Metro Manila is divided into seventeen primary local government units (LGU) that consist of sixteen cities and one municipality. Each city and municipality is governed by an elected mayor and is divided into several villages or barangays (formerly called barrios) headed by an elected barangay captain. Barangay populations range in size from under 1,000 to over 200,000. As of the 2015 census, the total population of Metro Manila was 12,877,253.  Manila has also attempted to bring down the number of barangays from 897 to 150 in 1996 through Ordinance 7907 but failed to hold a plebiscite.