The same thing happens to nations as it does to each living organism separately. They appear, develop and disappear, as well as each individual representative of the people. These processes are interested in one of the natural sciences - demography. One of the demographic processes interests us in this discussion, because its manifestations in some countries become apparent. And this process is depopulation.
What is depopulation, its essence and reasons, as well as other facts that interest us as indifferent to the fate of peoples, we will consider in this article.
Term designation
So, let's get down to the main thing that we were going to make out now. So, population depopulation is a decrease in the number of people within a certain country or a separate territory, the reason for which, when considered as a whole, was a decrease in population reproduction.
The term “depopulation” itself, obviously borrowed from other languages, was considered in the last century. But in the early scientific works this concept was not singled out. In the end, the sources were found: the term was introduced by French researchers who were concerned about similar processes in their country.
Only one of the works of the 19th century (the French encyclopedia of Laruss) contained the similar word "depopulation", derived from "depeupler". The definition of the second can literally be translated as "ridding the territory of the inhabitants", "reduce the population of the territory." It is more relevant to interpret it in a free form, which will lead us to a conclusion - the term means "depopulation."
Let us also take into account the fact that such "depopulation" is meant through a series of catastrophic situations and a decrease in the birth rate.
Depopulation and aging of the nation
Depopulation is expressed in the fact that each subsequent generation is numerically smaller than the previous one. Next to this concept (for completeness of information about the demographic process), in our opinion, it is worth mentioning the so-called aging of the nation. This is just one of the parties that results in depopulation.
We summarize as an intermediate result . Now we are familiar with what depopulation is, and even with the new, perhaps the term "aging of the nation." Like all demographic processes, depopulation has its own reasons.
Signs
Let us dwell on the main signs of population depopulation. In fact, we rephrase the above. So, the signs of depopulation are:
- population decline (more specifically, as a result of increased mortality);
- the new generation is quantitatively smaller than the previous one.
Further, we will continue to delve into the topic of what depopulation is and what issues accompany it.
Depopulation of the population: causes
As we already know, depopulation is a reduction in population. This process has reasons such as:
- excess fertility mortality;
- war has always been a catastrophic point, after which the country's population has long been recovering;
- active emigration (recall that emigration is leaving the country for permanent residence, for work, other reasons for moving);
- epidemics - characteristic of past historical eras in which the development of medicine did not restrain the spread of deadly diseases;
- other natural and man-made disasters, as a result of which a significant part of the population died.
Depopulation is a demographic problem that can be solved in more than one decade. She is engaged at the state (in some cases, international) level.
Special cases of population decline
We examined the designation 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 specific part of it is not considered a depopulation.
Such cases include the effect of such factors, which quickly ceases, and the population increases again. So, we remember that WWII took the lives of 27 million inhabitants of the Soviet Union. However, after the war ended, a rapid population growth was observed, and already in 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 the rate of natural population growth in these territories remains normal. This is only relevant for individual countries.
A similar example is Ireland. At the beginning of the 20th century, the number of inhabitants there halved, as it was a period of spontaneous migration to America. At the same time, the birth rate on the island was higher than the death rate for everyone.
Population and State: Solving Depopulation Problems
The problem of reducing the country's population is considered not only in terms of demography. From the very beginning of the study, she was in the field of view of politicians and public figures.
Depopulation is considered as a national disaster. Even if immigrants from other countries compensate for the quantitatively decreasing local population, this remains a problem.
At the state level, depopulation is being overcome by policies aimed at improving the conditions for fertility. This affects health care, social programs, and overall living conditions. The goal of such programs is to restore the normal rate of reproduction of the country's population.
Depopulation of the population in Russia
The last few decades, Russia faces a serious problem of population depopulation. A number of reasons, both economic and social, contributed to this. In general, we see a tendency towards the impoverishment of the people, a catastrophic decline in living standards. The consequence of this is low fertility, high mortality.
Depopulation in Russia is becoming a paramount problem. A decrease in the population leads to a deterioration of the situation with other areas of the country's life, from the same economic to scientific, military and others. The solution of the issue provides for comprehensive measures by leaders.
Through the question of depopulation, we come to another - the problem of the degeneration of the nation. This is the case when the mortality of the indigenous population of the country is not compensated by migrants. For Russia, this problem is as relevant as ever. The mortality rate of Russians is growing steadily, and the population is rapidly falling from year to year.
Conclusion
In our article, we tried on the popular science side to maximize the issue of what depopulation is. To this end, the meaning of the term and its origin, as well as the signs and causes of this demographic process, were highlighted. The importance of another process associated with depopulation is the aging of the nation, which is one of the signs of depopulation.
Summarizes as follows: depopulation - a reduction in population due to lower fertility and increased mortality. Other factors, such as natural disasters, wars, diseases, also affect the population, but the consequences are not always recognized as depopulation. The term was introduced into use in demographic studies by French scientists.
For a country, the depopulation process is a national problem. It arose in Russia, becoming one of the paramount. The problems of the population at the state level are being solved by creating conditions for activating the renewal of the population - increasing the birth rate.