Shrinking Country: Serbia Struggles with Falling Population
2020-02-13
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Uros Trainovic remembers when his small village in eastern Serbia was home to about 200 families.
2Now, over 60 years later, his village of Blagojev Kamen is a kind of ghost town.
3Only eight people live there now.
4This kind of population loss can be found in other parts of Serbia, where a shrinking population raises questions about the economic well-being of the country.
5Population changes are a fact of life across Europe.
6So Serbia, with a low fertility rate, is like many other countries in Central and Eastern Europe.
7Serbia takes in a small number of immigrants, but has high migration rates.
8The World Bank reports that Serbia's population, of around 7 million, could fall to 5.8 million by the year 2050.
9That would represent a 25% drop since 1990.
10The Serbian government considers the shrinking population a kind of national emergency.
11The United Nations has even stepped in to help.
12It sent a group of seven international experts to the country last month on a fact-finding mission.
13Blagojev Kamen is evidence of the problem.
14A nearby gold mine kept the local economy alive before and after World War II.
15The village suffered after the mine closed in the 1990s.
16Uros Trainovic said there are still gold and other minerals in the mine, but that it needs investment and hard work.
17"One of my sons is in Germany, and the other one is in Austria," he said.
18"They visit often but they have nothing to return to."
19The changes in Blagojev Kamen are not unusual in a country that experienced years of war and sanctions in the 1990s after the break-up of Yugoslavia.
20Wolfgang Lutz of Austria is an expert on demographics at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis.
21He told The Associated Press that the main problem is related to the kind of people who are leaving Serbia.
22"We see that it tends to be the better-educated, the more highly skilled, the more highly motivated mobile people who are leaving and that is certainly a drain of the human capital," Lutz noted.
23Serbia's government has tried to stop the decline in population.
24It has offered financial assistance to families with two or more children, supported schools and day care centers and given aid to families in rural areas.
25It is not only Serbian officials who are worried.
26Serbia's neighbor Croatia has made the "pressing issue of demographic challenges" a top issue.
27More than 15% of Croatia's 4.2 million people are living and working overseas.
28Bulgaria and Ukraine are two other countries seeing population declines.
29Stjepan Sterc, a Croatian expert on demography, thinks the efforts to deal with the problems across the Balkans are not enough.
30He thinks that the tax system can be amended to support population growth.
31"Demography should be recognized as the essence of economic development so that the most important encouragement tool [taxes] is directed toward it," he said.
32I'm John Russell.
1Uros Trainovic remembers when his small village in eastern Serbia was home to about 200 families. 2Now, over 60 years later, his village of Blagojev Kamen is a kind of ghost town. Only eight people live there now. 3This kind of population loss can be found in other parts of Serbia, where a shrinking population raises questions about the economic well-being of the country. 4Population changes are a fact of life across Europe. 5So Serbia, with a low fertility rate, is like many other countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Serbia takes in a small number of immigrants, but has high migration rates. 6The World Bank reports that Serbia's population, of around 7 million, could fall to 5.8 million by the year 2050. That would represent a 25% drop since 1990. 7The Serbian government considers the shrinking population a kind of national emergency. The United Nations has even stepped in to help. It sent a group of seven international experts to the country last month on a fact-finding mission. 8Blagojev Kamen is evidence of the problem. A nearby gold mine kept the local economy alive before and after World War II. The village suffered after the mine closed in the 1990s. 9Uros Trainovic said there are still gold and other minerals in the mine, but that it needs investment and hard work. 10"One of my sons is in Germany, and the other one is in Austria," he said. "They visit often but they have nothing to return to." 11The changes in Blagojev Kamen are not unusual in a country that experienced years of war and sanctions in the 1990s after the break-up of Yugoslavia. 12Wolfgang Lutz of Austria is an expert on demographics at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis. He told The Associated Press that the main problem is related to the kind of people who are leaving Serbia. 13"We see that it tends to be the better-educated, the more highly skilled, the more highly motivated mobile people who are leaving and that is certainly a drain of the human capital," Lutz noted. 14Serbia's government has tried to stop the decline in population. It has offered financial assistance to families with two or more children, supported schools and day care centers and given aid to families in rural areas. 15It is not only Serbian officials who are worried. Serbia's neighbor Croatia has made the "pressing issue of demographic challenges" a top issue. More than 15% of Croatia's 4.2 million people are living and working overseas. 16Bulgaria and Ukraine are two other countries seeing population declines. 17Stjepan Sterc, a Croatian expert on demography, thinks the efforts to deal with the problems across the Balkans are not enough. He thinks that the tax system can be amended to support population growth. 18"Demography should be recognized as the essence of economic development so that the most important encouragement tool [taxes] is directed toward it," he said. 19I'm John Russell. 20Jovana Gec reported on this story for The Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. 21We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. 22________________________________________________________ 23Words in This Story 24ghost - n. a very small amount or trace (as in ghost town, a town with few remaining inhabitants) 25migration - n. movement from one area to another 26mission - n. an important job or duty 27sanction - n. a threatened punishment for disobeying a law or rule 28tend - v. used to describe what often happens or what someone often does or is likely to do - followed by to + verb 29motivated - adj. describes someone who has a strong reason for doing something 30drain - n. a thing that uses up something; the continued loss of something 31challenge - n. a call to take part in a competition 32demography - n. the study of changes (such as the number of births, deaths, marriages, and sicknesses) that take place over a period of time in human populations also : a set of such changes