Historical hydropower projects and demographic processes Case study municipality of Mali Zvornik

Abstract

Construction of dams and creation of artificial water reservoirs affect the transformation of landscape and socioeconomic structure of geospace. Some of the most significant changes are related to demographic processes, manifested by the resettlement of people from submerged parts of the settlement and changes in the demographic structure. The article analyzes the impact of the building of the hydropower plant 'Zvornik' and artificial Zvornik Lake on demographic processes in Municipality of Mali Zvornik in the period 1948-1961. Analysis of statistical data shows that the changes of population, population density, number of households, average household size, sex ratio, ethnicity and economic structure deviate from the usual demographic trends. Changes were detect in settlements that, after the construction of the dam, were located on the shore of the newly formed Zvornik Lake. These changes were directly related to geographical and socio-economic transformation during the construction of HPP 'Zvornik'.

Keywords

• municipality of mali zvornik
• hpp 'zvornik'
• zvornik lake
• demographic changes
• water reservoirs