Migration

Migration

• Migration A change in residence that is intended to be permanent.

• Emigration-leaving a country.

• Immigration-entering a country.

Little Haiti, Miami, Florida

• On average, Americans move once every 6 years.• US population is the most mobile in the world with

over 5 million moving from 1 state to another every year.

• 35 million move within a state, county or community each year.

• Migration a key factor in the speed of diffusion of ideas and innovation.

• Our perception of distance and direction are often distorted-thus a sizable % of migrants return to their original home due to these distorted perceptions.

Key Factors in MigrationKey Factors in Migration• External Migration-from one country to

another (emigration & immigration)• Internal Migration-from one part of a country

to another part• Direction:

– Absolute-compass directions– Relative-Sun Belt, Middle East, Far East, Near East

• Distance:– Absolute distance “as the crow flies” – Relative distance-actual distance due to routes

taken such as highways or railroads

Catalysts of Migration• Economic conditions-poverty

and a desire for opportunity.• Political conditions-

persecution, expulsion, or war.• Environmental conditions-

crop failures, floods, drought, environmentally induced famine.

• Culture and tradition-threatened by change.

• Technology-easier and cheaper transport or change in livability.

• Chain migration-migration of people to a specific location because of relatives or members of the same nationality already there.

• Refugees-those who have been forced to migrate.• Push-Pull Factors-push factors induce people to leave.

Pull factors encourage people to move to an area.• Distance decay-contact diminishes with increasing

distance. (both diffusion and migration)

Internal Migration - Movement within a single country’s borders

(implying a degree of permanence).

Distance Decay weighs into the decision to migrate, leading many migrants to move less far than they originally contemplate.

Voluntary Migration – Migrants weigh push and pull factors to decide first, to emigrate from the home country

and second, where to go.

Economic Conditions – Migrants will often risk their lives in hopes of economic opportunities that will enable them to send money home (remittances) to their family members who remain behind.

Environmental Conditions –In Montserrat, a 1995 volcano made the southern half of the island, including the capital city of Plymouth, uninhabitable. People who remained migrated to the north or to the U.S.

Economic OpportunitiesIslands of Development –Places within a region or country where foreign investment, jobs, and infrastructure are concentrated.

Economic OpportunitiesIn late 1800s and early 1900s, Chinese migrated throughout Southeast Asia to work in trade, commerce, and finance.

Reconnecting Cultural Groups•About 700,000 Jews migrated to then-Palestine between 1900 and 1948.•After 1948, when the land was divided into two states (Israel and Palestine), 600,000 Palestinian Arabs fled or were pushed out of newly-designated Israeli territories.

Jerusalem, Israel: Jewish settlements on the West Bank.

Ernst Ravenstein’s “Laws of migrationErnst Ravenstein’s “Laws of migration1885 he studied the migration of England1885 he studied the migration of England

• Most migrants go only a short distance.

• Big cities attract long distance migrants.

• Most migration is step-by-step.

• Most migration is rural to urban

• Each migration flow produces a counterflow.

• Most migrants are adults-families are less likely to make international moves.

• Most international migrants are young males.

Major Modern Migrations

• Europe to North America & South America

• Africa to the Americas (Slave Trade)

• UK to Australia, New Zealand

• India to East Africa, SE Asia

• China to SE Asia

• Eastern US to Western US

• Western Russia to Eastern Russia

Trans-Siberian Railway increased migration to the east.

International Migration – Movement across country borders (implying a degree of

permanence).

Waves of Immigration-US 1820-2001

Changing immigration laws, and changing push and pull factors create waves of immigration.