Abstract
In our days, changes in demographic composition of rural areas are a highly generalized phenomenon in Europe. However, the trends show large differences in space and especially in time. This article studies demographic trajectories and their complexity, highlighting the process of continuity-discontinuity in time and in space that exists in rural areas. These demographic trajectories are analysed by using essentially statistics and cartography as working tools. The authors base their dynamic analysis on the behaviour of different demographic components at different spatial scales composed of provinces and rural departments, in France, Italy and Spain. Ultimately, they identify trajectory patterns that emphasize the importance of national and mostly of regional characteristics differentiating and at the same time homogenizing rural territories.