UDC 332.1(497.5) UDC 314(497.5) DOI: 10.2298/ZMSDN1448629L REVIEW SCIENTIFIC PAPER REGIONAL ECONOMIC AND DEVELOPMENT PROBLEMS AND PERSPECTIVES: CASE STUDY OF SLAVONIA AND BARANJA (CROATIA) JELENA LONČAR University of Zagreb, Science Faculty, Department of Geography Marulićev trg 19/II, 10000 Zagreb, Republic of Croatia E-mail:
[email protected] VENI MARINKOVIĆ University of Zagreb, EU Projects Trg maršala Tita 14, 10000 Zagreb, Republic of Croatia E-mail:
[email protected] ABSTRACT: Slavonia and Baranja or Eastern Croatia is a physical-geo- graphical part of the Pannonian Basin and it is divided administratively into 5 counties: Virovitica-Podravina, Požega-Slavonia, Slavonski Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baranja and Vukovar-Sirmium (which make nearly 20% of the state). Regarding functional organization, Slavonia and Baranja is a part of Osijek nodal region but with interrelated influences of other regional centres like Slavonski Brod, Vinkovci, Vukovar, Đakovo and Požega. Analysis of this region consisting of 22 cities and 104 municipalities with 805,998 people (according to Census 2011) will be conducted according to several economic-geographic in- dicators: foreign trade exchange, number of employed people per 100 inhabitants, number of unemployed people per 100 inhabitants, economic structure of pop- ulation as well as the share of people employed in agriculture and industry as the most important sectors in the regional economy. Demographic problems will also be analysed, because the population is one of the most important factors of economic and social development. The main problems of the analysed region are depopulation, aging and rural exodus as well as the fact that every city or municipality, except one, had the decline of population comparing to previous Census of 2001.