The administrative divisions of Albania comprise 12 counties, 61 municipalities, and 373 administrative units. Since its 1912 Declaration of Independence, Albania has reorganized its administrative divisions 21 times. Its internal boundaries have been enlarged or subdivided into prefectures, counties, districts, subprefectures, municipalities, communes, neighborhoods or wards, villages, and localities. The most recent changes were made in 2014 and enacted in 2015. Main administrative divisions Counties The first level of government is constituted by the 12 counties (), organized into their present form in the year 2000. They are run by a prefect () and a county council (). Prefects are appointed as representatives of the national Council of Ministers. Municipalities The second level of government is constituted by the 61 municipalities (). They are run by a mayor () and a municipal council (), elected every 4 years. Before 2015, a was an urban municipality and only covered the jurisdiction of such cities. After 2015, the jurisdiction of the was expanded to cover the nearby rural municipalities. Administrative units The third level of government is constituted by the 373 administrative units () or units of local administration (). Most of these were former rural municipalities or communes (), which functioned as second-level divisions of the country until 2015. Parts of the administrative units are still further divided into Albania's 2,972 villages (). History Ottoman Albania At the beginning of the 20th century, the territory which now forms Albania was divided among the four separate vilayets () of Scutari, Janina, Manastir, and Kosovo. This helped mix Albanians with the surrounding Greeks, Serbs, and other groups. The four vilayets were divided into the sanjaks () of Scutari, Durrës, Ioannina, Ergiri, Preveze, Berat, Manastir, Serfiğe, Dibra, Elbasan, Görice, Üsküp, Priştine, İpek, Prizren, and Novi Pazar. The sanjaks were in turn further divided into kazas () at the town level and nahiyes () at the village level. Revolutionary Albania Following the successful War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire in 1912, the first Albanian government led by Ismail Qemali initially retained the former Turkish divisions and offices. This was revised by the "Canon of Albanian Civil Administration" on 22 November 1913, which created a new three tier system. The primary division was into the 8 prefectures () of Durrës, Berat, Dibër, Elbasan, Gjirokastër, Korcë, Shkodër, and Vlorë. Each of these was to be overseen by a prefect. The prefectures were divided into subprefectures (),