Abstract
Mountainous areas cover approximately 47.8% of Bulgarian territory. Those areas are comparatively densely populated and the settlement network is well developed and some 1.938 million people (25.4% of the total population) live there (2007). However, there have been strong trends of population decline due to natural decrease, aging and emigration. The average birth rates are lower than the national average, while the death rates levels and the natural increase are similar to the national average. In many mountainous areas emigration exceeds the admissible proportions and result in inexcusable decrease of the population number as well as deterioration of age structure. Most of the mountainous settlements are small. However, all larger and medium-sized urban settlements, as well as some of the small towns, have comparatively well-developed socio-economic potential, enough arable lands and conditions for tourism and recreational activities, as well as usable housing.
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Mladenov, C. (2011). Demographic Potential and Problems of the Settlements Network in the Mountains of Bulgaria. In: Zhelezov, G. (eds) Sustainable Development in Mountain Regions. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0131-1_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0131-1_13
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