This paper analyzes differential trends in rural depopulation and repopulation in nine municipalities of Mexico's Mixteca Alta region, in the southern state of Oaxaca, based on census data and interviews carried out in 2019. From 1950 to 2000, the study area experienced a substantial loss of population, linked essentially to out-migration to Mexico City. However, from 2000 to 2020, four of the municipalities regained population, while the remaining five continued losing residents. This repopulation is explained by a declining but still positive natural population growth combined with less out-migration and slightly more in-migration, linked to growing return migration. However, in-migration is too small to meaningfully explain the transition from massive depopulation to repopulation, meaning that concepts such as counterurbanization and rurbanization are not easily transposed onto the study area, as they centre their attention on the in-migration of former urban dwellers. The paper thus highlights the importance of population retention—explained by local tertiarization, the possibility of commuting to nearby small cities, and the weakening of traditional pull factors—as key to understanding rural repopulation in the study area.

中文翻译：

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从农村外流到墨西哥米斯特卡阿尔塔的人口重新集中？分析差异趋势

本文根据 2019 年进行的人口普查数据和访谈，分析了墨西哥南部瓦哈卡州米斯特卡阿尔塔地区九个城市的农村人口减少和人口再迁移的差异趋势。从 1950 年到 2000 年，研究区经历了人口，主要与向外迁移到墨西哥城有关。然而，从 2000 年到 2020 年，四个城市恢复了人口，而其余五个继续失去居民。这种重新人口的解释是人口自然增长下降但仍然是正数，加上外迁减少和内迁稍微增加，这与不断增加的回迁有关。然而，移民人数太少，无法有意义地解释从大规模人口减少到重新人口的转变，这意味着反城市化和城市化等概念不容易转移到研究区域，因为它们将注意力集中在前城市居民的迁入上。因此，该论文强调了人口保留的重要性——通过当地的第三产业化、通勤到附近小城市的可能性以及传统拉动因素的减弱来解释——作为理解研究区农村人口重新人口的关键。