S CHOLARS concerned with demographic patterns in developing countries have focused their attention on rapid total population growth and on the explosive growth of cities. Such attention is merited. In Latin America annual growth rates of 3 percent and city growth rates of 7 percent or more have been commonplace. Rural and small-town depopulation is an obvious concomitant of rapid and continuing urbanization; the process is well known in the technologically advanced countries of the world. Nonetheless, it is widely assumed-and often stated-that rural and small-town depopulation is prevented in Latin America by extraordinarily high rates of natural population increase in rural areas.1 This assumption is no longer valid in Colombia. Rural and small-town depopulation has been noticeable in Colombia since the 1950's, and the process appears to be accelerating. The purpose of this article is to analyze the process of population concentration in Colombia in the last two intercensal periods, focusing primary attehtion on rural and small-town depopulation. We are concerned with the spatial patterns of rural and urban population change, especially the location, extent, and degree of depopulation.