engleski

Concentration of population in Croatian littoral area – the example of Dalmatia

In the last several decades, Croatian littoral area has experienced significant changes regarding the distribution of population on the islands, in narrow coastal zone, and in the hinterland. Such changes were primarily the result of intensive littoralization and industrialization. Namely, after the Second World War, the main goal of the state economic policy was to encourage development of industry in urban areas, which resulted in intensive economic and demographic development of urban centers on the coast and narrow coastal area as well. Simultaneously, due to inadequate policy toward the rural areas and lack of initiative to invest into development of rural areas, the hinterland and the islands were affected by severe depopulation and economic regression. Emigration from rural areas toward narrow coastal zone was intense. Consequently, Croatian littoral area can be divided into three prominent parts characterized by specific economic and demographic development. The main goal of this paper is to determine the changes in population distribution in Dalmatia (southern part of Croatian littoral area) from 1971 to 2001. The focus will be on the population distribution and changes that occurred in three distinct parts of that area (narrow littoral zone, the islands and the hinterland).

population distribution; Dalmatia; narrow coastal zone; islands; hinterland; littoralization; industrialization

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