Transcript Fundamentals of Population

Human
Migrations
Migration
• E.G. Ravenstein established
several “laws” of migration
• Most people migrate for
economic purposes…but they
might 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 males
without 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 *
PUSH
(most people migrate b/c of this)
• 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
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Tornadoes
Earthquakes
Tsunamis
Hurricanes
Typhoons
Volcanoes
PULL
• Land availability
• Arable farmland
• Physically attractive
• Mountains
• Oceans
• Warm Climates
Cultural
PUSH
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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 longdistance 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, welleducated 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, petroleumexporting countries fear that the
increasing numbers of guest workers
will spark political unrest and
abandonment of traditional Islamic
customs.