Contemporary Demographic Profiles Of Europe Present State And Trends Of Th Population In Europe

The demographic situation and the recent demographic trends in the European countries are analyzed. The aim is to provide information and background for discussion on the respective contribution of each country, including Bulgaria, to the population reproduction, in the process of European integration. The demographic characteristics of several sub-regions of Europe are examined, namely: Western Europe; Northern Europe and Scandinavia; Southern Europe; Balkan region; Central Europe and Eastern Europe (countries of the former Soviet Union). In the first article we study the present situation and the trends of the population in the European countries: the member-countries of the EU, the acceding countries (Bulgaria and Romania), and the candidate-members. Data are provided for each country and for sub-regions, about the population size on January 1st, 2006, as well as on the recent demographic trends, namely the natural growth, the net migration, and the total population growth in 2005. Further figures display the population growth of each country in terms of its relative size at various years in the period 1960-2005, compared to the population size in 1960. These trends appear to be different in the sub-regions of Europe, Bulgaria being one of the countries with lowest growth-rate for the period under investigation. In the first three sub-regions of Europe: Western Europe, Northern Europe and Scandinavia, Southern Europe, the trends of population dynamics are rather regular and growing, while in the latter three: the Balkan region, Central Europe, Eastern Europe (countries of the former Soviet Union), an inverted U-curve is observed. During the last years in most of the countries, formerly belonging to the socialist system, negative trends of population are dominant, what can be explained mainly by negative net migration.