The Western Australian Legislative Council is elected from six multi-member electoral regions, which are in turn composed of electoral districts which are used to elect the Legislative Assembly. The current number of electoral regions was established on 22 May 1989. Initially, the South West and Northern Metropolitan regions returned seven members to the Legislative Council, while the other regions each returned five members. This arrangement was changed to have each region return six members for the 2008 Western Australian election, increasing the total number of members from 34 to 36. Before 1989 electoral divisions for the Legislative Council were known as electoral provinces.