These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Natural growth of the population of Plovdiv, Bulgaria for the period 1895-1995.
    Author: Dimitrov I.
    Journal: Folia Med (Plovdiv); 1998; 40(2):13-21. PubMed ID: 9707807.
    Abstract:
    A study of the natural growth rate of the population using female cohorts by birth year has been carried out for the first time in our country. The study comprises 14 cohorts. The following characteristics are recorded: birth year, social group, educational level, number of live births, age of marriage, infant mortality rate, proto- and intergenetic intervals. Our report presents the key indicators of natural growth of population in the studied cohorts. A consistent trend of decreasing the number of livebirths is established. In the first studied cohort (1895-1899) the average number of offspring per woman is 3.94, reaching a level of 1.77 in the 1960-1964 cohort. The indicators for natural growth of population exhibit a similar trend. The summary fertility rate in the reference period decreases with more than 2 points--from 4.47 in 1895-1899 to 1.73 in 1960-1964. Likewise, the total reproduction rate goes down from 2.54 to 0.78 for the same period. Considerable changes have occurred in the indicators total period fertility rate and marriage fertility rate of women. For a period of 110 years the former has decreased 3.5 times, the latter--8 times. The drastic drop of the indicators of natural growth of the population is accounted for by an intricate complex of social, economic, psychological and biological factors. The marked aging of the population and the decrease of the percentage of women in active fertility age play a certain role in this process. The ascertained changes in the reproductive behavior and age structure of the female population are factors intensifying the unfavorable trends in the natural growth rate of the population in our country. This study examined demographic growth processes in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Data were obtained on 14 birth cohorts during 1895-1964 among 4174 women of Bulgarian ethnic origin who participated in 3 different studies. Findings indicate that 1-child families increased and declined over 3 periods. Among cohorts born in the 1920s, the percentages increased (54.2% in the 1920-24 cohort) and then declined to the lowest level in the 1950-54 cohort. The last cohort showed a slight increase for the first time since the 1929 cohort. Families with 4 or more children were 30.7% of women in the 1900-04 cohort, but by the 1940s, only 1.6% had large families. Recent patterns indicate a sharp increase in 1-child families and a decline in families with 3 children. The average number of live births declined from 3.94 to 2.20 during 1940-95. 1990 data indicate below replacement fertility. The total reproduction rate declined from 2.27 girls/woman in the 1900-04 cohorts to 1.52 in the 1940-44 cohorts. The marital fertility rate declined by 8-fold during 1885-95. Marriage age began rising after 1950, and the proportion marrying at under 19 years declined. In 1995, the average age of marriage was over 22 years. The number of women aged under 29 years and the prime reproductive age group declined from 58.7% to 42.7% during 1985-95. The natural growth rate in Bulgaria is declining.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]