Comparative characteristics of some Balkan countries rural regions

Defining rural area is the first step in shaping efficient development policy. There is no single universal definition, nor a typology of the rural areas. Moreover, in most Balkan countries, serious institutional efforts have not been made to classify populated areas as rural or urban, nor identify different types of rural areas. This paper makes a comparative analysis of various factors that are important for determination of the degree of rurality and main features of regional and rural development of some Balkan countries (Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia). One notices* that in a relatively similar natural-geographic and to some degree historic and developmental setting, similar socio-demographic processes are occurring in parallel. Difference in features and dynamics of these processes is resulting from different institutional approach.