engleski

Žumberačka Gora - Transformation from a Refuge to an Exodus Zone

This article provides an analysis of the problem of immigration from Žumberačka gora, a highland region that lies on the border between Croatia and Slovenia. Due consideration is given to its border-zone character, basic features and later colonization during the mid sixteenth century. The dual social organization and even social relations emerged in the region, reflecting the contrast between Military Frontier and the civilian portion. The consequences of long settlement and secondary colonization led to agrarian overpopulation and difficult living conditions. Social and overriding economic changes throughout the country by the mid-nineteenth century compelled the population of Žumberak to begin departing from the region. Intense immigration gradually caused negative natural growth, i.e. natural decline of the population. Natural decline (number of deathsexceeding the number of live births) and emigration were gradually reflected in the lower numbers and adavanced age of the population. These processes were particularly marked in the Military Frontier portion of the region - in Žumberak - which accounts for almost three fourths of this highlad region's territory.In this part of the region the population has been numerically declining since 1931, but particularly since 1971. Today only one fifth of the population recorded in 1953 lives in Žumberak. This drop is a result of both natural decline and immigration. The age structure of the region's remaining population is dominated by the elderly, which is shown by demographic aging indicators. Such population is not sound prerequisite for the region's economic revival. The basic features of Žumberak's landscape are deserted or devastated villages with many abandoned tracts of once arable land. A formerly densely populated region that could not feed its own residents has become a zone marked by a population exodus, an area lacking a labour force to work even those small cultivable fields that Žumberačka gora still has. The region has become a natural park.

secondary colonization; rural overpopulation; refuge; natural growth; migration balance; emigration; population ageing; exodus

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