Démographie de pays dans la tourmente : les Balkans depuis 1990

Abstract

The 1990s, the decade of the collapse, as in all eastern Europe, of communist regimes and of a deep change in economy and social organisation, was also in Balkan area marked by wars during the break-up of the former Yugoslavia. These wars have caused a lot of casualties, population moves, voluntary or forced, whose effects are still visible. Worsening of live conditions during transition toward market economy pushed number of people to emigrate, especially from Bulgaria and Albania. This worsening caused stagnation in live expectancy at birth, and even reduction for men in Romania and for both sexes in Bulgaria, all over the region, except in Croatia and Slovenia, until 1997. Since, with fast improvements, level is better than that observed in 1990. During this period marriage rate and fertility indicators decreased deeply, except in former Yugoslavia wherechanges are more moderate. In light of described trends, it is not easy to clear specificities in demographic behaviour of the Balkan area. Role of the long membership of these countries to the socialist world, and of its sudden disappearance, is so migrastrong that it dominates, at this moment, all others distinctions. Specificity of Balkans lies, indeed, in diversity of situations from one region to one another under the influence of heterogeneity of population. But heterogeneity receded rapidly with the ethnic cleansing operations over the last decade in former Yugoslavia.

Keywords

• collapse of centralized
• demographic trends
• economy
• fertility
• migrations
• mortality