The present-day territories of Czechia and Slovakia have undergone numerous historical upheavals. Following the collapse of the major multinational empires at the end of the First World War in 1918 (the German, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and Russian Empires), they initially formed, together with Subcarpathian Russia (Ruthenia), the Czechoslovak Republic. This state was subsequently dismantled following the Munich Agreement in 1938, before being reconstituted at the end of the Second World War, albeit without Ruthenia, which was ceded to the USSR in 1945. Finally, in 1993, the Czechia and Slovakia each achieved independence following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. Whereas these two territorial entities displayed markedly different demographic characteristics at the time of their union within Czechoslovakia in 1918, their populations now exhibit far more homogeneous demographic patterns. The major stages of this convergence constitute the focus of this article, which examines in particular more than a century of mortality and fertility trends in Czechia and Slovakia.
In France, more than one in five inhabitants is now aged 65 or over, raising questions about ‘ageing well’ and the adaptation of public policies in terms of housing, services and mobility. Studying people's relationships with their territories – understood as the spatial expression of their practices, the ways in which they invest themselves in these areas and the ties (particularly emotional ones) they forge with them – appears all the more important in old age, which is often characterised by a reduction in living space. Less locally rooted than their elders but far from uniformly mobile, the baby boom generations, who make up the bulk of today's retired population, offer a privileged case study for understanding contemporary relationships with territories. This article aims to study the links between geographical trajectories and relationships with territories for the first baby boom generations (1945-1949). The analysis focuses on the territories of childhood and those of residence during retirement and is carried out in two stages. First, using data from the Echantillon Démographique Permanent, the aim is to study the diversity of geographical trajectories and identify the main factors of differentiation within this generation. Next, based on 37 interviews from the Elvis project, the qualitative analysis explores the links between the geographical trajectories of the respondents, grouped into four main profiles, and their relationships with these territories. The analysis shows that the trajectories of the first baby boomers is largely local. The forms of attachment are diverse, ranging from a strong attachment to places of origin to emotional reinvestment in new spaces. Family, particularly proximity to children, remains a key factor in attachment, illustrating the persistence of family considerations in residential choices, even among generations often perceived as more individualistic
The maternal mortality rate in the United States is historically high compared to that of other Western nations. In 2021, there were 33 maternal deaths during or after pregnancy per 100,000 births in the United States, compared to just 9 per 100,000 births in France. In the United States, this prevalence also varies significantly by race and ethnicity. According to the most recent statistics, in 2023, nationwide, Black women were three times more likely to die during or within the year following their pregnancy than White women (50 versus 14 per 100,000 births). This excess maternal mortality among Black women is observed at all geographic levels, as illustrated by the case of New York City and New York State. This article provides an overview of this alarming situation, for which public authorities are attempting to find solutions. The article also explores the many economic, sociodemographic, and biological factors contributing to this tragic disparity between Black and white women, which also illustrates the broader persistence of significant disparities between Black and white populations in the United States.
In Corsica as in Martinique, some residents develop mobilities to mainland France for work and study whilst maintaining their residence on the island. These trips are not a prelude to migration: they substitute for it. Based on a comparative analysis combining population census data (2019) and semi-structured interviews (N = 40), this article examines the extent to which Corsican and Martinican residents manage to engage in these forms of circulation. The results highlight three main dynamics. First, geographical distance, correlated with the territorial continuity policies specific to each region, acts as a determining structural filter: probabilities of professional or student mobility to the mainland are significantly higher in Corsica than in Martinique. Secondly, these mobilities remain socially selective, primarily concerning individuals with the highest educational capital and those occupying high socio-professional positions. Thirdly, beyond the educational and professional spheres, travel for medical and recreational purposes reveals that access to mainland resources contributes to the reproduction of social inequalities. The article further shows that claimed insular residential anchoring covers heterogeneous realities: on one hand, some residents maintain an administrative rather than effective domiciliation on the island, instrumentalising, in Corsica, their resident status to access subsidised fares whilst living de facto on the mainland; on the other, those who preserve a genuine insular anchoring develop what we term "batch mobility" strategies, concentrating their trips into spaced-out sequences in order to reconcile island presence with access to mainland resources. In conclusion, the article proposes the concept of staying through mobility to describe situations in which the ability to circulate becomes a structural condition for residential permanence in insular contexts.
Using data from the Parcoursup platform in 2019, this article investigates the geographical distribution of wishes expressed in high school graduates’ higher education applications. It analyzes the logics structuring the fact of expressing wishes exclusively located in the territory of residence at the time of the baccalaureate, exclusively outside, or a mixture of both. By comparing different areas (the Paris region, areas close to large metropolis, or the French overseas), it characterizes the specific contexts of each type of territory, while taking into account the interaction between these contexts and the socio-educational profiles of applicants. The results highlight three important factors contributing to regional disparities in the relation to the mobility associated with educational choices: student dynamism (number of institutions, student population), the costs associated with interdepartmental mobility, and school contexts at the intersection of the social characteristics of high school graduates and those of their localities.
