Short answers, pulled from the story.
Prefect comes from the Latin praefectus, derived from praeficere, meaning to put in front or to place in charge. It is a magisterial title referring to the leader of an administrative area, and the authority of a prefect is delegated from a higher authority rather than inherent in their person.
Napoleon Bonaparte created the French prefect system on the 17th of February 1800, shortly after his coup d'etat of the 9th of November 1799 made him head of state under the title Premier Consul. The prefect was designed to be the chief representative of the national government in each department.
Under Francois Mitterrand, who served as president from 1981 to 1995, a law passed on the 2nd of March 1982 began decentralizing France by creating administrative regions and devolving powers to regions, departments, and communes. The prefect shifted from omnipotent chief administrator to chief controller of public accounts and inspector of local governance.
A Prefect Apostolic is a cleric, usually a priest rather than a bishop, placed in charge of an apostolic prefecture: a territorial jurisdiction that carries out the functions of a diocese but has not yet been granted that status. These jurisdictions typically appear in missionary areas or in countries considered anti-religious, such as the People's Republic of China.
Greece abolished its prefecture system with the Kallikratis reform in 2010. The last prefectural elections were held in October 2006. Before abolition, Greece had 54 prefectures, each headed by an elected prefect called a nomarhis, situated between the country's first-level Peripheries and third-level Municipalities.
In Latin America, prefecture (prefectura) is used as a name for coast guard services, which may be independent organizations or part of a navy. Argentina's Argentine Naval Prefecture is independent from the Argentine Navy, while Uruguay's National Naval Prefecture performs similar coast guard duties but is subordinated to the National Navy of Uruguay.