Original scientific paper
Emigration from Croatia to Overseas and European Countries from the Middle of the 19th Century to 1981 – an Attempt at Quantification
Ivo Nejašmić
; Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The paper analyses the quantitative aspect of emigration to European and overseas countries in the period from the middle of the 19th century till 1981 (the time of the last census). Analysing various sources and studies, the author presents data on emigration from individual Croatian lands (Istria, civil Croatia, Dalmatia) in relation to individual emigration flows (to Europe, overseas) and periods (before World War I, the inter-war period, the post-war period), and at the same time he examines external migration as an effect of the two world wars. During the entire period in examination circa 1,150.000 people (an annual average of 8,850) emigrated from the present territory of Croatia – i.e. 33% of the average standing population, or else 38% of total (overall) natural increment. Immigration (from territories outside present Yugoslavia) is evaluated at about 300,000 which means that the net migration balance was negative, amounting to 850,000 people. Thus – due to intensive external migration (with almost one and half million people participating in the inflow and outflow) – Croatia suffered an annual loss of circa 6,500 inhabitants. This caused significant problems in development (not only in the demographic sense), since the immigration and emigration flows were spatially selective: most emigrants left poor Karst areas (mainly villages), while immigrants were, as a rule, attracted to rich valley areas and urban centres. Especially important was the role of emigration after World War II (325,000 people in the period 1948–1981), due to the fact that it occurred in conditions of increased demographic ageing and reduction of natality. The autor concludes that emigration to European and overseas countries significantly in-fluenced unfavourable demographic trends in the Republic of Croatia.
Keywords
emigration; external migration; migration balance; Croatia
Hrčak ID:
127703
URI
Publication date:
28.12.1990.
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