CH 3 Migration

Migration
Chapter 3
Migration
 Geographers study from where people
migrate and to where they migrate
 They also study why they migrate
 Migration- a permanent move to a new
location
 Type of relocation diffusion (spread of a characteristic
through the bodily movement of people)
continued
 Emigration- migration from a location
 Immigration- migration to a location
 Net migration- the difference b/w the # of
immigrants and the # of emigrants
 If # of immigrants is higher, net migration is
positive—known as net in-migration
 If # of emigrants is higher, net migration is
negative– net out-migration
Why Do People Migrate?
 E. G. Ravenstein wrote 11 “laws” of
migration in 19th century
 Serves as basis for modern migration study
 “laws” concerned three areas of study
1. Why migrants move
2. The distance they typically move
3. The characteristics of migrants
Reasons for Migrating
 Push factor- induces people to move out of
their current location
 Pull factor- induces people to move into a
new location
 Both factors usually play a role
 3 major kinds of push and pull factors
1. Economic
2. Cultural
3. Environmental
Economic Push and Pull Factors
 Most common reason for migrating
 Move to places that seem to have opportunity
and out of places that have very little
 US and Canada historically have had many
immigrants come for opportunity
 Relative attractiveness of a region can shift
with economic change
Cultural Push and Pull Factors
 Forced international migration is a cultural
push factor– ex.’s slavery and political
instability
 Ethnic segregation and wars cause people to migrate
 Refugees- people who have been forced to
migrate from their homes and cannot return for
fear of prosecution due to their race, religion,
nationality, or political opinion
continued
 Refugees have no home unless another
country agrees to take them in
 2 largest refugee groups are Palestinians and
Afghans
 Palestinians left Israel after it was created in 1948
or after it expanded in 1967
 2 largest groups of internal refugees are the
Sudanese (civil war) and the Columbians (drug
lords and guerrillas)
continued
 Political conditions can also be a pull factor
 Lure of freedom
Environmental Push and Pull
Factors
 Pushed out of hazardous regions– pulled into
attractive ones
 Attractive areas would include: mountains,
beach, and warm climates
 Too little or too much water is a major push
factor
 Drought and floodplains
 An area subject to flooding during a specific number of
years
Intervening Obstacles
 Def.- an environmental or cultural factor that
hinders migration
 Historically, primarily environmental
 Hard to travel across inhospitable environments
 Ocean, mountains, desert
 Modern transportation has made this much easier
 Government and politics are obstacles today
 Need passports to cross borders
Distance of Migration
 Ravenstein said:
 most migrants only move a short distance and
remain within the same country
 Long-distance migrants to other countries head
major economic centers
Internal Migration
 Def.- permanent movement within the same
country
 Adheres to the idea of distance decay
 The farther away a place is located, the less likely
people will migrate there
 Explains why there are more internal migrants than
international migrants
 Easier because there is less culture shock
continued
 2 types of internal migration
1. Interregional migration- movement from one
region of a country to another
2. Intraregional migration- movement within one region
 Historically, interregional migration has been
mostly rural to urban (but now environmentally
attractive rural areas are becoming popular)
 Intraregional is usually within urban areas – city to
suburbs
International Migration
 Def.- permanent movement from one country
to another
 2 types
1. Voluntary migration- migrant has chosen to
move for economic improvement
2. Forced migration- migrant has been compelled
to move by cultural factors
Zelinsky’s Migration Transition
 Def.- change in the migration pattern in a
society that results from industrialization, pop.
growth, and other social and economic
changes that also produce the demographic
transition
 International migration is primarily a function of
stage 2 (people leave to go to stage 3 or 4
countries)
 Internal migration is more important in stages 3
and 4 (cities to suburbs)
Characteristics of Migrants
 Historically, males were more likely than
females to migrant internationally
 Because men worked more than women and left to
find job opportunities
 Since the 1990s, female migrants are on the rise
(about ½ in the US)
 Most long distance migrants are young adults
seeking work –not children or elderly
continued
 40% of US immigrants are b/w 25 and 39 (that
demographic is only 23% of entire US pop.)
 Only 5% of immigrants are over 65
 16% are under 15 – this number is on the rise
Global Migration Patterns
 Asia, LA, and Africa have net-out migration
 NA, Europe, and Oceania have net-in
migration
 3 biggest migration flows are form Asia to
Europe, Asia to NA, LA to NA
 Reflects the importance of migration from LDCs
to MDCs
 People want the prospect of better jobs and higher pay
continued
 US has more than 35 million people born in
other countries
 More than half from LA
 ¼ from Asia
 12% of US pop are immigrants
 We have more immigrants than anybody
 But, ¼ of Australian pop are immigrants
 1/6 of Canadian
continued
 ½ the pop of the Middle East are immigrants
 United Arab Emirates – 74%, Kuwait 68%
 People from poorer areas of Middle East migrate to get
jobs in Oil exporting industry
US Immigration Patterns
 70 million people have immigrated to the US
since 1820
 The US has had 3 main eras of immigration
1. Colonial Immigration
2. 19th century European Immigration
3. Recent Immigration form LDCs
Colonial Immigration
 2 sources: Europe and Africa
 About 1 million Europeans migrated to the
American colonies before independence
 90% from Great Britain
 About 400,000 African slaves were forced to
migrate here during the same period
19 Century Migration
th
 7.2 million from Germany

 5.4 million from Italy
 5.3 million from United Kingdom
 4.8 million from Ireland
 4.1 million from Russia
continued
 1840s-1850s 4.3 million came to US mostly
from Western and Northern Europe
 Mostly from Ireland and Germany
 Pushed by bad economic factors
 1870s-1880s still mostly Western and
Northern European
 Many German and Irish, but also Norwegians and
Swedes
 Result of industrial revolution hitting those countries
 Search for more land as pop. exploded
Continued (sort of)
 During the first 15 years of 20th century, close
to 1 million people migrated each year
 Most came from Southern and Eastern Europe
 Italy, Russia, and Austria-Hungary specifically
 Once again the Industrial Revolution spread to
these areas causing large pop increases (stage 2)
Recent Immigration from LDCs
 Most from LA and Asia
 In 2006 Mexico officially passed Germany as
the country of origin of most total immigrants
to the US
 Probably actually happened in the 1980s because
of all the undocumented immigrants
 Also get a lot of Dominicans
continued
 1986 Immigration
Reform and Control Act
 Issued visas to several
hundred thousand illegal
immigrants already
living in the US
continued
 China, Philippines,
India, and Vietnam send
the most immigrants to
the US from Asia
Impact of Immigration on the
United States
 US was Europe’s “safety valve” for several
hundred years
 Pop boom in Europe after the industrial revolution
led to rapid growth in stage 2
 The US had plenty of land for European Immigrants
who found themselves without it
 Now Europe has very low NIRs
 Don’t send many immigrants to US
 “safety valve” is no longer needed
continued
 European migration greatly shaped World
Culture
 Indo-European languages, Christianity, art, music,
philosophy and ethics have diffused around the
world
 In NA political and economic systems of Europe have
diffused
Undocumented Immigration
 Def.- immigration to a country without proper
legal documentation
 aka unauthorized immigrants
 Estimates vary, but somewhere b/w 9.3 and 12
million illegals in US– most from Mexico
 Most come for work
 Make up 24% of US farm labor, 17% in cleaning, 14%
in construction, and 12% in food prep.
continued
 About 50% of undocumented immigrants
come here legally with a student or tourist visa
 Just don’t leave
 Other half sneaks across border
 Not very difficult to do
 Guards patrol official border crossings, but the
border is 2000 miles long
Notice break in fence >>>
Where would you
rather live?????
continued
 Undocumented often become “documented”
by purchasing false documents
 About 1.3 million are caught each year by
Homeland Security – about 90% Mexican
 They are escorted back home
 Many just come right back
Destination of Immigrants Within
the United States
 More than ½ of recent immigrants are
clustered in 4 states
 California (most), NY, FL, and TX
 Undocumented immigrants show a similar
pattern
 CA (most), TX, FL, NY, AZ, IL, GA, NJ
 Pretty high in states relatively accessible to Mexico
continued
 Mexicans go to CA, TX, IL
 Caribbean islanders go to NY, FL
 Chinese and Indians go to NY and CA
 Proximity explains much about destinations
 Whereas others choose where people from their
country have previously settled
 Chain migration- migration to a specific
location, because relatives or members of the
same nationality previously migrated there
Immigration Policies of Host
Countries
 Countries use 2 main policies to control the
arrival of foreigners seeking work
 The US uses a quota system
 In Europe and the Middle East, they permit
guest workers
US Quota Laws
 Quotas- maximum limit on the number of
people who could immigrate to the S from
each country in a 1 year period
 First established in 1924
 Updated in 1965, and replaced with hemisphere
quotas instead of country quotas
 1978, changed to a global quota of 290,000, with a
max of 20,000 per country
 Today, 620,000, w/ max of 7% from one country
continued
 Get more applications for immigration per
year than the quota allows
 Congress has set preferences
 480,000 family sponsored immigrants
 140,000 employment-related immigrants
 Currently about a 5 year wait for a spouse to
gain entry
 Quotas do not account for refugees
continued
 Brain drain- large scale emigration of
talented people
 In 2005, 84% of Haitians w/ a college degree lived
abroad
 47% Ghana
 45% Mozambique
Temporary Migration for Work
 Guest workers- citizens of poor countries who
obtain jobs in W. Europe and the Middle East
 Take low-status and low-skilled jobs that local
residents won’t take
 Low paid by European standards, but far more than
could make at home
 Helps the native country too
 Lowers unemployment and large % of pay gets infused in
local economy as money gets sent home to families
continued
 Most guest workers in Europe come from N.
Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and
Asia
continued
 Millions of Asians migrated in the 19th century
as time-contract laborers, recruited for a fixed
period to work in mines or on plantations
 many stayed after their contract was up
Distinguishing Between Economic
Migrants and Refugees
 The 2 groups are treated differently
 Economic migratns must possess special skills
or have a close relative already living their to
be accepted
 Refugees receive special priority in admission
to other countries because of persecution from
undemocratic governments
 Read about Cuba, Haiti, and Vietnam p. 99-101
Cultural Problems Faced While
Living in Other Countries
 Citiznes of host countries are not always
accepting of newcomers’ cultural differences
 Immigrants are often used as scapegoats by local
politicians to explain local economic problems
US Attitudes Toward Immigrants
 The Germans and Irish had only mild
prejudice against them because they helped
expand the frontier
 Russians, Italians, Poles, faced much more
hostility after the frontier was closed
 They were deemed less intelligent, less
trustworthy, and more inclined to violence
 Recent immigrants face many of the same
prejudices today

CH 3 Migration

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What are the different types of migration discussed in the text?

What are some of the push and pull factors that influence migration?

Migration

 7.2 million from Germany

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