Area (LDS Church)
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, an area is an administrative unit which typically is composed of multiple stakes and missions. These areas are the primary church administrative unit between individual stakes or missions 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 2019 there are 21 areas.Future area division
On June 28, 2019, the First Presidency announced a future area division which will go into effect in August 2020, when the nations comprising the current Africa Southeast Area will be split between the new Africa Central Area and the renamed Africa South Area.On August 19, 2019, while on assignment in the Africa Southeast Area, W. Christopher Waddell, Second Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, announced that the headquarters for the new Africa Central Area will be based in Nairobi, Kenya, and identified by name the nations that will constitute the new area in August 2020. As a result of the planned area division, effective August 2020, there will be 22 geographical areas of the church.
Administration
Until 2003, each area had a president and two counselors, all of whom were typically general authorities. This three-man body was known as the area presidency. In that year, the church eliminated area presidencies for areas located in the United States and Canada, which were all then placed under the direct supervision of one of the 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.In April 2018, the church announced that, effective August 1, areas in the United States and Canada would once again be supervised by a three-man presidency. This will enable members of the Presidency of the Seventy to more fully assist the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in their duties, and to fill other assignments as needed.
Roughly one year later, in 2019, church leaders clarified that the 10 North American areas would be merged into 6 (with the Idaho and North America Central areas being consolidated into the North America Central, the North America Northwest, and North America West areas being consolidated into the North America West Area, and the Utah North, Utah Salt Lake City, and Utah South areas being consolidated into a single Utah Area.
Also unique to the 2019 assignments was a change in the administration of the Middle East/Africa North Area. In prior years, two General Authority Seventies were assigned oversight for that area, which was administered from headquarters. However, beginning in August 2019, a three-man area presidency will serve the needs of that area. While the president and first counselor are General Authority Seventies who will continue their oversight from headquarters, the second counselor, an area seventy who lives and works within the boundaries of the area, will continue to do so and serve as a member of the area presidency.
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.
The church now has 15 areas outside North America and 6 areas inside North America for a total of 21. Area presidency assignments are generally filled by General Authority Seventies or area seventies. Area assignments are typically announced in the spring each year, with changes effective that year on August 1.
List
The following is an alphabetical list of the areas of the church and related leadership assignments as of 1 August 2019.| Area name | Area headquarters | Area president | First counselor | Second counselor | Geographic coverage ' | Notes |
| Africa Southeast | Johannesburg, South Africa | S. Mark Palmer | Joseph W. Sitati | Joni L. Koch | Angola; Ascension ; Botswana; Burundi; Cameroon; Central African Republic; Comoros; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Djibouti; ; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Gabon; Kenya; Lesotho; Madagascar; Malawi; Mauritius; Mayotte; Mozambique; Namibia; Republic of Congo; Réunion ; Rwanda; Saint Helena ; Seychelles; Somalia; South Africa; Sudan; Swaziland; Tanzania; Tristan da Cunha ; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe | |
| Africa West | Accra, Ghana | Marcus B. Nash | Edward Dube | Hugo E. Martinez | Benin; Burkina Faso; Chad; Côte d'Ivoire; Gambia; Ghana; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Liberia; Mali; Mauritania; Maritius; Niger; Nigeria; São Tomé and Príncipe; Senegal; Sierra Leone; Togo; Western Sahara | |
| Asia | Hong Kong, China | David F. Evans | Peter F. Meurs | David P. Homer | Afghanistan; Bangladesh; Bhutan; Brunei; Cambodia; China; East Timor; India; Indonesia; Kyrgyzstan; Laos; Malaysia; Maldives; Myanmar; Nepal; Pakistan; Singapore; Sri Lanka; Tajikistan; Taiwan; Thailand; Vietnam | |
| Asia North | Tokyo, Japan | Yoon Hwan Choi | Takashi Wada | L. Todd Budge | Japan; Micronesia; Mongolia; North Korea; Palau; South Korea; Guam | |
| Brazil | São Paulo, Brazil | Marcos A. Aidukaitis | Adilson de Paula Parrella | Joaquin E. Costa | Brazil | |
| Caribbean | Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic | Jose L. Alonso | Eduardo Gavarret | Jorge M. Alvarado | 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 ; Aruba ; Cayman Islands ; French Guiana ; Guadaloupe ; Martinique ; Montserrat ; Netherlands Antilles ; Puerto Rico ; Saint Barthelemy ; Saint Martin ; Turks and Caicos Islands ; Virgin Islands ; Virgin Islands | |
| Central America | Guatemala City, Guatemala | Juan A. Uceda | Brian K. Taylor | Alan R. Walker | Belize; Costa Rica; El Salvador; Guatemala; Honduras; Nicaragua; Panama | |
| Europe | Frankfurt, Germany | Gary B. Sabin | Massimo De Feo | Erich W. Kopischke | Albania; Andorra; Austria; Belgium; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Cape Verde; Croatia; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Finland; France; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Iceland; Republic of Ireland; Italy; Liechtenstein; Luxembourg; Republic of Macedonia; Malta; Moldova; Monaco; Montenegro; Netherlands; Norway; Poland; Portugal; Romania; San Marino; Scotland; Serbia; Slovakia; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; United Kingdom; Vatican City; Azores ; Canary Islands ; Gibraltar ; Greenland | |
| Europe East | Moscow, Russia | Christoffel Golden | Hans T. Boom | Alexey V. Samaykin | Armenia; Azerbaijan; Belarus; Bulgaria; Estonia; Georgia; Kazakhstan; Kyrgyzstan; Latvia; Lithuania; Russia; Tajikistan; Turkey; Turkmenistan; Ukraine; Uzbekistan | |
| Mexico | Mexico City, Mexico | Arnulfo Valenzuela | Rafael E. Pino | John C. Pingree Jr. | Mexico; Cuba | |
| Middle East/ Africa North | Salt Lake City, Utah | Anthony D. Perkins | Larry S. Kacher | Jeffrey H. Singer | Algeria; Bahrain; 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 | S. Gifford Nielsen | Chi Hong Wong | Matthew L. Carpenter | Alberta; Colorado; Idaho; Illinois; Iowa; Kansas; Manitoba; Michigan ; Minnesota; Missouri; Montana; Nebraska; Northwest Territories; North Dakota; Nunavut; Saskatchewan; South Dakota; Wisconsin; Wyoming; British Columbia ; Montana ; Ontario. | |
| North America Northeast | Salt Lake City, Utah | Randall K. Bennett | Allen D. Haynie | W. Mark Bassett | Connecticut; Delaware; Indiana; Maine; Maryland; Massachusetts; Michigan; New Brunswick; Newfoundland; New Hampshire; New Jersey; New York; Nova Scotia; Ohio; Ontario; Pennsylvania; Prince Edward Island; Quebec; Rhode Island; Vermont; Virginia ; Washington, D.C.; West Virginia; Bermuda ; Saint Pierre and Miquelon | |
| North America Southeast | Salt Lake City, Utah | James B. Martino | Vern P. Stanfill | Hugo Montoya | Alabama; Arkansas; Florida; Georgia; Kentucky ; Louisiana; Mississippi; North Carolina; South Carolina; Tennessee; Texas ; Virginia | |
| North America Southwest | Salt Lake City, Utah | Paul B. Pieper | Adrian Ochoa | Kylse S. McKay | Arizona; Nevada; New Mexico; Oklahoma; Texas; Arkansas ; California ; Colorado ; Kansas ; Louisiana ; Missouri ; Utah | |
| North America West | Salt Lake City, Utah | Kevin W. Pearson | Scott D. Whiting | Jörg Klebingat | Alaska; British Columbia; California; Hawaii; Oregon; Washington; Yukon; Arizona | |
| Pacific | Auckland, New Zealand | Ian S. Ardern | K. Brett Nattress | Kazuhiko Yamashita | Australia; Fiji; Kiribati; Marshall Islands; Nauru; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Samoa; Solomon Islands; Tonga; Tuvalu; Vanuatu; American Samoa ; Cook Islands ; French Polynesia, including Tahiti ; New Caledonia ; Niue ; Pitcairn Islands ; Tokelau ; Wallis and Futuna | |
| Philippines | Manila, Philippines | Evan A. Schmutz | Taniela B. Wakolo | Steven R. Bangerter | Philippines; Northern Mariana Islands | |
| South America Northwest | Lima, Peru | Enrique R. Falabella | Jorge F. Zeballos | Mathias Held | Bolivia; Colombia; Ecuador; Peru; Venezuela | |
| South America South | Buenos Aires, Argentina | Benjamin De Hoyos | Mark A. Bragg | Juan Pablo Villar | Argentina; Chile; Paraguay; Uruguay | |
| Utah''' | Salt Lake City, Utah | Craig C. Christensen | Randy D. Funk | Walter F. Gonzalez | Utah; Arizona small portion; Idaho ; Nevada ; Wyoming |
Area details
The following statistics are current as of August 1, 2019, and are taken from , statistical profiles on cumorah.com, and the of the Church's official website. Ward and branch totals and membership numbers were last updated in 2015.| Area | Membership | Missions | Stakes/Districts | Congregations | Temples |
| Africa Southeast | 197,226 | 17 | 60 stakes 17 districts | 585 congregations | 6 temples: |
| Africa West | 248,350 | 17 | 109 stakes 52 districts | 810 congregations | 5 temples: |
| Asia | 164,741 | 11 | 35 stakes 26 districts | 368 congregations | 6 temples: |
| Asia North | 223,508 | 10 | 44 stakes 19 districts | 420 congregations | 6 temples: |
| Brazil | 1,289,376 | 35 | 274 stakes 39 districts | 1,996 congregations | 11 temples: |
| Caribbean | 194,221 | 8 | 33 stakes 23 districts | 367 congregations | 3 temples: |
| Central America | 729,791 | 19 | 132 stakes 129 districts | 1,071 congregations | 9 temples: |
| Europe | 455,088 | 26 | 129 stakes 24 districts | 1,261 congregations | 15 temples: |
| Europe East | 44,313 | 10 | 4 stakes 20 districts | 209 congregations | 2 temples: |
| Mexico | 1,344,298 | 32 | 221 stakes 47 districts | 1,981 congregations | 14 temples: |
| Middle East/Africa North | 11,714 | 0 | 2 stakes 2 districts | 85 congregations | 1 temple: |
| North America Central | 1,069,925 | 22 | 276 stakes 1 district | 2,606 congregations | 22 temples: |
| North America Northeast | 407,514 | 19 | 134 stakes 4 districts | 839 congregations | 14 temples: |
| North America Southeast | 526,385 | 15 | 115 stakes 0 districts | 1,030 congregations | 11 temples: |
| North America Southwest | 1,032,246 | 21 | 269 stakes 2 districts | 2,011 congregations | 15 temples: |
| North America West | 1,347,961 | 28 missions | 282 stakes 1 district | 2,792 congregations | 18 temples: |
| Pacific | 499,509 | 16 | 139 stakes 39 districts | 1,145 congregations | 13 temples: |
| Philippines | 688,852 | 23 | 113 stakes 64 districts | 1,149 congregations | 6 temples: |
| South America Northwest | 1,299,577 | 33 | 247 stakes 49 districts | 1,874 congregations. | 10 temples: |
| South America South | 1,193,569 | 27 | 181 stakes 55 districts | 1,697 congregations. | 10 temples: |
| Utah | 1,985,355 | 10 | 611 stakes 1 district | 4,937 congregations | 23 temples: |