“Church European Areas Realigned,” Liahona, Jan. 2001, 128
Church European Areas Realigned
The First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles recently announced a realignment of the boundaries of the Church’s Europe East, Europe West, and Europe North Areas. The three newly defined areas are now called the Europe East, Europe West, and Europe Central Areas; the title “Europe North Area” will no longer be used.
The Presidency of what was the Europe North Area is now the Presidency of the Europe West Area; the Presidency of what was called the Europe West Area now presides over the Europe Central Area. The Europe East Area Presidency will continue to preside over that newly realigned area.
A significant change associated with the realignment is the relocation of the Europe East Area office to Moscow, Russia, from Frankfurt, Germany, where both the Europe East and Europe West Area offices had been located.
“The realignment is particularly designed to aid in the development of the Church in Eastern Europe [and] Central Europe,” said Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “We’ve seen significant missionary work and Church growth in Eastern and Central Europe over the past decade, with eight missions in Russia and a temple already announced for Kyiv, Ukraine,” he added.
Headquarters for the newly aligned areas are Solihull, England; Frankfurt, Germany; and Moscow, Russia. (Map by Thomas S. Child.)
The Europe East Area no longer includes North Africa, the Middle East, and certain parts of central Europe. It now encompasses 13 missions and 25 districts in 18 countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
The Europe Central Area office is in Frankfurt, Germany. This area takes in parts of northern and central Europe, the Middle East, and Egypt. It includes 20 missions, 34 stakes, 20 districts, and 37 countries: Albania, Austria, Bahrain, Bosnia, Croatia, Cyprus, Northern Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Lebanon, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
The Europe West Area now encompasses Greenland and the United Kingdom (formerly part of the Europe North Area); the North African countries of Algeria, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia (formerly included in the Europe East Area); and Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, and Spain. This area, which includes 24 missions, 66 stakes, and 53 districts, is headquartered in Solihull, England, former headquarters of the Europe North Area.