What is population depopulation?

With the peoples is the same as with each living organism separately. They appear, develop and disappear, as well as every single representative of the people. These processes are interested in one of the natural sciences - demography. One of the demographic processes we are interested in this discussion, because its manifestations in some countries become obvious. And this process is depopulation.

What is the depopulation, its essence and causes, as well as other facts that interest us as not indifferent to the fate of peoples, we consider in this article.

Designation of the term

So, let's start with the main thing that we were going to disassemble now. So, depopulation of the population is a decrease in the number of people within a certain country or a single territory, the cause of which, when considered as a whole, was a decrease in the reproduction of the population.

The designation of the term "depopulation", apparently borrowed from other languages, was considered in the last century, but in early scientific works this concept was not singled out .In the end, the origins were found: the term was introduced by French researchers concerned about such processes in their Country.

Only one of the works of the XIX century (French encyclopedia Larousse) contained a similar word "depopulation", derived from the "depeupler". The definition of the second literally can be translated as "to save territories from residents", "to reduce the population of the territory". Interpret it more relevant in free form, which leads us to the conclusion - the term means "depopulation."

Let us also take into account the fact that such "depopulation" is meant through a number of catastrophic situations and a decrease in the birth rate.

Depopulation and aging of the nation

Depopulation is expressed in the fact that each succeeding generation is numerically smaller than the previous one. Next to this concept (for completeness of information about the demographic process), it seems, we should mention the so-called aging of the nation. This is just one of the parties, as a result of which depopulation is manifested.

As an interim summary, we summarize. Now we are familiar with what depopulation is, and even with the new, perhaps, term "aging of the nation." Like all demographic processes, depopulation has its own reasons.

Symptoms

Let us dwell on the main signs of population depopulation. In fact, we rephrase what was said above. So, the signs of depopulation are:

• Decrease in population (more specifically, as a result of increased mortality);
• The new generation is quantitatively less than the previous one.

Next, we will continue to delve into the topic of depopulation and what questions accompany it.

Depopulation of the population: causes

As we already know, depopulation is a reduction in the population. This process has such causes as:

• Excess of fertility by mortality;
• War - has always been a catastrophic point, after which the population of the country is recovering for a long time;
• Active emigration (recall that emigration - leaving the country for permanent residence, for work, other reasons for moving);
• Epidemics - are characteristic for the past historical epochs, in which the development of medicine did not restrain the spread of deadly diseases;
• Other natural and technogenic cataclysms, as a result of which a significant part of the population died.

Population depopulation is a demographic problem that can not be solved in one decade. She is engaged in the state (in some cases - international) level.

Particular cases of population decline

We have considered the notation of the concept of depopulation and the signs of this process. However, history gives us examples where a decrease in the population of a country or a particular part of it is not considered depopulation.

To such cases it is possible to attribute action of such factors which quickly stops, and the population again increases. So, we remember that VOv took away the lives of 27 million inhabitants of the Soviet Union. However, after the war ended, there was a rapid population growth, and for 11 years pre-war indicators were achieved.

The processes associated with migration also often do not fall under the designation of depopulation. This is because normal rates of natural population growth in these territories remain normal. It is relevant only for individual countries.

Ireland can serve as a similar example. At the beginning of the 20th century, the number of inhabitants decreased by half, since that was the period of spontaneous migration to America. At the same time, the entire fertility rate on the island was higher than the death rate.

Population and the state: solving depopulation problems

The problem of reducing the country's population is considered not only from the point of view of demography. From the very beginning of the study she was in the field of view of politics, public figures.

Depopulation is considered as a national disaster. Even if immigrants from other countries compensate for the declining local population, this remains a problem.

At the state level, depopulation is overcome by policies aimed at improving the conditions for fertility. This affects both health care, social programs, and, in general, living conditions. The purpose of such programs is to restore the normal rate of reproduction of the country's population.

Depopulation of population in Russia

The last several decades of Russia are facing a serious problem of population depopulation. Contributed to this a number of reasons, both economic and social. In general, we see a tendency to impoverish the people, a catastrophic decline in the standard of living. The consequence of this is low birth rate, high mortality.

Depopulation in Russia is becoming a major problem. The decline in the population leads to a deterioration of the situation with the rest of the country's life, from the same economic to scientific, military and other. The solution of the issue provides for comprehensive measures on the part of the leaders.

Through the issue of depopulation, we come to another - the problem of the degeneration of the nation. This is the case when the death rate of the indigenous population of the country is not compensated by migrant visitors. For Russia, this problem is as relevant as ever. The death rate of Russians is growing categorically, and the number of people is falling rapidly from year to year.

Conclusion

In our article, we tried to maximally highlight the issue of what depopulation is from the popular scientific side. To this end, the meaning of the term and its origin was highlighted, as well as the signs and causes of this demographic process. Actually the meaning of another process associated with depopulation is the aging of the nation, which is one of the signs of depopulation.

Summarizes the following: depopulation - a reduction in population due to a decline in fertility and an increase in mortality. Other factors, such as natural disasters, wars, diseases, also affect the number of people, but not always the consequences are recognized as depopulation. The term was introduced into use in demographic studies by French scientists.

For the country, the process of depopulation is a national problem. It arose in Russia, becoming one of the most important. The problems of population at the state level are solved by creating conditions for activating the resumption of the population - increasing the birth rate.