RAINWATER MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS IN CITIES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: THE CASE OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF ZIGUINCHOR, SENEGAL

Senegalese cities are experiencing very rapid growth in terms of both spatial and demographic development, which has an impact on the management of runoff water, which is increasingly a major concern of authorities and urban populations. In these cities, public sanitation infrastructure is insufficient and unevenly distributed in urban space. The objective of this study is to characterize the problem of rainwater management in the city of Ziguinchor (southern Senegal). The methodology is based on an administration, a questionnaire submitted to 288 heads of households, and an interview guide with 13 actors who stand out in the environmental management component at the local level. The results obtained attest to a real problem of sanitation of rainwater managed in precarious conditions due to the lack of infrastructure and water management methods used by households. The infrastructural problem is a factor in the poor management of rainwater in Ziguinchor, while rainwater drainage practices do not protect the living environment of the populations. In the city of Ziguinchor, the main strategies adopted in the face of the sanitation network deficit are based on backfilling, the laying of sandbags and stones, evacuation through buckets.

THE NATURAL AND MIGRATORY MOVEMENT OF THE RURAL POPULATION OF THE BANAT MOUNTAINS (1993-2016)

The article is based on the study of population dynamics in the rural area of the Banat Mountains. The study period ranged from 1993 to 2016. The aim of the paper was to observe the numerical evolution of the population and to make calculations on the evolution of some demographic indicators. Demographic indicators such as the natality, mortality, natural growth, natural, migratory movement and migratory growth of communes have been analyzed over the period mentioned. A first objective was to physically and then administratively delineate the Banat Mountains. The second objective was to obtain the necessary numerical data, then to process the data for each indicator. Data processing resulted in a series of indicator rates, and in addition, graphs were developed with the numerical evolution of newborns and deaths. The numerical data on the number of newborns and deaths were taken from the website of the National Institute of Statistics. There have been introduced in the Microsoft Excel 2013 program a few graphs. Also, through Microsoft Excel 2013, rates for demographic indicators were calculated, and then the results obtained were introduced into Arc Gis version 10.3. Finally, a series of maps on the territorial distribution of values for each indicator was generated.

THE CONTINENT OF MASTERS DECISION-MAKING POWERS OVER EUROPE

Europe has been ruled in the past centuries from different centers depending on the dominant power, from within or outside the continent, from: Rome, Venice, Madrid, Paris, London, Vienna, Berlin and finally from Moscow and Washington. Now with the formation of the European Union, it seemed that the center was established in Brussels, but this city is far from having decision-making power, often: Berlin, Frankfurt, Washington, Paris or more recently: Istanbul, Beijing, Warsaw, Cairo, Jerusalem or Dubai are getting better rated, Brussels being only the scene in which the decisions already established in other centers are presented, without reaching a central leadership dominated by a single state.

CHANGES IN THE POPULATION STRUCTURE OF SLATINA CITY BETWEEN YEARS 1990-2000

The article is a contribution to the geographical study of the Slatina city in order to elucidate the impact of the economic and social transformations of 1990 – 2002 interval had on the evolution of its demographic phenomena, but also on understanding its socio-economic profile. The research methodology consisted of a comparative analysis of the numerical values provided by the Olt Regional Directorate of Statistics. The measured parameters were: the numerical evolution and its causes, the structure by sexes and age groups, the structure of the active population, the ethnic structure, and according to the practiced religion. The results of the analysis show an evolution developed on the background of the existing one at national level, having as causes: a tendency of numerical decrease determined by the decrease in the birth rate, the opening of European borders, simultaneously with a decline of the national economy, rising unemployment and travel abroad for searching of a job. The article highlights two important conclusions: the economic transformations show the existing reality in the social and economic field, their impact on the socio-economic profile of the Slatina city; the same transformations have taken place at the national level, on the background of the same causes.

POPULATIONS AS DETERMINANT OF LATVIA’S SECURITY

The conducted analysis aims to indicate the real threat of the depopulation process to Latvia's national security. The aim of the analysis is to examine the pace of changes, to indicate their main determinants and potential effects. The research hypothesis assumes that in the absence of an immediate, radical change in the demographic and social policy of the state, the population of Latvia will decrease to the level of approx. 1 million in the next 40-45 years. The conducted research shows a constantly decreasing natural increase and a high, negative level of migration. The carried out extrapolation of the population number confirms the hypothesis put forward in the study. The slight effect of the measures taken so far by the Latvian government to counter the depopolation process does not allow us to put an end to the optimistic scenarios of changes in demographic processes. An additional problem of the country's security is the issue of, above all, the Russian ethnic minority and the almost 10% share of non-citizens among the country's inhabitants.

ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS DISPARITIES IN THE APUSENII SĂLAJULUI FROM COMMUNISM TO CAPITALISM

The aim of this study was to achieve an evolutionary-temporal analysis of demographic evolution, ethnic and confessional structure in Apusenii Sălajului. The period subjected to the study begins with the abdication of King Mihai I and the establishment of communism in Romania in the year 1948. The two demographic structures have undergone significant influences from the regime, contributing decisively to their modification. Unfortunately, the confessional structure had the most to suffer because of the atheism promoted by the communists. In Apusenii Sălajului there is an important confessional diversity due to several ethnicities that populate the mountain space. The most destructive confessional community in the Apusenii Sălajului was the Greek Catholic. In the year 1948, the regime banned this confession, with the population constrained to convert to the Orthodox confessional. Priests who did not obey, were arrested and convicted, many dying in prisons, as was the case of bishops. Because of these repression, the population passed to the Orthodox confession. All confessions were compelled to pass to the Orthodox cult, being the only cult accepted by the regime. Five censuses were used to carry out the study, from 1941, 1956, 1977, 1992 and 2011. The census of 1956 and 1977 are those of the Communist period that did not record the confession. Thus, in order to be able to analyze and observe the significant changes we used the data from the census in the year 1941.

AFRICAN HEARTLAND GEOPOLITICS OF THE FUTURE IN THE SUB-SAHARAN REGION

Sub-Saharan Africa is still considered a land semi-isolated from the rest of the world, without many natural harbors or navigable rivers, or inland islands and seas, with 16 states that do not have access to the sea and D.R. Congo with limited access that is difficult to achieve. All these states that can be considered the Heartland of Africa, have now reached a total population exceeding the US population, will exceed the population of continent Europe by 2050 and will have a population similar to the continents of America and Europe taken together by 2100.

CHINDIA THE TITANS' CHANGE HAS COME

Indian and Chinese civilizations have economically dominated the world for 15 centuries, when they are overtaken by: Europe, America, Russia, the Arab states, Brazil, Mexico or Japan, shamefully entering a shadow cone that stretched 3-4 centuries. Towards the end of the twentieth century they begin to matter again, and during the twenty-first century it seems that they will replace the European Union and the United States, dividing the planet into two major spheres of influence, avoiding regionalization on religious or civilizational criteria or the multipolar world predicted by some geopolitics, so China will represent the continuity of the planned and agile economy of the USSR, but with a high dose of determination found locally in the Japanese and Koreans, while India will be the 3rd West after the end of world domination by Western Europe and the USA, based on democracy, parliament, federalism and the individual economy but also characteristics specific to the states of the planetary geopolitical south.

THE RELIGIOUS STRUCTURAL EVOLUTION OF THE APUSENI MOUNTAINS

This paper aims to analyse the religious structure and its evolution in the Apuseni Mountains (Romania). Thusly, we employed statistical data from three distinct population censuses, the first one being the Austro-Hungarian census of 1880. The next one was the one in 1930, organised by Romanian authorities. Furthermore, it was the first and most important demographic census after the Great Union of 1918. The last census taken into consideration was the one in 2011, the second census of the 21st century. After obtaining the numerical data from the three censuses, we processed it using Microsoft Excel. Three tables were generated, emphasizing the numerical values and the percentages for each religion or confession for each census. The map depicting the geographic location of the study area was developed using GIS technology (ArcGis 10.3). We determined that Christians have been dominating the Apuseni Mountains and the Orthodox faith had and still has the most adherents. Likewise, the political-administrative factor heavily influenced census operations and also produced imbalances in the religious structure, especially after the 1948 abolition of the monarchy.