Learning objectives
Human migration is the movement of people from one place to another with the intention of settling, temporarily or permanently, at a new geographic location. This movement may occur within a single country or over long distances and from one country to another. People may migrate as individuals, in family units, or in large groups.
People move for many reasons, and different types of human migration include:
Sometimes people are forcefully displaced from their homes. Forceful displacement may happen due to natural disasters or civil disturbances. Such individuals are described as displaced persons or if they remain in their home country, they may be called internally-displaced persons. If a person leaves their home country due to political, religious or any other reason, and makes a formal application to another country to seek refuge, they are usually called an 'asylum seeker'. When this application is successful, the person is granted the legal status of a 'refugee'.
Are nomadic movements also regarded as migrations? No. Nomadic movements are generally seasonal, and the nomads have no intention to settle in the new place. Therefore, nomadic movements are usually not regarded as migrations.
Also, temporary movements for tourism, pilgrimages or any other form of commute are also not regarded as migrations.
Basically, the movement of people without the intention to live and settle in a new place is not migration.
Some interesting patterns occur with migration. Most people that migrate travel only a short distance from their original destination and usually within their country, often due to economic factors. This is called internal migration. Internal migration can be divided up even further into interregional migration (the permanent movement from one region of a country to another region) and intraregional migration (the permanent movement within a single region of a country).
The other type of migration is called international migration, which is the movement from one country to another. Some people can voluntarily migrate based on individual choice. At other times, an individual must leave against his or her will. This is forced migration. Ultimately, the distance people migrate depends on economic, gender, family status, and cultural factors. For example, long-distance migration tends to involve males looking for employment and traveling by themselves rather than risking to take their families.
The net migration rate is the difference between the number of immigrants (people coming into an area) and the number of emigrants (people leaving an area) throughout the year.
Reasons for migrating
Why do you think people move? There are many reasons why people migrate. Certain factors are called push factors and others are called pull factors.
A region's economy, climate, politics, and culture affect migration to and from the area. There are additional reasons for migrating such as displacement by a natural disaster, lack of natural resources, the state of an economy, and more.
Let's discuss briefly the largest migration in history - The Great Atlantic Migration which happened from Europe to North America.
Between the 16th and 19th centuries, an estimated three million Europeans crossed the Atlantic, voluntarily or by force, to colonize the Americas. The first wave began in the 1840s with mass movements from northern and western Europe including Great Britain, Ireland, Germany, and Scandinavia. In the 1880s, a second and larger wave developed from eastern and southern Europe; between 1880 and 1910 some 17 million Europeans entered the United States.
This is an example of international migration because they migrated from Ireland/Europe to the United States. Just like most migrants, the Irish and Europeans migrated to North America in search of a better life for themselves and their families.
Reasons for Great Atlantic Migration:
Migration usually involves a series of distinct steps or stages. These include:
Migration transition is the change in migration patterns within a society caused by industrialization, population growth, and other social and economic changes that also produce the demographic transition. A critical factor in all forms of migration is mobility, the ability to move either permanently or temporarily.
The Zelinsky Model of Migration Transition claims that the type of migration that occurs within a country depend on its development level and its society type.
Stage 1 - Pre-modern traditional society
Before urbanization, when the natural increase is very low, the majority of the migration is within the rural areas. People do not move around much and if they do it is usually from village to village, in order to farm products.
Stage 2 - Early transitional society
There is a greater natural increase, as the community experiences the process of modernization. Overseas migration increases. Demand for rural workers decreases while industrialization provides work in urban areas.
Stage 3 - Late-Transitional society
Overseas migration tends to decrease. Urban to urban migration becomes more common than rural to urban migration. More people who live in urban areas migrate from city to city.
Stage 4 - Advanced society
Rural to urban migration continues to decline, while counter-urbanization begins to occur. People continue to migrate between cities.
Stage 5 - Future super-advanced societies
Almost all migration will take place between or within cities.
| Stage | Characteristics |
| Premodern traditional society |
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| Early transitional society |
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| Late transitional society |
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| Advanced society |
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| Future super-advanced society |
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