Abstract:

Abstract The analysis of the population and its environment is one of the research lines of the studies of the population-development relationship, and constitutes an essential dimension within the knowledge of the socio-economic subsystem as part of environmental studies. Within its multiple directions, the rural population and its settlements are of particular importance when considered the "closest" to the agricultural productive base and the components of the natural environment. The investigation of the rural population, from any of its aspects, contributes significant elements to the knowledge of Cuban society and the interrelationships that are established between it and economic, political, social and natural factors. In the work that is presented, the rural population is approached, not only from the magnitude of its troops, but from the sociodemographic processes that are manifested in this population subgroup. At the same time, there are relevant meeting points between these processes and a proposal for the classification of rurality for Cuba, based on socioeconomic indicators that provide relative levels and that allow their spatial differentiation. The study is carried out from a geographical point of view (municipal level for the whole country) and with a typological approach. The results show, for the first time, an approach to Cuban rurality from a population-development perspective, with very well-defined spatial regularities and, at the same time, presenting high levels of correspondence with the demographic dynamics of the rural population.

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