The Pelagonija planning region comprises the basins of the Pelagonija and Prespa valleys. It spreads over a 4717 km2 area, or 19% of the territory of the Republic of Macedonia which makes it the largest planning region in the country. This region contains 9 municipalities and 343 located settlements, out of which 338 are rural settlements. Four out of the nine municipalities are rural. There is a high population concentration in the urban areas of this region (around 68%). The population density amounts to 50 citizens/km2 and is significantly higher than the country’s average.
In 2002, the Pelagonija planning region had 238,136 citizens with a decreasing natality rate, except for the municipalities of Prilep and Dolneni.
Since 1994, 22.5% of the total population of the Pelagonija region lives abroad. Yet returning flows have been noticed during the last decade, mostly in the municipalities of Bitola, Resen and Dolneni.
In terms of the gender structure of the population there is an evident trend of decrease in the part of the male population on a regional level, and in most of the municipalities. This region has a three times smaller growth of households’ number than that of the country. The educational structure of the population in the Pelagonija planning region has a complete use of quality human resources, besides the disadvantageous demographic trends.
