The decline, in absolute terms, of the total population of an area, more often brought about by out-migration than by a fall in fertility or excessive mortality. Depopulation typically occurs in more remote areas; it is initiated by loss of employment, effected through out-migration, and exacerbated by the ‘vicious cycle’ of decline depicted in the Drudy–Gilg model (P. J. Drudy 1978; A. W. Gilg 1983; Millward (2005) Canad. Geogr./Géog. canad. 49, 2). See Zaslavsky (2007) J. Reg. Sci. 40, 4 on depopulation and Russia’s demographic crisis.