Change of the Demographic Regime and Implications in the Dimensions of Rural Settlements in Transylvania

Ramona Flavia RAŢIU1, Rodica Ramona SUCIU1, Lucian MOLDOVAN1
1 “Dimitrie Cantemir” University, Faculty of Geography, Târgu Mureş, ROMANIA
E-mail: ratiuflavia@yahoo.com, suciu.ramona@yahoo.com, moldovanlucian@yahoo.com
Pages: 329-334

Abstract. Our study focuses on the implications which have changed the demographic regime of rural settlements in Transylvania. We analysed the demographic size of these rural settlements taking into account the influence of flows generated by demographic events during 1989-2011. In this study we used the number of people registered at two censuses: 2002 and 2011. The decrease in number between the last two censuses was of about 10.3% in Transylvania, with an average annual decrease of 1.03%. The analysis of the territorial administrative units of the historical region of Transylvania underlines significant reductions in the number of inhabitants, the only exception being Covasna County, where there was an increase of 0.85% in the number of people in rural areas. The most alert rhythm of population decrease is characteristic of Hunedoara County and of Alba County, which during the analyzed period lost over 20% of their rural population. Beside these changes in the evolution of the natural balance, an important role in varying the classification of rural settlements belonged on the one hand to legislation that changed migrations and to administrative units, on the other hand, as a result of transforming villages into urban settlements, either trough establishing new communes or trough reorganizing the existing ones. The demographic regime has an important role in changing rural classification in Transylvania, but it is not the only factor which determined these changes.

K e y w o r d s:  demographic regime, rural settlements, Transylvania, population growth rate