Ageing map of the Balkan Peninsula

Age structure of a population, representing the final result of all the demographic processes, tells a unique story which incorporates not only the main demographic components, but also its history, cultural and political characteristics of the population. Through its history the Balkan Peninsula has been alluring to all kinds of demographic research. The process of aging, which is intensifying in all developed countries, will increasingly be the main focus of future demographic research. Although there is undeniable general shift in the age structure, there are many regional differences in the Balkan Peninsula. Thus, for the purpose of this paper we created a choropleth map of the Balkans showing the age structure at NUTS 3 regional level. For the purposes of this paper borders of the Balkan Peninsula are defined by Jovan Cvijic in his homonymous work. Toward a more complete understanding of the ageing phenomena in the Balkans we conducted an analysis of regionalization of ageing, to serve as a backbone for the analysis of age structure at the national level. We compare ageing borders with ethnic, religious and political borders in the peninsula.