Area (LDS Church)

An area is an administrative unit of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which typically is composed of multiple stakes and missions. Areas are the primary church administrative unit between individual stakes and the church as a whole.

History

The areas as they now exist were formed in January 1984. Prior to that time, general authorities served as "area supervisors" and at times resided outside of Salt Lake City. In 1984, 13 initial areas were created; by 1992 there were 22, and by early 2007 there were 31. As of August 2012 there are 25 areas.

Administration

Until 2003, each area had a president and two counselors, all of whom were typically general authorities (Area Seventies were sometimes asked to be counselors). This three-man body was known as the area presidency. In that year, the church eliminated area presidencies for all areas located in the United States and Canada. Each of these areas were placed under the direct supervision of one of the seven members of the Presidency of the Seventy, thus freeing more general authorities from specific area assignments. Since these areas were previously administered by area presidencies located at church headquarters in Salt Lake City, the administrative change was not as drastic as it might seem.

The areas outside the United States and Canada continue to be governed by area presidencies that are typically composed of general authorities and area seventies. Rather than living in Salt Lake City, the area presidency members in these areas usually reside in a headquarters city that is located within the geographic boundaries of the area. Area seventies who serve in the area presidencies reside in their own homes, which may or may not be in the area headquarters city. One exception to the area presidency living in the geographic boundaries is the Middle East/Africa North Area which is administered from Salt Lake City. Each area presidency employs an executive secretary to assist in the administration of the area.

The Church now has 15 areas outside North America and 10 areas inside North America for a total of 25. The current assignments became effective 1 August 2012. Area presidency assignments are generally filled by members of the First or Second Quorum of the Seventy.

List

The following is an alphabetical list of the areas of the church. The number assigned corresponds to the number on the map in the section below.

Area name	Area headquarters	Area president (Quorum)	First counselor (Quorum)	Second counselor (Quorum)	Geographic coverage (Areas where the LDS Church has no official presence in italics)	Notes
Africa Southeast	Johannesburg, South Africa	Dale G. Renlund (1st)	Carl B. Cook (1st)	Colin H. Bricknell (3rd)	Angola; Botswana; Burundi; Comoros; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Republic of Congo; Djibouti; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Gabon; Kenya; Lesotho; Madagascar; Mauritius; Mozambique; Namibia; Rwanda; Seychelles; Somalia; South Africa; Swaziland; Tanzania; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe; Ascension Island (UK); Réunion (FRA); Saint Helena (UK); Tristan da Cunha (UK)
Africa West	Accra, Ghana	John B. Dickson (1st)	Joseph W. Sitati (1st)	LeGrand R. Curtis Jr. (1st)	Benin; Burkina Faso; Cameroon; Central African Republic; Chad; Côte d'Ivoire; Equatorial Guinea; Gambia; Ghana; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Liberia; Mali; Mauritania; Niger; Nigeria; São Tomé and Príncipe; Senegal; Sierra Leone; Sudan; Togo; Western Sahara
Asia	Hong Kong, China	Kent D. Watson (2nd)	Gerrit W. Gong (1st)	Larry Y. Wilson (2nd)	Afghanistan; Bangladesh; Bhutan; Brunei; Cambodia; China; East Timor; India; Indonesia; Kyrgyzstan; Laos; Malaysia; Maldives; Mongolia; Myanmar; Nepal; Pakistan; Singapore; Sri Lanka; Tajikistan; Taiwan; Thailand; Vietnam
Asia North	Tokyo, Japan	Michael T. Ringwood (1st)	Kazuhiko Yamashita (1st)	Koichi Aoyagi (2nd)	Japan; Micronesia; North Korea; Palau; South Korea
Brazil	São Paulo, Brazil	Claudio R.M. Costa (1st)	Carlos A. Godoy (1st)	Jairo Mazzagardi (2nd)	Brazil	Official website (Portuguese)
Caribbean	Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic	Wilford W. Andersen (2nd)	J. Devn Cornish (2nd)	Claudio D. Zivic (1st)	Antigua and Barbuda; Bahamas; Barbados; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Grenada; Guyana; Haiti; Jamaica; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Suriname; Trinidad and Tobago; Anguilla (UK); Aruba (NED); Cayman Islands (UK); French Guiana (FRA); Guadaloupe (FRA); Martinique (FRA); Montserrat (FRA); Netherlands Antilles (NED); Puerto Rico (US); Saint Barthelemy (FRA); Saint Martin (FRA); Turks and Caicos Islands (UK); Virgin Islands (UK); Virgin Islands (US)
Central America	Guatemala City, Guatemala	James B. Martino (2nd)	Carlos H. Amado (1st)	Kevin R. Duncan (1st)	Belize; Costa Rica; El Salvador; Guatemala; Honduras; Nicaragua; Panama
Europe	Frankfurt, Germany	José A. Teixeira (1st)	Patrick Kearon (1st)	Kent F. Richards (2nd)	Albania; Andorra; Austria; Belgium; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Croatia; Czech Republic; Denmark; Finland; France; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Iceland; Republic of Ireland; Italy; Liechtenstein; Luxembourg; Republic of Macedonia; Malta; Moldova; Monaco; Netherlands; Norway; Poland; Portugal; Romania; San Marino; Slovakia; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; United Kingdom; Vatican City; Azores (POR); Canary Islands (ESP); Gibraltar (UK); Greenland (DEN)
Europe East	Moscow, Russia	Larry R. Lawrence (2nd)	Randall K. Bennett (2nd)	Per G. Malm (2nd)	Armenia; Azerbaijan; Belarus; Bulgaria; Cyprus; Estonia; Georgia; Kazakhstan; Latvia; Lithuania; Montenegro; Russia; Serbia; Turkey; Turkmenistan; Ukraine; Uzbekistan
Idaho	Salt Lake City, Utah	Donald L. Hallstrom (Presidency)			Idaho; Montana (small portion); Wyoming (small portion)
Mexico	Mexico City, Mexico	Daniel L. Johnson (1st)	Benjamín De Hoyos (1st)	Jose L. Alonso (1st)	Mexico; Cuba
Middle East/ Africa North	Salt Lake City, Utah	Bruce D. Porter (1st),  Bruce A. Carlson (2nd)			Algeria; Bahrain; Cape Verde; Egypt; Iran; Iraq; Israel; Jordan; Kuwait; Lebanon; Libya; Morocco; Oman; Qatar; Saudi Arabia; Syria; Tunisia; United Arab Emirates; Yemen; Gaza Strip; West Bank
North America Central	Salt Lake City, Utah	Craig C. Christensen (Presidency)			Alberta; Colorado; Illinois; Iowa; Kansas; Manitoba; Minnesota; Missouri; Montana; Nebraska; Northwest Territories; North Dakota; Nunavut; Saskatchewan; South Dakota; Wisconsin; Wyoming; British Columbia (small eastern sections); Ontario (western half); Michigan (Upper Peninsula)
North America Northeast	Salt Lake City, Utah	Donald L. Hallstrom (Presidency)			Connecticut; Delaware; Ontario; Maine; Massachusetts; New Brunswick; Newfoundland; New Hampshire; New Jersey; New York; Nova Scotia; Pennsylvania; Prince Edward Island; Quebec; Rhode Island; Vermont; Virginia (portions); Washington, D.C.; Bermuda (UK); Saint Pierre and Miquelon (FRA)
North America Northwest	Salt Lake City, Utah	Richard J. Maynes (Presidency)			Alaska; British Columbia; Oregon; Washington; Yukon; California (small part of north)
North America Southeast	Salt Lake City, Utah	Ulisses Soares (Presidency)			Alabama; Arkansas; Florida; Georgia; Louisiana; Mississippi; North Carolina; South Carolina; Tennessee; Kentucky (small portions); Texas (small portion); Virginia (small portions)
North America Southwest	Salt Lake City, Utah	Tad R. Callister (President)			Arizona; New Mexico; Oklahoma Texas; Arkansas (northwest quarter); California (small portions); Colorado (southwest portion); Kansas (small portion); Louisiana (small portion); Missouri (southwest third); Utah (small portions)
North America West	Salt Lake City, Utah	Richard J. Maynes (President)			California; Hawaii; Arizona (small portions)
Pacific	Auckland, New Zealand	James J. Hamula (1st)	Kevin W. Pearson (1st)	F. Michael Watson (1st)	Australia; Fiji; Kiribati; Marshall Islands; Nauru; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Samoa; Solomon Islands; Tonga; Tuvalu; Vanuatu; American Samoa (US); Cook Islands (NZ); French Polynesia, including Tahiti (FRA); New Caledonia (FRA); Niue (NZ); Pitcairn Islands (UK); Tokelau (NZ); Wallis and Futuna (FRA)	Official website
Philippines	Manila, Philippines	Michael John U. Teh (1st)	Brent H. Nielson (1st)	Ian S. Ardern (1st)	Philippines; Guam (US); Northern Mariana Islands (US)
South America Northwest	Bogotá, Colombia	Rafael E. Pino (1st)	Juan A. Uceda (1st)	W. Christopher Waddell (1st)	Bolivia; Colombia; Ecuador; Peru; Venezuela
South America South	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Walter F. González (1st)	Jorge F. Zeballos (1st)	Francisco J. Viñas (1st)	Argentina; Chile; Paraguay; Uruguay
Utah North	Salt Lake City, Utah	L. Whitney Clayton (Presidency)			Utah (northern regions); Idaho (small portion); Wyoming (southwest corner)
Utah Salt Lake City	Salt Lake City, Utah	L. Whitney Clayton (Presidency)			Greater Salt Lake City; Nevada (small portion)
Utah South	Salt Lake City, Utah	L. Whitney Clayton (Presidency)			Utah (south of Greater Salt Lake City); Arizona (small portion); Nevada (small portion)

Area details

The following statistics are current as of January 1, 2012, and are taken from the Deseret News 2013 Church Almanac, pp. 177-202.

Area	Membership	Missions	Stakes/Districts	Congregations (wards/branches)	Temples
Africa Southeast	164,491	11	30 stakes 23 districts	210 wards 296 branches	1; 2 announced: Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple; Durban South Africa Temple	Johannesburg South Africa Temple
Africa West	187,021	9	30 stakes 33 districts	241 wards 296 branches	2	Aba Nigeria Temple Accra Ghana Temple
Asia	160,959	10	19 stakes 48 districts	132 wards 271 branches	2	Hong Kong China Temple Taipei Taiwan Temple
Asia North	218,525	10	46 stakes 25 districts	255 wards 191 branches	3; 1 announced: Sapporo Japan Temple	Fukuoka Japan Temple Seoul Korea Temple Tokyo Japan Temple
Brazil	1,173,258	27	242 stakes 49 districts	1,473 wards 466 branches	7; 1 under construction: Fortaleza Brazil Temple; 1 announced: Rio de Janeiro Temple;	Campinas Brazil Temple Curitiba Brazil Temple Porto Alegre Brazil Temple Recife Brazil Temple São Paulo Brazil Temple Manaus Brazil Temple
Caribbean	182,050	7	27 stakes 17 districts	169 wards 191 branches	1	Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple
Central America	659,010	14	99 stakes 46 districts	640 wards 426 branches	5; 1 announced: Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple	Guatemala City Guatemala Temple Panamá City Panamá Temple Quetzaltenango Guatemala Temple San José Costa Rica Temple San Salvador El Salvador Temple
Europe	456,093	30	114 stakes 40 districts	716 wards 564 branches	10; 3 announced: Lisbon Portugal Temple; Paris France Temple; Rome Italy Temple	Bern Switzerland Temple Copenhagen Denmark Temple Frankfurt Germany Temple Freiberg Germany Temple Helsinki Finland Temple London England Temple Madrid Spain Temple Preston England Temple Stockholm Sweden Temple The Hague Netherlands Temple
Europe East	41,957	14	2 stakes 7 districts	14 wards 199 branches	1	Kyiv Ukraine Temple
Idaho	382,817	2	113 stakes 0 districts	915 wards 76 branches	4; 1 announced: Meridian Idaho Temple	Boise Idaho Temple Idaho Falls Idaho Temple Rexburg Idaho Temple Twin Falls Idaho Temple
Mexico	1,273,199	24	222 stakes 36 districts	1543 wards 457 branches	12; 1 announced: Tijuana Mexico Temple	Ciudad Juárez México Temple Colonia Juárez Chihuahua México Temple Guadalajara México Temple Hermosillo Sonora México Temple Monterrey México Temple Mérida México Temple México City México Temple Oaxaca México Temple Tampico México Temple Tuxtla Gutiérrez México Temple Veracruz México Temple Villahermosa México Temple
Middle East/Africa North	3,907	0	1 stake 4 districts	6 wards 29 branches	0
North America Central	575,801	16	134 stakes 2 districts	1,018 wards 367 branches	12; 2 announced: Fort Collins Colorado Temple; Winnipeg Manitoba Temple	Billings Montana Temple Bismarck North Dakota Temple Cardston Alberta Temple Chicago Illinois Temple Denver Colorado Temple Edmonton Alberta Temple Nauvoo Illinois Temple Regina Saskatchewan Temple St. Louis Missouri Temple St. Paul Minnesota Temple Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple
North America Northeast	589,491	22	119 stakes 6 districts	883 wards 393 branches	9; 3 announced: Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple; Indianapolis Indiana Temple; Hartford Connecticut Temple	Boston Massachusetts Temple Columbus Ohio Temple Detroit Michigan Temple Halifax Nova Scotia Temple Manhattan New York Temple Montréal Québec Temple Palmyra New York Temple Toronto Ontario Temple Washington D.C. Temple
North America Northwest	493,015	9	109 stakes 1 district	831 wards 175 branches	7	Anchorage Alaska Temple Columbia River Washington Temple Medford Oregon Temple Portland Oregon Temple Seattle Washington Temple Spokane Washington Temple Vancouver British Columbia Temple
North America Southeast	518,431	17	101 stakes 0 districts	705 wards 293 branches	9; 1 announced: Fort Lauderdale Florida Temple	Atlanta Georgia Temple Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple Birmingham Alabama Temple Columbia South Carolina Temple Louisville Kentucky Temple Memphis Tennessee Temple Nashville Tennessee Temple Orlando Florida Temple Raleigh North Carolina Temple
North America Southwest	1,037,216	18	212 stakes 3 districts	1,704 wards 345 branches	12; 3 announced: Gilbert Arizona Temple; Phoenix Arizona Temple; Tucson Arizona Temple	Albuquerque New Mexico Temple Dallas Texas Temple The Gila Valley Arizona Temple Houston Texas Temple Las Vegas Nevada Temple Lubbock Texas Temple Mesa Arizona Temple Monticello Utah Temple Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temple Reno Nevada Temple San Antonio Texas Temple Snowflake Arizona Temple
North America West	832,409	17	171 stakes 0 districts	1,297 wards 167 branches	9	Fresno California Temple Laie Hawaii Temple Kona Hawaii Temple Los Angeles California Temple Newport Beach California Temple Oakland California Temple Redlands California Temple Sacramento California Temple San Diego California Temple
Pacific	475,043	13	110 stakes 35 districts	746 wards 371 branches	10	Adelaide Australia Temple Apia Samoa Temple Brisbane Australia Temple Hamilton New Zealand Temple Melbourne Australia Temple Nuku alofa Tonga Temple Papeete Tahiti Temple Perth Australia Temple Suva Fiji Temple Sydney Australia Temple
Philippines	661,598	17	83 stakes 85 districts	518 wards 600 branches	2; 1 announced: Urdaneta Philippines Temple	Manila Philippines Temple Cebu Philippines Temple
South America Northwest	1,219,326	24	218 stakes 62 districts	1,413 wards 493 branches	5 temples; 3 announced: Trujillo Peru Temple; Barranquilla Colombia Temple; Arequipa Peru Temple	Bogotá Colombia Temple Caracas Venezuela Temple Cochabamba Bolivia Temple Guayaquil Ecuador Temple Lima Peru Temple
South America South	1,150,434	23	171 stakes 74 districts	1,071 wards 681 branches	4; 2 announced: Cordoba Argentina Temple; Concepcion Chile Temple	Asunción Paraguay Temple Buenos Aires Argentina Temple Montevideo Uruguay Temple Santiago Chile Temple
Utah North	547,517	1	160 stakes 0 districts	1,289 wards 79 branches	4; 1 announced: Star Valley Wyoming Temple	Bountiful Utah Temple Brigham City Utah Temple Logan Utah Temple Ogden Utah Temple
Utah Salt Lake City	691,756	3	188 stakes 1 district	1,406 wards 139 branches	4	Draper Utah Temple Jordan River Utah Temple Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple Salt Lake Temple
Utah South	746,082	2	225 stakes 0 districts	1,906 wards 118 branches	5; 2 announced: Payson Utah Temple; Provo City Center Temple	Manti Utah Temple Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple Provo Utah Temple St. George Utah Temple Vernal Utah Temple

See also

• District (LDS Church)
• List of area seventies of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• List of general authorities of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• Regional representative of the Twelve
• Seventy: Area seventies and additional quorums of seventy