OSREDNJESLOVENSKA - Population
The most densely settled region
Near a quarter of the total Slovenian population (492 100) lived in this large region in 2002, making it the most densely settled region in Slovenia (192.6 people per km2). This high density figure is a consequence of the high concentration of the population in and around Ljubljana.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the population grew constantly and rapidly due to immigration from other parts of Slovenia and the former Yugoslavia. After 1990, the population still slightly increased (+2.1% between 1990 and 2002). In 2002, the birth rate (9.2 births per 1 000 population) was over the national average and the mortality rate was the lowest in the country (8.0 deaths per 1 000 population). Moreover, with 2.7 deaths per births in 2002, the infant mortality in the region was below the national average. During the 1990-2002 period, the migration balance was still positive and has been increasing since 1999. The impact of suburbanisation is also felt to a certain extent, a consequence of the enlargement of the motorway network. The radius covered by people commuting daily to work in the capital has enlarged substantially to include some municipalities from neighbouring regions.
The age structure of the region's population is almost identical to the Slovenian average. The decrease in the number of people under the age of 25 in the 1990-2002 period was almost the same as that nationally, however the number of people over the age of 65 increased by more than 47.4%.
While there are no non-Slovene ethnic minorities in Osrednjeslovenska, the percentage of the non-Slovene population (9.3%) is the second highest in Slovenia, surpassed only by the Obalno-kraška region. According to the 2002 census, the percentage of immigrants from other parts of the former Yugoslavia was only slightly above the national average, although the percentage of people from other countries was high. Their number increased rapidly after Slovenia's independence with the reinforcement of political and economic ties with other countries. As a result, at the end of 2002, more than one quarter of all foreigners residing permanently or temporarily in Slovenia lived in the city municipality of Ljubljana.
|
|