Demographics of Bratislava

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This page gives an overview to the demographics of Bratislava.

Contents

[edit] Population

According to the 2001 census, the city had 428,672 inhabitants (the estimate for 2005 is 425,459).[1] The average population density was 1,157 inhabitants/km² (2,997/mi²).[1] The most populous district is Bratislava V with 121,259 inhabitants, followed by Bratislava II with 108,139, Bratislava IV with 93,058, Bratislava III with 61,418 and Bratislava I with 44,798.[2] The largest ethnic groups in 2001 were Slovaks with 391,767 inhabitants (91.37% of the city population), followed by Hungarians with 16,541 (3.84%) and Czechs with 7,972 (1.86%). Other ethnic groups are Germans (1200, 0.28%), Moravians (635, 0.15%), Croats (614, 0.14%), Ruthenes (461, 0.11%), Ukrainians (452, 0.11%), Roma (417, 0.08%), and Poles (339, 0.08%).[1][2]

[edit] Historical population

Population of Bratislava[3][1][4]
Year Population Year Population Year Population
1720 11,000 1880 48,000 1950 184,400
1786 31,700 1900 61,500 1961 241,800
1802 29,600 1910 78,200 1970 291,100
1820 34,400 1921 93,200 1980 380,300
1846 40,200 1930 123,800 1991 442,197
1869 46,500 1939 138,500 2001 428,672

[edit] Ethnic history

1930 census results of Bratislava
Ethnic group Population
Slovaks 60,013
Germans 32,801
Hungarians 18,890
Jewish 4,747
Rusyns 199
Other 247
1910 census results of Bratislava
Ethnic group Population
Germans 32,790
Hungarians 31,705
Slovaks 11,673
Croats 351
Serbs 24
Other 1,638
from these Jewish 8,207

From the city's origin until the 19th century, Germans were the dominant ethnic group.[5] However, after the Compromise of 1867, strong Magyarisation took place, and by the end of World War I Bratislava was a German-Hungarian town, with Slovaks as the biggest minority.[5] After the formation of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1918, Bratislava remained a multi-ethnic city, but with a different demographic trend. As the result of Slovakization proportion of Slovaks and Czechs increased, while the proportion of Germans and Hungarians fell. In 1938, 59% of population were Slovaks or Czechs, while Germans represented 22% and Hungarians 13% of the city's population.[6] The creation of the first Slovak Republic in 1939 brought other changes, most notably the expulsion of many Czechs and Jews.[5] In 1945, most of the Germans were evacuated, or after the restoration of Czechoslovakia, displaced from the city, along with the Hungarians accused of cooperation with the Nazis.[7] The city thereby lost its multicultural character.[7] Since the 1950s, the Slovaks have been the dominant ethnicity in the town, making up around 90% of the city's population.[5] By the mid 1970s, it has surpassed Brno as the second-largest city of Czechoslovakia, but still only a third of the size of Prague, the capital.

[edit] Age

According to a 2005 estimate, the average age in the city was 38.7 years, distributed as follows: 51,783 inhabitants of pre-productive age (0–14), 12.1%; 281,403 of productive age (15–59), 65.6%; and 92,273 of post-productive age (55+ for females, 60+ for males), 21.5%.[1]

[edit] Religion

The 2001 census recorded 243,048 Roman Catholics (56.7%), 125,729 Atheists (29.3%), 24,810 Augsburg Confessional Lutherans (6%), 3,163 Greek Catholics (0.7%), 1,918 Reformed Christians, 1,827 Jehovah's Witnesses, 1,616 Eastern Orthodox, 737 Methodist Protestants, 748 Jews, and 613 Baptists.[1][8]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Urban Bratislava. Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic (December 31, 2005). Retrieved on April 25, 2007.
  2. ^ a b Population and Housing Census 2001 - Permanently resident population by nationality and by regions and districts. Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic (2001). Retrieved on April 25, 2007.[dead link – history]
  3. ^ SLOVAKIA: urban population
  4. ^ Lacika, "Bratislava", p. 36
  5. ^ a b c d Peter Salner (2001). "Ethnic polarisation in an ethnically homogeneous town" (PDF). Czech Sociological Review 9 (2): 235–246. 
  6. ^ Lacika, "Bratislava", p. 43
  7. ^ a b History - Post-war Bratislava. City of Bratislava (2005). Retrieved on May 15, 2007.
  8. ^ Population and Housing Census 2001 (population by religion). Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic. Retrieved on 9 June 2007.[dead link – history]