Population Growth and Demographic Transition

Abstract

Population growth depends on three factors: the number of births, the number of deaths and the extent of migration. Typical for East European countries was the very high birth rate and a high mortality rate, mainly infant mortality. For most of its history Eastern Europe was not a region of outmigration, but of immigration. At least during its modern history up to approximately 1900, emigration from East Europe to overseas regions was low or non-existent. Emigration from Russia was low as well, given the fact that the Russian empire had to settle the newly acquired territories in the east and south. Emigration from East Europe since the nineteenth century, if it occurred, was not motivated by relative overpopulation like in Western Europe, but was more often caused by social (poverty), political (dissenters, opponents, rebels) and religious (dissidents, suppressed Jews from Russia, etc.) factors. Emigration grew in the post-World War II period by way of labour migration in East European countries that were open to the non-socialist world, such as, for example, Yugoslavia. In the socialist bloc, migration between socialist countries was possible, but low when compared to the non-socialist countries of the world. The collapse of the socialist systems in 1990 opened these countries to the world and massive outmigration was the consequence.KeywordsLife ExpectancyPopulation GrowthInfant MortalityDemographic TransitionFertility DeclineThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.