engleski

Differences in demographic development of rural and urban areas in Croatian karst

The Dinaric karst area in Croatia is characterized by specific physical geographical conditions that have, accompanied by historical and geographical processes, significantly influenced on its inhabitancy and spatial differences in socio-economic development. Although the karst areas, as Croatia in its entirety, are in the past decade being characterized by unfavourable demographic trends and processes, first of all depopulation and population ageing, the differences between coastal part with larger cities with somewhat favourable population age structure, and rural parts (inner parts of Karst area and very small, small and medium-sized islands) with advanced depopulation and ageing as a consequence of long-term out-migration and birth rate decrease are quite visible. Analyzing a demographic development of the entire Croatian karst area, we can notice that in 1960s and 1970s the centre of inhabitancy and economic development was displaced towards coastal urban areas, while at the same time inner parts and islands, as predominantly rural areas were demographic and economic periphery. The attempts to retain the population and to keep more equal economic development through construction of industrial facilities in municipality centres in rural areas have had limited economic effects and haven't contributed to its demographic stabilization. The fact that Gorski kotar, Ogulin-Plaški basin, Pokuplje and Žumberak have lost third, while Lika and Kordun almost half of its population in the period between 1991 and 2011, speaks about the intensity of population regression in rural karst areas in Croatia. It is to be expected that in the next period of time small settlements will demographically become extinct, regardless of the attempts to introduce and carry out measures for more coordinated regional development.

Karst area; Croatia; rural and urban areas; depopulation; ageing

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