Geography as a Conditioning Factor of the Demographic Regimes in Rural Navarre (Spain), 1786-1960. / La géographie en tant que facteur conditionnant les régimes démographiques en Navarre rurale (Espagne), 1786-1960

摘要

Throughout history people have had to adapt themselves to the geographical environment in which they have lived. Sometimes this environment was rich and offered many possibilities for development. Other times, the environment presented itself as hostile, and life in it was hard. Without a doubt, the physical environment conditioned the forms of organization of communities, the type of settlements, the different forms of economy that were established in them and, also, the demographic behaviours of the peoples that settled in them. The proper time to enter into matrimony, to give birth, as well as the emigration to new lands in search of new ways of life, were influenced by the possibilities that the geographical environment offered. In this article data are presented from 27 municipalities of the Spanish province of Navarra between the years 1786 and 1960. The detailed analysis of such data shows the strong relationships between marital and family systems (nuclear and stem) and the geographic environment. The strong influence of geography upon nuptiality puts the theory of culture as the only influence on nuptiality into doubt.