UNEVEN DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS OF THE POPULATION OF SERBIA UNDER COMMUNIST RULE, 1945–1990.

Abstract

Within a formally uniform political system, Yugoslavia witnessed two contrasting demographic trajectories among its Serbian and Albanian populations. While Serbia outside Kosovo recorded the lowest total fertility rate (TFR) in socialist Yugoslavia—and one of the lowest in the world—the Autonomous Province of Kosovo had by far the highest fertility rate in both Yugoslavia and Europe. These divergent trends reflected a combination of demographic, political, and national factors. Kosovo’s position of ‘incomplete statehood’ within the Yugoslav federation fostered among Albanians a perception that the size of their community was a key determinant of its political status. By contrast, the Serbian population, politically divided among several federal units and balancing Yugoslav, Serbian, and regional identities, did not develop a comparable sense of demographic cohesion.