MIGRATION
Movement


Mobility ranging from local to global and
daily to once a lifetime
Movement is a good example of the spatial
process (spatial interaction; diffusion;
distribution; patterns).
What is activity space?



The great majority of
people have a daily routine
that takes them through a
sequence of short moves
that
geographers
call
activity space.
America is the world’s
most mobile society.
Technology has greatly
expanded activity space,
particularly in wealthier,
more developed countries.
Types of movement
 Cyclic
movement
 Periodic movement
 Migration
Types of Movement


CYCLIC MOVEMENT: movement that
has a closed route
Examples




Commuting: Home to work and
back home
Seasonal: “Sunbelt” States
Nomadism: Movement over
territory for survival repeated
time and again
Daily classes
Types of Movement


PERIODIC MOVEMENT: movement away
from home for a longer period.
Examples
Migrant labor: moving across borders for work
 Transhumance: moving livestock to pastures based
on season (rain, temperature)
 Military service
 College attendance

What is Migration?

Definition: the long-term relocation of an
individual, household, or group to a new
location outside the community of origin; a
purposeful movement involving a change
of permanent residence
Migration is a complex phenomenon
that raises many questions.
Why do people
move?
 All migration is a
combination of
push and pull
factors.

What are push factors of migration?


Defined:
unfavorable
characteristics of a locale
that contribute to the
dissatisfaction
of
its
residents and impel their
emigration
Examples:
widespread
unemployment; poverty;
discrimination;
political
unrest; war; famine and/or
drought; land shortage;
overpopulation
What are pull factors of migration?



Defined: characteristics of a
locale that act as attractive
forces, drawing migrants
from other places
Examples:
employment
opportunities;
political
and/or personal freedoms
(speech; religion, right to
vote, etc.); land; amenities
(e.g. retirement)
Important to note: Many
people move based on
excessively positive images
and expectations (not always
accurate).
Most people migrate
for economic reasons.
Search for better paying jobs
 To find new jobs/employment
 To escape poverty or low standards of
living

Catalysts of Migration:
What causes it to happen?

Economic conditions



Poverty (push factors)
Perceived opportunities in
destinations (pull factors)
Technological advances


Modern transportation
makes migration easier
Allows people to migrate
where jobs are available
Other reasons/catalysts for
migration…

Armed conflict and
civil war



Three million people
drive from their homes in
the former Yugoslavia
Civil war in Rwanda
(Hutu and Tutsis)
Political circumstances



Oppressive regimes
Cuba
Vietnam’s “boat people”
Reasons continued…

Environmental Conditions



Potato Famine in Ireland
(1840s)
Major earthquakes, volcanic
eruptions, or hurricanes (Gulf
Coast of U.S.—2005)
Culture and Tradition


Muslims migrated from India
when it was partitioned
Jews left the former Soviet
Union for Israel
Voluntary Migration



Occurs
when
people
choose to migrate
Remember: the # 1 reason
people
migrate:
ECONOMIC!
Any voluntary migration
flow
represents
the
numbers going from the
source to the destination
minus those returning to
the source.
Forced Migration


Also referred to as involuntary
migration
Examples:



The
Transatlantic
Slave
Trade: largest number of
slaves were brought to
plantations in the Caribbean
and eastern South America;
black population was one
million in U.S. in 1800
Convicts
shipped
from
Britain to Australia beginning
in 1788
1800s: Native Americans in
U.S. forced to live on
reservations
E.G. RAVENSTEIN (1834—1913)
British sociologist

LAWS OF MIGRATION:
1. Most migrants go only a short distance.
2. Longer distance migration favors big city destinations. In
other words, people will travel farther if they are migrating
to a city.
3. Most migration proceeds step-by-step.
4. Most migration is rural to urban.
5. Each migration flow produces a counterflow.
6. Most migrants are adults; families are less likely to make
international moves.
7. Most international migrants are young males.
About Ravenstein’s laws:
1. He concluded that most move short distances and that the frequency of
moves declines with distance (distance decay).
3. Step Migration –
When a migrant follows a path of a series of stages, or steps toward a final
destination.
* intervening opportunity –at one of the steps along
the path, pull factors encourage the migrant to settle
there.
4. Urban residents are less migratory than inhabitants of rural areas.
6. Chain migration also needs to be considered.

Defined: a process by which people are given preference for migrating to
another country because a relative was previously admitted. Asians are
know to be the most effective users of chain migration.
7. Less valid today than when first proposed. In reality, women and girls
now comprise between 40-60% of all international migrants
worldwide.
INTERNAL MIGRATIONS

Migration that occurs within a single countries borders
 Example:
African-Americans moved northward
during World War I; most migrants came from rural
areas; 1970s—more were leaving the North and
returning to the South because of changing civil
rights conditions

Varies depending on mobility of country
 US: Urban to Suburban
 Peru: Rural to Urban
INTERNAL MIGRATIONS
Two Types:
1.Intraregional
2.Interregional
Intraregional Migration

Intraregional migrations--people moving or being moved
within one geographic realm (region) of a country

Current examples:
 Rural to urban:
 increases with development, ¾ of core countries
population in urban areas
 Urban to suburban:
 lifestyle changes
 Metropolitan to nonmetropolitan areas:
 called
counterurbanization, increased technology
allows people to work outside of the city
Interregional Migrations
Definition-people
moving or being moved from one geographic
realm (region) to another within a country
From South

Current USA examples:



Movement North to South, and
East to West
refugees/evacuees from the Gulf
Coast region to other parts of
the United States,
rural to urban areas to find
jobs
Interregional Migrations

Current World examples:
 To Brazil’s interior:
Brasilia
 to North in Italy, and
North to South in the UK
for Jobs
 Islands of development
are cities with foreign
investment and jobs


West African coast
European colonies in SE
Asia attracted Chinese
External Migration

Movement across country borders


Emigrant: one who migrates out of a country


Also called International migration
Subtracts from total population
Immigrant: one who migrates into a country

Adds to total population
Major Global Migration Flows
From 1500 to 1950
Global Migration Patterns


From less-developed Stage 2 countries into moredeveloped Stage 4 countries
3 largest migration flows
Asia to Europe
 Asia to North America
 Latin America to North America



Net In Migration: North America, Europe, Oceania
Net Out Migration: Asia, Latin America, Africa
US Immigration Patterns

Three main waves
1. Colonial America: 1607-1840
1. European settlement- 2 million, mostly British
2. African slaves – 800, 000
Immigration to the United States, 1820 to 2001
US Immigration Patterns
2. 19th century (1840-1910)
3 European Peaks
1. 1840s and 1850s:
-Northern and Western Europe (Ireland, Germany)
2.
1880s:
-Northern and Western Europe (Ireland, Germany,
Norway, Sweden)
3.
1900-1910:
-Southern and Eastern Europe [Italy, Russia,
Austria-Hungary (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia,
Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia,
Ukraine) ]
Immigration to the United States, 1820 to 2001
US Immigration Patterns
3. Second-half of 20th century (1950-2008)
Less developed regions
1. Latin America: Mexico, Dominican Republic, El
Salvador
2. Asia: China, Philippines, India, Vietnam
Immigration to the United States, 1820 to 2001
Immigration Policies

USA Quota Laws
Quota Act of 1921 and Origins Act of 1924: 2% of
1910 population
 Immigration Act of 1965

1968: Hemisphere quotas
 1978: Global Quotas
 Currently: Global Quota of 620, 000 with no more than
7% from each country


Major Exceptions: family reunification, employment, talented,
lottery, refugees
Immigration Policies


Brain Drain: large-scale emigration by talented
people out of the periphery
Guest Workers: To Europe from Middle East
and North Africa


Example: 750, 000 Turks employed in Germany
Time-Contract workers: South and East Asian
workers to Southeast Asia
What about refugees?

UN definition


A person who has well-founded fear of
being persecuted for reasons of race,
religion, nationality, membership of a
particular social group, or political
group.
UN reports 24 million refugees worldwide
What about refugees?
UN definitions

International
refugees:

Those who have
crossed one or more
international borders
and are encamped in
a country other than
their own

Intranational
refugees:

Those who have
abandoned
their
homes but not their
homeland
It is difficult to identify refugees.



No mention of natural/enviromental disaster
UN must distinguish between refugees and voluntary
migrants before granting asylum.
Three general characteristics, individual or aggregate
(collectively):



Most refugees move without any more tangible property
than they can carry or transport with them.
Most refugees make their first “step” on foot, by bicycle,
wagon, or open boat.
Refugees move without the official documents that
accompany channeled migrations.
Regions of Dislocation

Sub-Saharan Africa



Several of the world’s
largest
refugee
crises
plagued Africa during the
1990s and early 21st
century
-8
million
“official” refugees
Civil wars in Liberia,
Sierra Leone, Angola, and
Sudan
Hostilities between the
Hutu and Tutsi tribes in
Rwanda
Other regions of dislocation…

North Africa and
Southwest Asia





Israel and the displaced Arab
populations that surround it
Exhibits qualities that are
likely to generate additional
refugee flow in the future
The
Kurdish
population
following the Gulf War
(1991)
Taliban rule in Afghanistan
Afghanistan after the Soviet
invasion during the 1980s
Regions of dislocation continued…

South Asia


Pakistan
accommodated forced
emigrants
from
Afghanistan
Major refugee problem
stems from a civil war
in Sri Lanka
Regions of dislocation continued…

Southeast Asia



“Boat people” who fled
communist rule in
Vietnam
In the early 1990s,
Cambodia
generated
the region’s largest
refugee flow
Today--largest number
of refugees come from
Myanmar (Burma)
Regions of dislocation continued…

Europe


After the collapse of
Yugoslavia, over 1
million were displaced
South America

Colombian illegal drug
violence, especially in
rural areas