A territorial subdivision of Attica (also of modern Greece), corresponding to a township.

A village of Attikos. It became a local administrative unit with the reforms of Kleisthenes.

township or district in Attica

An administrative district in ancient Greece.

a local unit that served as the basic of Cleisthenes' political system. (p. 68)

In Ancient Greece, a deme (plural demoi) was a subdivision of Attica, the region of Greece surrounding Athens. Demoi as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside seem to have existed in the 6th century BC and earlier, but did not acquire particular significance until the reforms of Cleisthenes in 508 BC. In those reforms, enrollment in the citizen-lists of a deme became the requirement for citizenship; prior to that time, citizenship had been based on membership in a phratry, or family group.