1Babeş‐Bolyai University, Faculty of Geography, 400006, Cluj‐Napoca, Romania e‐mail: alina.muresan@ubbcluj.ro 2Babeş‐Bolyai University, Faculty of Geography, 400006, Cluj‐Napoca, Romania e‐mail: aurelia_auu93@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT. – Geodemographic Risks in Petroşani Basin (I). During the last decades, geodemographic risks became more and more debated, including such issues as the depopulation of certain areas, the overpopulation, the demographic ageing, the massive emigration and others. One of these risks, namely the demographic decline, is analyzed at the level of Petroșani Basin, mainly between 1966 and 2011. One notices that the population numbers in the area were relatively low until the mid 19thcentury, when the intensive stage of habitation started because of the development of mining activities. This stage continued throughout the 20th century and the number of inhabitants increased until the 1992 census. Then there was a significant drop in population numbers, at a rate of ‐12.3% between 1992 and 2002 and ‐17.7% between 2002 and 2011. The causes of this demographic decline are mainly the massive emigration, as a result of the restructuring of mining activities, but also the decrease of the birth rate and the increase of the mortality rate, as consequences of demographic ageing.