[The rural population. Dispersion and needs].

Significant changes have occurred in recent decades in the dynamics and distribution of the Mexican population. The average annual growth rate declined from 3.4% in the 1960s to 2.3% in the 1980s, and the population has become predominantly urban. Intense urbanization began in the 1940s, but in 1960 some 67% of the population still lived in rural areas. Although urbanization and the pace of urban development decelerated beginning in 1960, the urban growth rate continued to exceed that of the total population. The proportion of the rural population living in places with fewer than 2500 inhabitants has remained nearly constant. In 1960, 74% of the rural population lived in 88,000 places with under 2500 inhabitants. In 1990, 67% of the rural population lived in 154,000 localities of fewer than 2500 people. Between 1960 and 1990, 98% of places considered rural continued to have fewer than 2500 inhabitants. Such places are characterized by severe deficiencies in employment, infrastructure, housing, educational services, and health. The proportion of the total Mexican population living in places of fewer than 2500 people was 49% in 1960, 41% in 1970, 34% in 1980, and 27% in 1990. In 1990, Oaxaca, Chiapas, Hidalgo, and Zacatecas had the highest proportions of their total populations in places of under 2500, with proportions ranging from 54% to 60%. Between 1960 and 1990, the rural population increased by 11 million and the urban by 35 million. The proportion of rural dwellers in localities with 2500 to 14,999 inhabitants increased more rapidly than did that in localities of under 2500.