonia, Kefallenia, Kefalloniá, Kefaloniá, Kephalonia (variants); Céphalonie (French)
25. Khalkidiki: Chalcidice, Chalcidice, Chalkidikí, Halkidikí, Khalkidhikí (variants); Chalcidique (French); Chalkidhikí (German); Kalkídica (Portuguese)
26. Khania: Canea, Chaniá, Haniá (variants); Canée (French); Canéia (Portuguese)
27. Khios: Chio (French-variant); Chios, Híos (variants); Sakis Adası (Turkish); Scio (Italian)
28. Kozani: Kosáni (German); Kozáne (variant)
29. Laconia: Lacônia (Portuguese); Laconie (French); Lakonía (variant); Lakonien (German)
30. Larisa: Lárissa (variant)
31. Lasithi: Lasithion, Lassíthi, Lassithion (variants)
32. Lesvos: Lesbos, Mytilène (variants)
33. Levkas: Lefkáda, Lefkás, Leucas (variants); Leucade (French, Italian); Leucádia (Portuguese); Sainte-Maure (French-obsolete); Santa Maura (obsolete)
34. Magnesia: Magnésia (Portuguese); Magnésie (French); Magnessia, Magnisía, Magnissía (variants)
35. Messinia: Messênia (Portuguese); Messenia (variant); Messénie (French); Messenien (German)
36. Mount Athos: Ághion Óros, Ágio Óros, Ágion Óros, Ágios Óros, Áyion Óros, Hágion Óros, Hágion Óros (variants); Mont Athos (French)
37. Pella: Péla, Pelli (variants)
38. Pieria: Piérie (French)
39. Preveza: Prévesa (Portuguese); Préwesa (German)
40. Rethymnon: Rethímni, Réthimno, Réthymno, Rethýmne (variants); Rethýmni (German)
41. Rodopi: Rhodope, Rodhópi (variants); Rhodopen (German); Rodope (French)
42. Samos: Susam Adası (Turkish)
43. Serrai: Séres, Sérres (variants)
44. Thessaloniki: Salônica (Portuguese); Salonica, Salonika, Thessalonike (variants); Salonicco, Tessalonica (Italian); Saloniki (German); Salonique, Thessalonique (French)
45. Trikala: Tríkkala (variant)
46. Xanthi: Xante (French-variant)
47. Zakynthos: Jacinto (Portuguese); Sákynthos (German); Zacinthe (French-obsolete); Zákinthos, Zákintos, Zante (variants)

Regions:

1. Aegean Islands: Ägäische Inseln (German); Îles de la Mer Égée (French); Nísoi Aigaíou, Nísoi Aiyaíou, Nissiá Egeou, Níssoi Aigaíou (variants)
2. Aegean North: Nordägäis (German)
3. Aegean South: Südägäis (German)
4. Central Greece and Euboea: Attica and the Islands, Central Greece and Évvoia, Kentrikí Ellás kaí Évvoia, Kentrikí Hellás kaí Évia, Loipi Sterea Ellas kai Evvoia, Stereá Eláda (variants); Grèce centrale et Eubée (French); Grecia Central y Eubea (Spanish); Mittelgriechenland, Zentralgriechenland (German)
5. Crete: Candia (obsolete); Candie (French-obsolete); Creta (Italian, Spanish); Crète (French); Kreta (German); Kríti (variant); Крит (Russian)
6. Epirus: Épire (French); Epiro (Spanish); Ípeiros, Ípiros (variants)
7. Greater Athens: Ateena (Finnish); Gran Atenas (Spanish); Perifereia Proteuosis (variant); Афины (Russian)
8. Greece Central: Mittel-Hellas (German)
9. Greece West: West-Hellas (German)
10. Ionian Islands: Îles Ioniennes (French); Iónia Nissiá, Iónioi Nísoi, Iónioi Níssoi (variants); Ionische Inseln (German); Islas Jónicas (Spanish); Isole Ionie (Italian)
11. Macedonia: Macédoine (French); Makedhonía, Makedonía (variant); Makedonien, Mazedonien (German)
12. Macedonia Central: Zentralmakedonien (German)
13. Macedonia East and Thrace: Ostmakedonien und Thrakien (German)
14. Macedonia West: Westmakedonien (German)
15. Peloponnese: Morea (obsolete); Morée (French-obsolete); Peloponeso (Spanish); Pelopónissos, Peloponnesus, Pelopónnisos, Pelopónnissos (variants); Peloponnes (German); Péloponnèse (French); Peloponneso (Italian)
16. Thessaly: Tesalia (Spanish); Tessaglia (Italian); Thessalía (variant); Thessalie (French); Thessalien (German)
17. Thrace: Thráki (variant); Thrakien, Thrazien (German); Tracia (Italian, Spanish)

Population history:

Department	1896	1940	1951-04-07	1971-03-14	1981-04-05	1991-03-17	2001-03-18
Achaea	210,713	222,060	228,871	239,859	275,193	297,318	318,928
Aitolia/Akarnania	162,020	251,442	220,138	228,989	219,764	230,688	219,092
Arcadia	148,285	170,306	154,361	111,263	107,932	103,840	91,326
Argolis	144,836	199,148	85,389	88,698	93,020	97,250	102,392
Arta	32,890	65,175	72,717	78,376	80,044	78,884	73,620
Attica	257,764	1,394,021	1,556,029	2,797,849	3,369,424	3,522,769	3,894,573
Boeotia			106,838	114,675	117,175	134,034	123,913
Corfu	114,535	111,548	105,414	92,933	99,477	105,043	111,081
Corinth			113,358	113,115	123,042	142,365	144,527
Cyclades	131,508	129,015	125,959	86,337	88,458	95,083	109,956
Dodecanese			121,480	121,017	145,071	162,439	188,506
Drama		145,089	120,492	91,009	94,772	96,978	102,184
Euboea	103,442	177,076	164,542	165,369	188,410	209,132	207,305
Evritania			39,678	29,533	26,182	23,535	19,518
Evros		154,773	141,340	138,988	148,486	143,791	149,283
Florina		156,168	69,391	52,264	52,430	52,854	54,109
Fokis			51,472	41,361	44,222	43,889	37,866
Fthiotis	136,470	213,079	148,322	154,542	161,995	168,291	169,542
Grevena				35,275	36,421	37,017	32,567
Heraklion		167,918	189,637	209,670	243,622	263,868	291,225
Ilia		186,945	188,274	165,056	160,305	174,021	183,521
Imathia			96,439	118,103	133,750	138,068	142,471
Ioannina		162,150	153,748	134,688	147,304	157,214	161,027
Karditsa			138,786	133,776	124,930	126,498	120,265
Kastoria			46,407	45,711	53,169	52,721	53,702
Kavala		138,133	136,337	121,593	135,218	135,747	141,499
Kefallinia	80,178	66,849	47,369	36,742	31,297	32,314	37,756
Khalkidiki		81,180	75,735	73,850	79,036	91,654	96,849
Khania		126,093	126,524	119,797	125,856	133,060	148,450
Khios		75,853	66,823	53,948	49,865	52,691	53,106
Kilkis		99,389	89,475	84,375	81,562	81,845	86,424
Kozani		197,476	177,838	135,709	147,051	150,159	153,939
Laconia	126,088	144,156	130,898	95,844	93,218	94,916	92,811
Larisa	168,034	322,273	208,120	232,226	254,295	269,300	282,156
Lasithi		71,172	73,784	66,226	70,053	70,762	75,736
Lesvos		159,031	154,795	114,802	104,620	103,700	108,288
Levkas			37,752	24,581	21,863	20,900	21,888
Magnesia			153,808	161,392	182,222	197,613	205,005
Messinia	183,232	240,987	227,871	173,077	159,818	167,292	166,566
Mount Athos		4,746	3,086	1,732	1,472	1,552	1,961
Pella		127,597	116,969	126,085	132,386	138,261	143,957
Pieria			86,161	91,728	106,859	116,820	126,412
Preveza		72,550	56,779	56,586	55,915	58,910	58,144
Rethymnon		73,056	72,179	60,949	62,634	69,290	78,957
Rodopi		205,150	105,723	107,677	107,957	103,295	111,237
Samos		69,138	59,709	41,709	40,519	41,850	43,841
Serrai		232,224	222,549	202,898	196,247	191,890	194,483
Thesprotia		62,457	47,299	40,684	41,278	44,202	43,601
Thessaloniki		577,128	459,956	710,352	871,580	977,528	1,084,001
Trikala	143,143	251,144	128,227	132,519	134,207	137,819	132,689
Xanthi			89,891	82,917	88,777	90,450	102,959
Zakynthos	44,070	41,165	38,062	30,187	30,014	32,746	38,883
Totals	2,187,208	7,344,860	7,632,801	8,768,641	9,740,417	10,264,156	10,934,097

Sources: 

1. [1] "Statistical Summary", National Statistical Service of Greece (dead link, retrieved 2008-09-01 at http://www.statistics.gr/gr_tables/synoptikh.pdf). The same data can be found now (2010-02-12) at the NSS site . Click on Statistical Themes in the left-hand navigation bar, then on Population, and select a theme. This source contained population figures for the departments according to the 2001 census. Both the de facto population and the number of "usual residents" were given; I reported the latter figures. The report also contained areas of the departments which in some cases were at variance with the ones I had; I used those figures too in the tables above.
2. The statistical summary uses geographic regions similar to the peripheries, but with some changes. Aegean Islands contains peripheries XI and XII; Thrace contains only the departments of Evros, Rodopi, and Xanthi; Macedonia contains II, III, and I except for Thrace; Peloponnese contains X and Achaea and Ilia from VII; and Central Greece and Euboea contains the rest of VII along with VIII and IX. The other peripheries are intact. The summary also says that Attica department (or the coextensive periphery) is divided into four nomarchia (prefectures): Athens, East Attica, Piraeus, and West Attica.
3. [2] Fifth United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names, Vol. II, United Nations, New York, 1991.
4. [3] Spreadsheet describing the Kallikratis Program  on the website of the Hellenic Statistical Authority (retrieved 2011-01-15).