Migration

Chapter 3

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.

Types of Migration • Forced Migration-migrants

have no choice-must leave.

• periodic movement-short term (weeks or months) seasonal migration to college, winter in the south, etc.

• Cyclic movement-daily movement to work, shopping.

• Transhumance-seasonal pastoral farming-Switzerland, Horn of Africa.

• Nomadism-cyclical, yet irregular migration that follows the growth of vegetation.

Commuter train in Soweto,

South Africa

Key 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.

• Step migration-short moves in stages-e.g. Brazilian

family moves from village to town and then finally Sao

Paulo or Rio de Janeiro

• 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)

• Intervening opportunity-alternative destinations that can

be reached more quickly and easily.

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.

In Altar, Sonora, migrants called pollos (chickens), stock up

On supplies for the desert crossing.

Most illegal immigrants are Mexicans, but a growing number

Are from Central and South America, like the men waiting

Outside of “Bar Honduras” in Nuevo Laredo.

• A massive dump site in Arizona’s Upper Altar Valley. After walking 40 miles through the desert, illegal immigrants are met here by coyotes. They are told to dump their old clothes & packs and put on more “American” looking clothes the coyotes have brought. They then begin the trip to an urban stash house.

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

Opportunities

Islands of

Development –

Places within a

region or country

where foreign

investment, jobs,

and infrastructure

are concentrated.

Economic

Opportunities

In 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 migration 1885 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.

• Gravity model is an inverse relationship between

volume of migration and distance to the destination.

• Gravity model was anticipated by Ravenstein.

• The physical laws of gravity first studied by Newton

can be applied to the actions of humans in terms of

migration and economics

• Spatial interaction such as migration is directly related

to the populations and inversely related to the distance

between them.

• International refugees cross one or more borders and

are encamped in a country not their own.

• Intranational refugees abandon their homes, but not

their countries-this is the largest number world wide.

The Refugee Problem

• UN definition-person who

migrates out of fear of

being persecuted for

reasons of race, religion,

nationality, social status or

political opinion.

• Difficult to get an accurate

count-governments

manipulate the numbers.

• Internal (intranational)

refugees a bigger issue than

external (international).

Refugees

A person who flees across an international boundary because

of a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race,

religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group,

or political opinion.

Characteristics of Refugees

• Move with only what they can carry or

easily transport.

• Most move first on foot, bicycle,

wagon or open boat-very low tech.

transport.

• Most have no official documentation

such as passports, identification or

other official papers.

An Example of Forced Migration-The Trail of Tears

From 12 to 30 million Africans were forced from

their homelands in the 18th century. It took

generations to restore the population balance.

Regions of Dislocation-Africa

• Endemic African

Problems:

• Weak and corrupt

governments.

• Lack of national cohesion.

• Lack of a democratic

tradition

• Historic ethnic conflicts

• Excessive number of

weapons left over from

the Cold War.

• Sub-Saharan Africa-over

8 million official

international refugees-the

largest # in the world.

• Collapse of order in

Somalia

• Civil Wars in Liberia and

Sierra Leone

• Sudan’s civil war

• Rwanda massacres and

economic disaster.

The Sudan –Fighting in the Darfur region of the Sudan has

generated thousands of refugees. In eastern Chad, the

Iridimi refugee camp is home to almost 15,000 refugees

from the Darfur province, including the women in this

photo.

Regions of Dislocation

• South West &

Central Asia:

• Kurds in Iraq, Turkey and

Syria displaced during

Gulf Wars.

• Palestinians displaced by

several wars with Israel.

• Afghanistan-many

refugees during the long

Soviet occupation, Taliban

regime and war.

• South and South

East Asia:

• Civil War in Sri Lanka-

Tamils versus Sinahlese

• Vietnam and Cambodia

after the Vietnam War

• Myanmar (Burma)

military rule has driven

many to exile.

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

Review World Regions for Test

Trans-Siberian Railway increased migration to the east.

International Migration –

Movement across country borders (implying a degree of

permanence).

Historic US Migration

• Westward to the frontier.

• Black migration to northern cities in WWI and WWII period

• 1950s, 60s Cubans to Florida from Castro’s Cuba

• In recent decades the migration from the Rust belt to the Sunbelt took place.

• Some blacks returned to the South

Waves of Immigration-US 1820-2001

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

National Migration Flows

• Also known as internal migration

- eg. US, Russia, Mexico

Post-September 11

Guest Workers

• Guest workers – migrants whom a country

allows in to fill a labor need, assuming the

workers will go “home” once the labor need

subsides.

- have short term work visas

- send remittances to home country

- France-many from Algeria

- Germany-many from Turkey, Eastern

Europe

The End