Diagrama de Ishikawa

statistical data, Lithuanians living in Belarus, according to the 2009 population cen-sus data, hold only the 10^th place, and their percentage in the total population of the country during the whole period under consideration had a trend to decline (from 0.1% in 1959 to 0.05% in 2009). The number of ethnic Lithuanians during this period reduced from 8 to 5 thousand people;

10. The percentage of other ethnic groups living in the territory of Belarus prior to the 2009 population census was quite insignifi cant and amounted in general to less than 1%. In 2009 the percentage of other ethnic groups, not being the object of the statis-tical analysis, increased almost four times and amounted to 3.05%;

11. In the territory of Belarus there are signifi cant intra-territorial diff erences in the pop-ulation ethnic composition. So, the Grodno region, where the percentage of the tit-ular ethnic group amounts to only 67%, is in sharp contrast to the other regions.

The second largest ethnic group in the Grodno region is Poles, the number of which amounts to nearly a quarter of the region’s population;

12. According to the most recent population census data, the native language for 60%

of Belarusians is Belarusian, but 70% of them at home speak Russian.

The confessional composition of the country’s population is in close interdependence with its ethnic and linguistic peculiarities. In some countries questions about religious affi liation are included in population census programs, since these data are representa-tive ones. In this regard, in the Republic of Belarus population census programs include questions only about ethnic identity. Data on the religious composition of the population in Belarus are estimated ones and are based on information provided by the Offi ce of the Commissioner for Religious Aff airs of the country. According to this information, in Belarus there are nearly 50% of non-believers, and only 6% of the population regularly go to religious institutions. Among the believers, 82% are Orthodox Christians and 12% are Catholics. Among representatives of other religions in Belarus one can note followers of the third branch of Christianity, that is Protestants, as well as followers of Islam, Judaism and eastern religions.

Thus, currently in Belarus there is quite complex and contradictory geo-demographic situation. Urbanization process, that has led to a reduction in the number of rural popu-lation and small town dwellers, constitutes a serious threat to preservation of the intan-gible cultural heritage. This challenge was actualized by depopulation, changes in the country’s population ethnic composition and employment rates, since in the context of administrative regions one can see a signifi cant contrast of these indicators. To overcome the negative demographic trends in the Belarusian regions, one needs a scientifi cally based, long-term and effi cient demographic policy and population employment policy.

The Demographic Security Programs and Law adopted in the country, together with an

increase in the population’s quality of life, shall facilitate the country’s recovery from the demographic crisis. At the same time, it is worth taking into account not only the quanti-tative parameters, but the qualiquanti-tative ones as well: physical and mental health and social welfare of the people. Practice shows that third and subsequent children are often born in disadvantaged families to receive and to use the maternal capital not as intended.

The birth rate decrease at this stage of development of the society is also a result of in-tra-family planning of the number of children to be born in family. To clarify the demo-graphic attitudes of the younger generation and its expected demodemo-graphic behavior one needs to carry out a specifi c sociological study, that would constitute a scientifi c basis to implement demographic policy measures aimed at increasing of not overall, but of specifi c birth rates (included the cumulative one). The demographic policy being held until now and aimed at raising the birth rate primarily consisted of providing benefi ts to families with children. But benefi ts are not a fertility incentive, but are leveling the stand-ards of living. The policy should be aimed at providing assistance to families in satisfying their needs, at reducing the gap between the number of children that parents are going to have under given social and economic conditions and the number of children they would like to have in a favorable in every regard situation.

Based on the foregoing, the priorities of the European Union Cross-border Cooperation Programme could also include, among others, relevant issues related to studying popu-lation’s demographic attitudes and behavior under one or another social and economic conditions.

References

L. M. Alexandrovich, (ed.), National Strategy of Sustainable Social and Economic Develop-ment of the Republic of Belarus until 2020, Unipak, Minsk 2004.

A. A. Grigoryev, Global Urbanization. Common Patterns, Bulletin of the Russian Geographical Society, Saint-Petersburg, 2004, pp. 1-12.

K. K. Krasouski, Sex and Age and Ethno-Confessional Structure of the Population of Belarus and Lithuania, Brest State University Publishing House, Brest, 2016, pp. 32-39.

K. K. Krasouski, Urbanization in Belarus: Economic and Geographical Analysis: monograph, Brest State University Publishing House, Brest, 2004.

S. A. Polski, Urbanization of the Belarussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Belarusian State University Publishing House, Minsk, 1985.

E. Rosset, Population Ageing Process: Demographic Studies, Statistics, Moscow, 1968. 

G. M. Fedorov, Scientifi c Basis of the Geo-Demographic Situation Concept, Leningrad State University Publishing House, Saint-Petersburg, 1991.

L. P. Shakhotko, Population of the Republic of Belarus in the end of the 20^th century, Research and Development Institute of Statistics at the Ministry of Statistics of the Republic of Be-larus, Minsk, 1996.