The development of population is
under the influence of large
intensive socio-economic
development taking place in
Yugoslavia. Such development
causes changes in social, economic,
educational, cultural and other
structures of population.
In this study the sex and age
structure as well as the level of
education of the Mediterranean
population of Montenegro have
been investigated. Changes taking
place in rural population have,
however, been more stressed.
The work has been based upon
comparative analysis, taking into
consideration time intervals,
places of residence — urban and
rural, and the relationship between
the two areas — the Montenegrin
Mediterranean in comparison to
Montenegro as a total.
The basical data have been taken
from 1961 and 1971 censuses. The
data from 1971 give the possibility
for analysis of three population
groups — rural, urban and mixed,
which has not been the case with
data from 1961.
The analysis carried out in the
course of the work shows that in
the Mediterranean area of
Montenegro during the observed
period the process of changing sex,
age and educational structure has
been quite intensive. The expressed
movement trend of observed
changes and present basic
conditions indicate that in the
coming period the continuation
of these processes is to be
expected. The sex structure of population
has, during the analysed period,
mildly improved. However, the
necessary biological balance has not
yet been established from the
point of view of numerical
relationship between males and
females, as in the total population
men take part with 48.73 percent.
The situation is worse in rural —
agricultural population, where men
participate with only 47.03 percent.
This is in the first place the result
of the rural exodus of men, causing
the expressiveness of the
phenomenon known as
»feminization of agricultural labour
force« in the Mediterranean village
of Montenegro.
The age structure of total
Mediterranean population of
Montenegro, according to the age
index, is, at the present, favourable,
although a mild tendency of
average aging is expressed. The
urban population is »young«, while
the rural population with age index
of 0.44 presents the »old
population«. The age index in
rural — agricultural population is
0.76 which, in the first place, is the
result of migrational movements,
and it indicates towards the
highly expresed phenomenon of
aging in rural population.
The level of school education and
literacy of the total Mediterranean
population of Montenegro in
comparison with the average
situation in Yugoslavia is somewhat
more favourable. However, in
rural population over the age of 10,
and with regard to its various
levels and directions of school
education, the situation is more
unfavourable than in Yugoslavia
taken as a whole. The number of
persons without school
qualifications in the Montenegro
Mediterranean in 1971 was quite
high (22.78 percent). A favourable circumstance is, however, that the
illiterate persons belong to the
older generation groups, so that
in future positive movements
towards changes in educational
structure are to be expected
