Original scientific paper
Demographic Change in Brodsko-posavska County, 1981-1991-2001
Mario Kevo
; Croatian Institute for History, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The Homeland War influenced demographic change throughout the Republic of Croatia. This work seeks to clarify some of the aspects of demographic change which took place in the territory of the Brodsko-Posavska County between the censuses taken in 1991 and 2001. Other than direct population losses, which had a large impact on the population, this territory experienced unfavourable trends in migration. In this County, created out of the former districts of Nova Gradiška and Slavonski Brod, various indicators are apparent, and
the greater vitality of the population of the Slavonski Brod area is obvious. The demographic impact of the Homeland War can be observed to its greatest extent on patterns of migration and in the national structure of the population. Yet the war was not the decisive influence on negative demographic patterns because the processes of mechanical and natural depopulation as well as unfavourable migration processes were intensified as early as the 1970s. This is especially true of the district of Nova Gradiška. Indeed, the Homeland War was one of the destabilizing factors in the demographic development of the County, but it did not have a decisive impact on the other demographic patterns. Special attention has to be paid to the wide dispersal of the population and its national structure because
the Homeland War had a rather large influence on this issue. The western regions of the County were almost entirely abandoned by the Serb population, and a very small portion returned. Besides being depopulated, the population of this region is also aged; moreover, those who have returned to live here tend to be older as well. This is substantiated by the natural migration of the population from the territory of the former district of Nova Gradiška, which in the last
census was unfavourable. According to the results of the last census, there was also a large change in the nationality structure of the population. The number and proportion of Croats increased, while the numbers for other nationalities declined in relative and absolute terms. The largest decline occurred among the Serbs, whose numbers, compared to 1991, declined by 14,610 persons, or from
11.41% of the population to 3.02%. The category of Yugoslav was not listed in 2001, and the number of people claiming other nationality declined from 8,853 to 5,289, a decline of slightly more than 40%. The demographic losses recorded in the census were made up by migration of Croats from Bosnia and abroad, increasing thus the proportion of Croats in the population. It should be concluded that with regard to the beginning of the process of mechanical and natural depopulation of the Brodsko-Posavska County in the 1970s, the Homeland War did not have a decisive role in demographic trends, that is, in the changes recorded between the last two censuses, but that it had a decisive impact on the nationality structure of the population of the County.
Keywords
Republic of Croatia; Brodsko-Posavska County; Slavonski Brod; Nova Gradiška; Homeland War; Demographic change
Hrčak ID:
27117
URI
Publication date:
30.6.2008.
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