Human Migrations

Migration• E.G. Ravenstein established

several “laws” of migration

• Most people migrate foreconomic purposes…but theymight migrate for cultural or environmental reasons as well.

• Most migrants relocate a short distance and remain within the same country

» Distance Decay

• Long-distance migrants to other countries head for major centers of economic activity

• Most long distance migrants are adult maleswithout families.

• In flows of migrants also create out flows.

Migrations

• Migrations occur because of social, economic, political, and environmental factors and have influenced cultural landscapes.

• Modern transportation and communication are encouraging higher levels of cultural interaction worldwide.

Emigrant vs. Immigrant

• Emigration is migration from a location

• Emigrants Exit

___________________________________________

• Immigration is migration to a location

• Immigrants go Into

Push vs. Pull• People decide to migrate

because of push and pull factors.

• Push factors induce people to move out of their present location

• Pull factors induce people to move into a new location

• There are three major kinds of push and pull factors

Economic * (most people migrate b/c of this)PUSH

• No Jobs– No natural resources – Jobs with little pay

PULL

• Economic opportunity – Natural resources – New industry (jobs)– Better jobs – more $$$

Environmental PUSH

• Overpopulation• Agricultural decline• Water

– Too much – floodplain– Too little – desert (sahel)

• Natural hazards – Tornadoes – Earthquakes– Tsunamis – Hurricanes– Typhoons – Volcanoes

PULL

• Land availability

• Arable farmland

• Physically attractive • Mountains• Oceans• Warm Climates

Cultural PUSH

• Religious Persecution• Political Persecution• War• Slavery • Refugee

– 35 million in 2001

PULL

• Religious Freedom• Political Freedom• Ethnic and/or

Family ties – Chain Migrations

Refugees • Refugees are people who are forced

to migrate from their home country and cannot return for fear of persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a social group, or political opinion.

• The distinction between economic migrants and refugees is important, because many countries treat the two groups differently.– Cuba – 1959 communist revolution – Fidel

Castro– Haiti – throughout 80s & after 1991 political

coup – Vietnam – after the War ended in 1975

Cuban Refugees

Migration Transition• Geographer Wilber Zelinsky has identified

migration transition, which consists of changes in a society comparable to those in the demographic transition.

• Stage 1 – unlikely to migrate permanently – high seasonal and/or daily mobility in search of food

• Stage 2 – international migration – in search of economic opportunities

• Stage 3 & 4 – internal migration

International Migration• International Migration –

Permanent movement from one country to another – 3% of the world’s people are

international migrants• The country with by far the largest

number is the USA

• Voluntary migration – migrant has chosen to move for economic improvement

• Forced migration – migrant has been compelled to move by cultural factors

Internal Migration

• Internal Migration - Permanent movement within the same country

• Much less traumatic• Familiar language, food,

broadcasts, literature, music, and other social customs

• Shorter distances (easier, cheaper)

• USA & RUSSIA could be long-distance within

Internal Migration

• Two Types– Interregional migration

– one region to another

• Rural to Urban Areas – search of jobs

• Recently – urban areas to environmentally attractive areas

– Intraregional migration – within one region

• Within urban areas• Older cities to newer suburbs

Intervening Obstacles• Where migrants go is not always

their desired destination.

• They may be blocked by an intervening obstacle.

• In the past, intervening obstacles were primarily environmental

• Mountain, Ocean, Desert

• Today, the challenge is government , politics, &technology!

• Passport is needed to legally emigrate• Visa is needed to legally immigrate• ALSO ECONOMIC – can’t afford to

move

Undocumented Immigration: USA • People who enter a country without proper

documentation and/or enter illegally are known as undocumented immigrants (unauthorized).

• No one knows how many of these individuals are in the US (7-20 million)

• Approximately half of the undocumented residents legally enter the country as students or tourists and then remain after they are suppose to leave.

• The other half simply slip across the border without showing a passport and visa to a border guard.

• The Border Patrol apprehends more than a million persons annually – more than 95% from Mexico.

• Once in the US, undocumented immigrants can become “documented” by purchasing forged documents for as little as $25, including a birth certificate, alien registration card, and social security number.

Chain Migration

• Immigrants cluster in communities where people from the same country previously settled.– Family– Friends– Common Culture

Migration Facts• Historically – males were more likely to be

employed & willing to travel for work – In the 1990s it reversed – 55% of US

immigrants are women– Most migrants around the world are still

males

• Young, single adults migrate rather than children, elderly people, or families (40% - 25-39)

– More children are migrating to the US due to the larger number of women migrating here.

• Countries have adopted two policies to control the arrival of foreigners

• Quota systems – USA • Guest worker programs – Western

Europe & Middle East

U.S. Quota Laws• The era of unrestricted immigration to the US

ended when Congress passed the Quota Act in 1921 & the National Origins Act in 1924.

• Quota Laws were designed to assure that most immigrants to the US continued to be European.

• Quotas for individual countries were eliminated in 1968 and replaced with hemispheric quotas.

• Hemispheric quotas were replaced in 1978 with a global quota of 290,000, including a max. of 20,000 per country.

• Currently, the global quota is 620,000 annually with no more than 7% (approx. 43,000) from one country but numerous qualifications & exceptions can alter the limit considerably.

Brain Drain• Some of today’s immigrants are young, well-

educated people lured to economically growing countries.

• Scientists, Researchers, Doctors, and other professionals migrate to countries where they can make better use of their abilities.

• Foreigners studying in US colleges find many more job opportunities that fit their level of education in our country so the stay rather than returning to their homeland.

• Brain Drain – Large scale emigration by talented people

• Today, the average immigrant has received more education than the typical American

• ¼ of legal immigrants have attended graduate school; 1/10 native born Americans

Attitude towards Immigrants• Americans have always regarded new arrivals

with suspicion

• During the 19th Century this suspicion was tempered as immigrants helped to settle the frontier.

• By the 20th Century and the frontier closed, opposition to immigration intensified.

• N.I.N.A. – no Irish need apply

• Many believed that immigrants were racially and culturally inferior to **native americans**

• Anti-Immigration sentiment still exists as many Americans enact harsher immigration laws and deny basic rights to

undocumented immigrants.

Migration of Vietnamese

Boat People

Many Vietnamese fled by sea as refugees after the

war with the U.S. ended in 1975. Later boat people were often considered economic migrants.

Guest Workers• Guest workers are citizens of

poor countries who obtain jobs in Western Europe & the Middle East.

• ½ labor force in Luxembourg• 1/6 in Switzerland• 1/10 in Austria, Belgium, & Germany

• Guest workers take low-status and low-skilled jobs that local residents won’t accept.

• Driving buses, collecting garbage, repairing streets, washing dishes

• Protected by minimum wage laws, labor union contracts, etc…

• USA – mainly seasonal agricultural jobs

Guest Workers

• Low pay by European standards – guest workers earn far more than they would a home

• The economy of the guest worker’s native country also benefits.

• Reduces unemployment• Money sent home

stimulates the local economy

Attitude toward Guest Workers• In Europe, many guest workers

suffer from poor social conditions.

• Many Western Europeans dislike the guest workers and oppose government programs to improve their living conditions.

• In the Middle East, petroleum-exporting countries fear that the increasing numbers of guest workers will spark political unrest and abandonment of traditional Islamic customs.