Population processes and structures in the urban and rural spaces of Slovakia

The aim of the study is to analyze the distinctions in the demographic behaviour and in the formation of the urban and rural population structures. They are two different population sets following their specific rules. In the more conservative countryside there applies the effect of traditions and customs, in the towns there are more visible trends of modern societies, as e.g. the secularisation, individualization etc. Towns are characterised by reducing intensity of fertility. There is preferred the model of the late marriage and the model of the one-child family. So far the rural population realises its fertility already in lower age groups and family model is mainly two-children. In urban milieu there are more informal family partnerships - cohabitations. There is also the higher incidence of the negative population phenomena - divorces and abortions. Formation of the population structures is also dependent on the scale of the settlement and the structures in the urban and rural settlements are different as well. There have formed younger population age structures in the towns, ageing processes are more intensive in the villages and especially in the smallest settlements. The towns and especially the largest of them have more favourable education population structure.