EN
The aim of the article is to present changes in the structure (by sex and age) and level of education of the population inhabiting rural areas of the Carpathians and Sudeten. The analysis covers the years 1988-2002. The spatial distribution of the indices is presented by commune. The observed significant changes in the structure of the rural population (a drop in the proportion of the population of pre-working age and an increase in that of working and post-working ages) show this population to be ageing. An analysis of the level of education of the rural population showed that during the period of the systemic transformation there was an increase in the proportion of people with higher education, which helped to narrow the educational gap between the town and the country.