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Abstract: This paper takes into account the essential aspects regarding the evolution of the natural growth of the population of Romania, focusing on the birth rate, the mortality and the natural increase or decrease, between 1989 and 2008. Before analysing these issues, some general aspects related to the period between 1930 and 1985 have been pointed out. It comes out that the birth rate was highest in the years 1930 (31.4‰), 1967 (27.4‰), 1968 (26.7‰) etc., and lowest in the years 1966 (14.3‰), 1980 (18.0‰), 1985 (15.8‰) etc. Regarding the mortality, the highest values (closer to 20.0‰) were maintained until the year 1950 (12.4‰), while afterwards the recorded values were around 10.0‰, and the lowest value was recorded in 1966 (8.2‰). Directly related to the birth rate and the mortality rate in this period, the natural increase recorded important variations, as the highest rate was registered in the years 1967 (18.1‰) and 1968 (17.1‰), because birth control had been imposed in Romania in 1966, while the lowest rate was recorded in 1940 (7.1‰) and after 1975, for example in the year 1985, when it was only 4.9% (table 1). During twenty years (1989-2008), the period of time of the analysis of this phenomenon, the natural growth of the population of Romania recorded an important alteration, due to the instauration of a new social and political system in the country, and the cancellation of the birth control in Romania, after the December 1989 events. It was for the first time in the demographic evolution of Romania when there was a transition from the positive values to negative values of the natural growth of population. The turning point was the year 1992, when this indicator recorded – 0.2‰ (fig. 1). Analyzing generally, one notices that after three years (1989-1991) of positive natural increase, for the next 17 years (1992-2008) there was a constantly negative natural growth reaching the lowest value in 2002 (- 2.7‰), while values of less than - 2‰ or close to it were registered in the years 1996, 2003, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2005, etc. Regarding the elements conditioning the natural increase, it comes out that the birth rate decreased from 16.0‰ (1989) and 13.6‰ (1990) to values around 10.1‰-11.0‰, in most of the analyzed years, while the mortality reached the highest value in 1966 (12.7‰) and the lowest in 1990 (10.6‰). Within these limits the most frequent values were between 11.1-12.0‰, recorded in 12 out of the 20 analyzed years (table 2). Along with the specific characteristics at national level, this paper brings into discussion aspects regarding the components of the natural growth of the population of Romania, at the level of counties, for the years 1992, 1996, 2002 and 2008 (table 3). Maps have been drawn up, focusing on the natural increase, for the years 1992 and 2002, selected as turning points (fig. 2 and 3).
Keywords: Romania, counties, evolution, birth rate, mortality rate, natural increase. |
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