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Natural increase (in ‰)
< - 10
-10 - -5
-5 - 0
0 - 5
5 - 10
> 10
Fig. 13.6
Natural increase - 2002-2007
parts of the country, nowadays migration is directed to the largest cities and tourist
centres in the country on the one hand, and to foreign countries on the other. In many
mountainous areas emigration exceeds reasonable scale and leads to huge popula-
tion losses and age structure deterioration. From economic and social point of view,
modern-day migration is a necessary process, which, however, has a demolishing
effect on demographic structures, reproduction and number of population. The neg-
ative consequences for settlements and the network of settlements as a whole are
inevitable. As a matter of fact, according to the 2001 census, all uninhabited settle-
ments in the country are located in mountainous regions, as well as the 40 villages
erased from The List of Settlements in the Republic of Bulgaria.
In recent years, decrease of the population number in mountainous settlements
due to emigration is around 1.7‰ (or migration growth of -1.7‰). To a great extent,
this is a result of the combined effect of exhaustion of migration outflows on the one
hand, and the thriving of tourism and relative economic stabilization of some moun-
tainous towns on the other (in Strandzha region for example, migration growth of
the population is 12‰). The highest population decrease rates due to migration are
measured in Sakar Mountain -6.6‰ (or increase of -6.6‰), which lacks any sig-
nificant natural and economic potential for development. The comparatively higher
emigration decrease of the population in Stara planina region is due to the exist-
ing population outflow from small towns, which is also triggered by the scarcity of
economic potential in those settlements. Growth of immigration rates is detected in
those mountains, in which rural population dominates - Sredna Gora Mountain and
the Western Border Mountains. Immigration flows in those areas consist mostly by
retired, former local residents (Figs.
13.7
,
13.8
, and
13.9
).
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