Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 August 2014
To determine the small population as a specific group, several quantitative indexes have to be taken into consideration. The author, making use of these indexes, differentiates three types of small populations: the isolate, the « dem » and the « large dem ». The central type — the dem — is a group including 1,500 to 4,000 individuals with an increase of more than 20-25 per cent in 25 years (one generation); a high proportion, about 80 per cent, of the marriages is concluded inside the group and an insignificant part of the members have descended from allogenous ancestors. The inhabitants of a rural locality constitute in most cases a « dem ». Theoretical calculations as well as genealogical studies have shown that the preponderant part of adult members of a « dem » appear to be related to each other in the eighth degree (according to Tab. 2 - cousins thrice removed).