The role of natural and migration movement in the changing spatial distribution of the density of population in rural areas

Abstract

In recent years practically no changes have been recorded in the number of rural population in Poland but there have occurred processes that modify the spatial distribution of that population. The most important of these processes are migrations from villages to towns and from towns to villages. In terms of the number of migrants the two streams of movement are identical. However, persons migrating to towns come chiefly from peripheral areas and those migrating from towns settle mostly in suburban rural areas. This leads to the concentration of rural population around towns and to the strengthening of depopulation processes in rural areas situated far from urban centres. Since migration processes are characterised by strong selectivity the two extreme types of rural areas (suburban and peripheral) differ in terms of demographical, educational and income source structure.