Migration Why do people migrate? • A combination of push and pull factors influences migration decisions • Most people migrate for economic reasons United States (a land of migrants) • About 70 million people have migrated since 1820 • U.S. has more foreign born residents than any other country (about 35 million) Global Migration Three major push and pull factors •Economic •Cultural •Environmental Which type of migration factor is it? Environmental, Cultural, Economic Push or Pull Hurricane Katrina leveled the Environmental Push Gulf Coast and New Orleans In 1979, Iran’s government became an Islamic Theocracy Cultural Push unfriendly to other religious groups The American colonies offered persecuted Cultural Pullpeople in Europe religious freedom The Ford plant in Flint, MI closed down, Economic Push laying off hundreds of workers States like Florida and Arizona Kuwait has difficulty filling all of have warm weather Environmental Pull that many Economic Pull its jobs in the oil industry retirees enjoy During the Rwandan genocide refugees fled to neighboring Cultural Push countries like Tanzania and DRC Record floods in Pakistan this summer destroyed Environmental Pushfields and swamped homes Which type of migration factor is it? Environmental, Cultural, Economic Push or Pull African Americans had to live In the 1840s blight destroyed under the Cultural Push Jim Crow laws in the Economic Push the potato crop in Ireland South Universities in the U.S. offer many foreign students better Economic Pull opportunities than their own countries The Turkish government banned the Cultural Push Kurdish language for many years The U.S. allows refugees to Cultural Pull apply for political asylum Millions of jobs have become available inPull Economic coastal Chinese cities in recent years The Maldives are low-lying islands in the Indian Environmental Push Ocean threatened by rising seas. Many Afghanis who worked as translators Cultural Push for the U.S. fear retribution from the Taliban Which type of migration factor is it? Environmental, Cultural, Economic Push or Pull Farms in California employ many seasonal Economic Pull migrant farm workers from Mexico The civil war between the north and south Cultural Push in Sudan created many refugees. Countries with aging populationsPull Economic may have guest worker programs. Before the Berlin Wall fell, West Germany Cultural Pull offered more freedoms than East Germany. Sharecropping in the South Colorado has several great ski was a system Economic Push designed to keep Environmental Pull resorts and many “ski bums.” African Americans poor. The Sahara Desert is expanding southward Environmental Push due to desertification. Natural gas drilling in the Marcelus Shale Economic Pull is a new booming industry in PA. E. G. Ravenstein (Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society) • Geography has no comprehensive theory of migration. Contemporary geographic migrations studies based on Ravenstein’s Laws • The reasons why migrants move • Push/pull factors • The characteristics of migrants • The distance migrants typically move Ravenstein’s Laws Characteristics of Migrants • Most long-distance migrants were male • Most long-distance migrants were adult individuals rather than families with children • Since the late 20th century these have changed • Women and children now make up the majority of migrants • In U.S. the gender pattern reversed in 1990’s – women 55% • Changing role of women in Mexican society (some join husbands or brothers most seek work) • In U.S. the pattern of most immigrants being adults continues – most immigrants are between the ages of 25 -39 (less likely to be elderly) • However an increasing percentage of U.S. children are immigrants (more women coming to U.S. bring their children) Ravenstein’s Laws Distance of Migration • Most migrants relocate a short distance and remain within the same country (Ravenstein) • Long-distance migrants to other countries head for major centers of economic activity (Ravenstein) • International (less numerous…distance decay) • Voluntary /forced • Guest workers, • Internal • Intraregional • Interegional Migration Transition • Geographer Wilbur Zelinsky identified a “migration transtion”, which consists of changes in a society comparable to those in the demographic transition. • A society in stage 1 of DTM has high daily or seasonal mobility in search of food • International migration is primarily a phenomenon of countries in stage 2 of DTM. • Internal migration is more important in stages 3 and 4 of DTM