a member of the Church of Denmark. In 2011, Niels Preisler, a Roman Catholic, was appointed director of the Copenhagen state administration and therefore diocesan governor of Copenhagen. History The predecessor of the state administration(s), from 1970 until the 2007 reform, were the 14 county government divisions or prefectures (Danish: statsamt, plural: , i.e. 'state county'). They were each led by an amtmand (county prefect or governor) appointed by the government, while in ecclesiastical contexts the title ('diocesan prefect') was used for the same position. These units were distinct from the 14 counties led by an elected council, but covered the same areas. Copenhagen, however, had the equivalent entity of Upper Presidium () led by an upper president (), a title originating from 1747. The municipality of Frederiksberg shared its county governor and county government division with Copenhagen County (not covering Copenhagen proper, but the surrounding area). Bornholm retained its county government office and governor even after losing its county status (2003–2006). While prefect or governor is an English rendering of the title, county prefects were practically senior government officials, unknown to a larger public and less powerful than governors in many other countries. On the Faroe Islands and Greenland, after autonomy, the equivalent representative of the Danish government is the High Commissioner, (, formerly , which was often translated as governor). The general public was mostly familiar with the former and then as the entity dealing with divorce and child custody. The position of county prefect dated back to the age of absolutism. After elected councils were introduced, the King-appointed county prefect still led the elected county council and had larger political influence. In 1970, his political role was then taken over by the county mayor () who was one of the elected county council members. The county prefect remained as the highest government representative in each county, and in his traditional civil servant uniform would be the person to receive the Queen on her visits throughout the country. In Copenhagen Municipality, the switch was made in 1938 when the title of Lord Mayor of Copenhagen (, literally 'upper mayor of Copenhagen') was created for the elected leader of the city council. The equivalent of the Danish county prefect is the Swedish landshövding and the Norwegian fylkesmann. See also List of Danish regions by Human Development Index Municipalities of Denmark Subdivisions of the Nordic countries Faroe Islands Greenland NUTS