Abstract:
The paper is aimed at analysing the recent population development sensitive areas, comparing two karst areas – one in the Czech Republic and one in the Republic of Bulgaria. Methodologically, crude data from population balances and population censuses were used. The Moravian Karst is an area situated in the vicinity of Brno – the administrative center of Moravia region, and, therefore, is subjected to suburbanisation processes, which puts the Moravian Karst area under pressure by urbanisation and tourism on the one hand, “fighting” with landscape protection on the other hand. Although this rural territory is unsuitable for intensive agricultural production, it does not really mean it is uninhabited, nor does it mean it is depopulated. The Devetashko Plateau on the other hand is a plateau situated in the vicinity of Lovech – a city ten times smaller than Brno in terms of population number. Commuting in that area is more difficult, regarding the age and qualification structure of the population, as well as the existing transport conditions. The micro-region is depopulated, while population aging is extreme. The differences between the compared areas are the result of their geographical location, level of dependence on primary economic activities and socio-historical development. The aging processes are highly likely to continue in the future. In the Moravian Karst area, the population development is slow, which makes it easier to cope with. The drawdown of some settlements in the Devetashko Plateau area was rapid and too deep, to a point where hardly any remedies are possible. The following factors have been suggested to have the greatest impact on the rural depopulation: the overall population development in the country, the vicinity of a regional center, the state of the urbanisation processes, the level of dependence on the primary economic sector, the efficiency of the transport systems, the excessive cultural diversity, as well as some other individual circumstances.