Geographica Timisiensis, vol. 21, nr. 1, 2012 (pp. 37-60) • THE POPULATION AGING IN SLOVAK SETTLEMENTS IN VOJVODINA, THE EXAMPLE OF BACKI PETROVAC AND KOVACICA Milica SOLAREVIC, Branislav, S. DJURDJEV, Daniela ARSENOVIC University of Novi Sad, The Faculty of Science, Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Dositej Obradovic Square, No. 3, Novi Sad, 21000, e-mail: milica.solarevic@dgt.uns.ac.rs, djurdjev@uns.ac.rs, daniela.arsenovic@dgt.uns.ac.rs Abstract: Analyzing last few decades of demographic situation in Vojvodina province indicates to an increasingly share of the elderly population, 60 and over, and the decline in the share of young population. The Slovak minority is characterized by higher average age (40.1 years), an increasing older age categories proportion. The paper gives a comparative analysis of these two settlements, as well as comparison with Vojvodina and Serbia. The aim is to show the possible consequences of unfavorable population age structure and the measures to be taken. The analyses are based on census data and it is used statistical, demographic, comparative and GIS method. Rezumat: Analizele efectuate în ultimele decade asupra fondului demografic al provinciei Voievodina ilustrează o creştere semnificativă a ponderii populaţiei vârstnice de peste 60 de ani şi implicit declinul numeric al populaţiei tinere. Minoritatea slovacă este caracterizată printr-o pondere mai ridicată a categoriilor de populaţie vârstnică. Lucrarea de faţă abordează în mod comparativ analiza a două localităţi precum şi compararea situaţiei demografice existente din această perspectivă în Voievodina şi Serbia. Scopul cercetării este de a ilustra consecinţele posibile generate de procesul de îmbătrânire demografică. Analiza întreprinsă este bazată pe datele statistice ale recensămintelor precum şi pe metode specifice cum sunt analiza statistică, studiul demografic, metoda comparativă şi utilizarea Sistemelor Geografice Informatizate. Keywords: geography, demography, population, population structure, population census Cuvinte cheie: geografie, demografie, populaţie, structură demografică, recensământul populaţiei 1. INTRODUCTION The cultural heritage of the Slovaks in Vojvodina, with all its attributes and characteristics, is part of a multicultural area of Vojvodina, and as such, is in constant permeation with all cultures that exist in this area. Its preservation should be a guarantee that has been created a society that respects diversity, supports cultural diversity and recognizes it as a unique value of the Vojvodina area. At the beginning of the 20th century, in 1900, 53,382 people were recorded Slovak nationality, and that number was a constant