Investigation of Peripherisation in Northeastern Hungary by Spatial Demographic and Income Tendencies with Special Attention to the Roma Population
Investigation of Peripherisation in Northeastern Hungary by Spatial Demographic and Income Tendencies with Special Attention to the Roma Population

Summary/Abstract: In the current paper, the spatial distribution, demographic trends and income processes of the Roma population were investigated in Northeastern Hungary. The analysis based on an own data collection that covered 999 settlements. The number of Roma population was collected from the representatives of local governments and from local Gypsy minorities of the settlements. The ratio of the Roma population was more than 15 percent of the whole population in Northeastern Hungary by this method. The territories with a significant ratio of Roma population constitute an almost complete overlapping with the backward areas of the investigated regions. The Roma population has faced cumulative problems of employment since the mid 1980s and this terrible labour market situation became even worse after the millennium. The categories of settlements created by the ratio of Roma population reflected the higher natural increase and higher migration loss of settlements with high percentage of Roma inhabitants. This process leads to the accelerating ethnic exchange with the outmigration of non-Gypsy inhabitants and the higher natural increase of Roma population. The largest fall of the relative income appeared in the case of the settlements with the highest ratio of Roma inhabitants after the political transition. The correlation between the ratio of Roma population and income poorness became significantly stronger during the last few decades.The investigations drew the attention to the formation of territorial ghettos with great extended romafication in Northeastern Hungary that cannot be stopped without a comprehensive and integrated social-economic intervention.

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