The role of migration in population reproduction in Catalonia, 1880-1980

This article is based on the author's recent study: The reproduction of Catalan cohorts, 1856-1960, conceived in answer to the book by J.A. Vandellos, Catalunya, poble decadent. The main conclusions are that, in contradiction to Vandellos' assertions, the Catalan population would not have decreased in the absence of immigration and, on the contrary, the present population would be considerably higher than in 1990. Nevertheless, 60% of the demographic growth during the last 100 yr can be accounted for by immigration which, alone, would have sufficed to maintain population even if no births had occurred. The combination of both - biological reproduction and immigration - caused a very high population growth, allowing Catalonia to retain its share in World population between 1850 and 1980. -English summary