Human migration is the movement of people from one place to another with intentions of settling, permanently or temporarily, at a new location (geographic region). The movement often occurs over long distances and from one
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...
to another (external migration), but
internal migration (within a single country) is also possible; indeed, this is the dominant form of human migration globally. Migration is often associated with better human capital at both individual and household level, and with better access to migration networks, facilitating a possible second move. It has a high potential to improve human development, and some studies confirm that migration is the most direct route out of poverty.Age is also important for both work and non-work migration. People may migrate as individuals, in
family units or in
large groups. There are four major forms of migration:
invasion,
conquest,
colonization
Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...
and
emigration/
immigration.
Persons moving from their home due to
forced displacement (such as a natural disaster or civil disturbance) may be described as displaced persons or, if remaining in the home country,
internally-displaced persons. A person who seeks refuge in another country can, if the reason for leaving the home country is political, religious, or another form of persecution, make a formal application to that country where refuge is sought and is then usually described as an
asylum seeker. If this application is successful, this person's legal status becomes
refugee.
In contemporary times, migration governance has become closely associated with state sovereignty. States retain the power of decide on the entry and stay of non-nationals because migration directly affects some of the defining elements of a state.
Definition

Depending on the goal on food is good and reason for relocation, people who migrate can be divided into three categories: migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. Each category is defined broadly as the mixed circumstances that motivate a person to change their location.
As such, ''migrants'' are traditionally described as persons who change the country of their residence for general reasons and purposes. These purposes may include the search for better job opportunities or healthcare needs. This term is the most generally defined one as anyone changing their geographic location permanently can be considered a migrant.
Contrast,
''refugees'' are not defined and described as persons who do not willingly relocate. The reasons for the refugees' migration usually involve war actions within the country or other forms of oppression, coming either from the government or non-governmental sources. Refugees are usually associated with people who must unwillingly relocate as fast as possible; hence, such migrants will likely relocate undocumented.
Asylum seekers are associated with persons who also leave their country unwillingly, yet, who also do not do so under oppressing circumstances such as war or death threats. The motivation to leave the country for asylum seekers might involve an unstable economic or political situation or high
rates of crime. Thus, asylum seekers relocate predominantly to escape the degradation of the
quality of their lives.
Nomadic movements usually are not regarded as migrations, as the movement is generally
seasonal, there is no intention to settle in the new place, and only a few people have retained this form of lifestyle in modern times. Temporary movement for travel, tourism, pilgrimages, or the commute is also not regarded as migration, in the absence of an intention to live and settle in the visited places.
Migration patterns and related numbers

There exist many statistical estimates of worldwide migration patterns.
The
World Bank has published three editions of its ''Migration and Remittances Factbook'', beginning in 2008, with a second edition appearing in 2011 and a third in 2016. The
International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has published ten editions of the ''
World Migration Report The flagship publication series of the International Organization for Migration, the World Migration Report presents data and information on human migration together with analysis of complex and emerging migration issues.
Released biennially, the W ...
'' since 1999.
The
United Nations Statistics Division
The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), formerly the United Nations Statistical Office, serves under the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) as the central mechanism within the Secretariat of the United Nations t ...
also keeps a database on worldwide migration. Recent advances in research on migration via the Internet promise better understanding of migration patterns and migration motives.
Structurally, there is substantial
South-South and North-North migration; in 2013, 38% of all migrants had migrated from developing countries to other developing countries, while 23% had migrated from high-income
OECD countries to other high-income countries. The
United Nations Population Fund says that "while the North has experienced a higher absolute increase in the migrant stock since 2000 (32 million) compared to the South (25 million), the South recorded a higher growth rate. Between 2000 and 2013, the average annual rate of change of the migrant population in developing regions (2.3%) slightly exceeded that of the developed regions (2.1%)."
Substantial internal migration can also take place within a country, either
seasonal human migration
Seasonal human migration is the movement of people from one place or another on a seasonal basis. It occurs most commonly due to seasonal shifts in demand for labor. It includes Migrations such as moving sheep or cattle to higher elevations d ...
(mainly related to agriculture and tourism to urban places), or shifts of the population into cities (
urbanisation) or out of cities (
suburbanisation). However, studies of worldwide migration patterns tend to limit their scope to
international migration.
Almost half of these migrants are women, one of the most significant migrant-pattern changes in the last half-century.
Women migrate alone or with their family members and community. Even though female migration is largely viewed as an association rather than independent migration, emerging studies argue complex and manifold reasons for this.
As of 2019, the top ten
immigration destinations were:
*
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
*
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
*
Saudi Arabia
*
Russian Federation
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
*
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and No ...
*
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...
*
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
*
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world ...
*
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country b ...
*
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
In the same year, the top countries of origin were:
[IOM.]
Migration and migrants: A global overview
" Ch. 2 in ''World Migration Report 2020''.
*
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
*
Mexico
Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Gua ...
*
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
*
Russian Federation
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
*
Syrian Arab Republic
*
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
*
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-la ...
*
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
*
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is border ...
*
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
Besides these rankings, according to absolute numbers of migrants, the ''Migration and Remittances Factbook'' also gives statistics for top immigration destination countries and top emigration origin countries according to percentage of the population; the countries that appear at the top of those rankings are entirely different than the ones in the above rankings and tend to be much smaller countries.
[''Migration and Remittances Factbook 2016'']
As of 2013, the top 15 migration corridors (accounting for at least 2 million migrants each) were:
#
Mexico–United States
#
Russian Federation–Ukraine
#
Bangladesh–India
#
Ukraine–Russian Federation
#
Kazakhstan–Russian Federation
#
China–United States
#
Russian Federation–Kazakhstan
#
Afghanistan–Pakistan
#
Afghanistan–Iran
#
China–Hong Kong
#
India–United Arab Emirates
#
West Bank and Gaza–Jordan
#
India–United States
#
India–Saudi Arabia
#
Philippines–United States
Economic impacts of human migration
World economy
The impacts of human migration on the
world economy have been largely positive. In 2015, migrants, who constituted 3.3% of the
world population
In demographics, the world population is the total number of humans currently living. It was estimated by the United Nations to have exceeded 8 billion in November 2022. It took over 200,000 years of human prehistory and history for ...
, contributed 9.4% of global GDP.
At a microeconomic level, the value of a human mobility is largely recognized by firms. A 2021 survey by the Boston Consulting Group found that 72% of 850+ executives across several countries and industries believed that migration benefited their countries, and 45% considered globally diverse employees a strategic advantage.
According to the
Centre for Global Development, opening all borders could add $78 trillion to the
world GDP.
Remittances
Remittance
A remittance is a non-commercial transfer of money by a foreign worker, a member of a diaspora community, or a citizen with familial ties abroad, for household income in their home country or homeland. Money sent home by migrants competes with ...
s (funds transferred by migrant workers to their home country) form a substantial part of the economy of some countries. The top ten remittance recipients in 2018.
In addition to economic impacts, migrants also make substantial contributions in sociocultural and civic-political life. Sociocultural contributions occur in the following areas of societies: food/cuisine, sport, music, art/culture, ideas and beliefs; civic-political contributions relate to participation in civic duties in the context of accepted authority of the State. It is in recognition of the importance of these remittances that the United Nations
Sustainable Development Goal 10 targets to substantially reduce the transaction costs of migrants remittances to less than 3% by 2030.
Voluntary and forced migration
Migration is usually divided into ''voluntary migration'' and ''forced migration''.
The distinction between ''involuntary'' (fleeing political conflict or natural disaster) and ''voluntary migration'' (economic or
labour migration) is difficult to make and partially subjective, as the motivators for migration are often correlated. The
World Bank estimated that, as of 2010, 16.3 million or 7.6% of migrants qualified as refugees.
This number grew to 19.5 million by 2014 (comprising approximately 7.9% of the total number of migrants, based on the figure recorded in 2013).
[ As noted on p. xiii, the report presents migrant stocks for 2013, refugee numbers for 2014, remittance outflows for 2014, and remittance inflows for 2015.] At levels of roughly 3 percent the share of migrants among the world population has remained remarkably constant over the last 5 decades.
Voluntary migration
Voluntary migration is based on the initiative and the free will of the person and is influenced by a combination of factors: economic, political and social: either in the migrants` country of origin (determinant factors or "push factors") or in the country of destination (attraction factors or "pull factors").
"Push-pull factors" are the reasons that push or attract people to a particular place. "Push" factors are the negative aspects(for example wars) of the country of origin, often decisive in people's choice to emigrate. The "pull" factors are the positive aspects of a different country that encourages people to emigrate to seek a better life. For example, the government of
Armenia periodically gives incentives to people who will migrate to live in villages close to the border with Azerbaijan. This is an implementation of a push strategy, and the reason people don't want to live near the border is security concerns given tensions and hostility because of Azerbaijan.
Although the push-pull factors are opposed, both are sides of the same coin, being equally important. Although specific to forced migration, any other harmful factor can be considered a "push factor" or determinant/trigger factor, such examples being: poor quality of life, lack of jobs, excessive pollution, hunger, drought or natural disasters. Such conditions represent decisive reasons for voluntary migration, the population preferring to migrate in order to prevent financially unfavorable situations or even emotional and physical suffering.
Forced migration
There exist contested definitions of forced migration. However, the editors of a leading scientific journal on the subject, the ''
Forced Migration Review'', offer the following definition: Forced migration refers to the movements of refugees and internally displaced people (displaced by conflict) as well as people displaced by natural or environmental disasters, chemical or nuclear disasters, famine, or development projects. These different causes of migration leave people with one choice, to move to a new environment. Immigrants leave their beloved homes to seek a life in camps, spontaneous settlement, and countries of asylum.
By the end of 2018, there were an estimated 67.2 million forced migrants globally25.9 million refugees displaced from their countries, and 41.3 million internally displaced persons that had been displaced within their countries for different reasons.
Contemporary labor migration theories
Overview
Numerous causes impel migrants to move to another country. For instance,
globalization
Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...
has increased the demand for workers in order to sustain national economies. Thus one category of
economic migrants – generally from impoverished developing countries – migrates to obtain sufficient income for survival.
Such migrants often send some of their income homes to family members in the form of
economic remittances, which have become an economic staple in a number of developing countries. People may also move or are forced to move as a result of conflict, of
human-rights violations, of violence, or to escape persecution. In 2013 it was estimated that around 51.2 million people fell into this category.
Other reasons people may move include to gain access to opportunities and services or to escape extreme weather. This type of movement, usually from rural to urban areas, may be classed as
internal migration.
Sociology-cultural and ego-historical factors also play a major role. In North Africa, for example, emigrating to Europe counts as a sign of social prestige. Moreover, many countries were former
colonies. This means that many have relatives who live legally in the (former) colonial
metro pole and who often provide important help for immigrants arriving in that metropole.
Relatives may help with job research and with accommodation. The geographical proximity of Africa to Europe and the long historical ties between Northern and Southern Mediterranean countries also prompt many to migrate.
Whether a person decides to move to another country depends on the relative skill premier of the source and host countries. One is speaking of
positive selection when the host country shows a higher skill premium than the source country. On the other hand, negative selection occurs when the source country displays a lower skill premium. The relative skill premia define migrants selectivity.
Age heaping techniques display one method to measure the relative skill premium of a country.
A number of theories attempt to explain the international flow of capital and people from one country to another.
[Jennissen, R. 2007. "Causality Chains in the International Migration Systems Approach." '' Population Research and Policy Review'' 26(4):411–436.]
Contemporary research contributions in the field of migration
Recent academic output on migration comprises mainly journal articles. The long-term trend shows a gradual increase in academic publishing on migration, which is likely to be related to the general expansion of academic literature production, and the increased prominence of migration research.
Migration and its research have further changed with the revolution in information and communication technologies.
Neoclassical economic theory
This migration theory states that the main reason for labour migration is wage difference between two geographic locations. These wage differences are usually linked to
geographic labour demand and supply. It can be said that areas with a shortage of labour but an excess of capital have a high relative wage while areas with a high labour supply and a dearth of capital have a low relative wage. Labour tends to flow from low-wage areas to high-wage areas. Often, with this flow of labour comes changes in the sending and the receiving country. Neoclassical economic theory best describes transnational migration because it is not confined by international immigration laws and similar governmental regulations.
Dual labor market theory
Dual labour market theory states that pull factors in more developed countries mainly cause migration. This theory assumes that the labour markets in these developed countries consist of two segments: the primary market, which requires high-skilled labour, and the secondary market, which is very labour-intensive, requiring low-skilled workers. This theory assumes that migration from less developed countries into more developed countries results from a pull created by a need for labour in the developed countries in their secondary market.
Migrant worker
A migrant worker is a person who migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work.
Migrant workers who work outsi ...
s are needed to fill the lowest rung of the labour market because the native labourers do not want to do these jobs as they present a lack of mobility. This creates a need for migrant workers. Furthermore, the initial dearth in available labour pushes wages up, making migration even more enticing.
New economics of labor migration
This theory states that migration flows and patterns can't be explained solely at the level of individual workers and their economic incentives but that wider social entities must also be considered. One such social entity is the household. Migration can be viewed as a result of risk aversion from a household that has insufficient income. In this case, the household needs extra capital that can be achieved through remittances sent back by family members who participate in migrant labour abroad. These
remittances
A remittance is a non-commercial transfer of money by a foreign worker, a member of a diaspora community, or a citizen with familial ties abroad, for household income in their home country or homeland. Money sent home by migrants competes with ...
can also have a broader effect on the economy of the sending country as a whole as they bring in capital.
Recent research has examined a decline in US interstate migration from 1991 to 2011, theorising that the reduced interstate migration is due to a decline in the geographic specificity of occupations and an increase in workers' ability to learn about other locations before moving there, through both information technology and inexpensive travel. Other researchers find that the location-specific nature of housing is more important than moving costs in determining labour reallocation.
Relative deprivation theory
Relative deprivation theory states that awareness of the income difference between neighbours or other households in the migrant-sending community is essential in migration. The incentive to migrate is a lot higher in areas with a high level of economic inequality. In the short run, remittances may increase inequality, but in the long run, they may decrease it. There are two stages of migration for workers: first, they invest in human capital formation, and then they try to capitalise on their investments. In this way, successful migrants may use their new capital to provide better schooling for their children and better homes for their families. Successful high-skilled emigrants may serve as an example for neighbours and potential migrants who hope to achieve that level of success.
World systems theory
World-systems theory looks at migration from a global perspective. It explains that interaction between different societies can be an important factor in social change. Trade with one country, which causes an economic decline in another, may create incentive to migrate to a country with a more vibrant economy. It can be argued that even after decolonisation, the economic dependence of former colonies remains on mother countries. However, this view of
international trade
International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories because there is a need or want of goods or services. (see: World economy)
In most countries, such trade represents a significa ...
is controversial, and some argue that free trade can reduce migration between developing and developed countries. It can be argued that the developed countries import labour-intensive goods, which causes an increase in the employment of unskilled workers in the less developed countries, decreasing the outflow of migrant workers. Exporting capital-intensive goods from rich countries to developing countries also equalises income and employment conditions, thus slowing migration. In either direction, this theory can be used to explain migration between countries that are geographically far apart.
Osmosis theory
Based on the
history of human migration
:''See Human migration.
Human migration is the movement by people from one place to another, particularly different countries, with the intention of settling temporarily or permanently in the new location. It typically involves movements over lon ...
osmosis theory studies the evolution of its natural determinants. In this theory migration is divided into two main types: simple and complicated. The simple migration is divided, in its turn, into diffusion, stabilisation and concentration periods. During these periods, water availability, adequate climate, security and population density represent the natural determinants of human migration. The complicated migration is characterised by the speedy evolution and the emergence of new sub-determinants, notably earning, unemployment, networks, and migration policies. Osmosis theory explains analogically human migration by the biophysical phenomenon of
osmosis
Osmosis (, ) is the spontaneous net movement or diffusion of solvent molecules through a selectively-permeable membrane from a region of high water potential (region of lower solute concentration) to a region of low water potential (region ...
. In this respect, the countries are represented by
animal cells, the borders by the
semipermeable membranes and the humans by
ions of water. According to the theory, according to the osmosis phenomenon, humans migrate from countries with less migration pressure to countries with high migration pressure. To measure the latter, the natural determinants of human migration replace the variables of the
second principle of thermodynamics used to measure the
osmotic pressure
Osmotic pressure is the minimum pressure which needs to be applied to a solution to prevent the inward flow of its pure solvent across a semipermeable membrane.
It is also defined as the measure of the tendency of a solution to take in a pu ...
.
Social-scientific theories
Sociology
A number of social scientists have examined immigration from a
sociological
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...
perspective, paying particular attention to how immigration affects and is affected by, matters of
race and
ethnicity
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
, as well as
social structure. They have produced three main sociological perspectives:
*
symbolic interactionism, which aims to understand migration via face-to-face interactions on a micro-level
*
social conflict theory, which examines migration through the prism of competition for
power
Power most often refers to:
* Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work"
** Engine power, the power put out by an engine
** Electric power
* Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events
** Abusive power
Power may ...
and
resource
Resource refers to all the materials available in our environment which are technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally sustainable and help us to satisfy our needs and wants. Resources can broadly be classified upon their ...
s
*
structural functionalism
Structural functionalism, or simply functionalism, is "a framework for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability".
This approach looks at society through a macro-level ...
(based on the ideas of
Émile Durkheim), which examines the role of migration in fulfilling certain functions within each society, such as the decrease of
despair and aimlessness and the consolidation of
social network
A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for ...
s
More recently, as attention has shifted away from countries of destination, sociologists have attempted to understand how
transnationalism allows us to understand the interplay between migrants, their countries of destination, and their countries of origins. In this framework, work on social remittances by
Peggy Levitt and others has led to a stronger conceptualisation of how migrants affect socio-political processes in their countries of origin.
Much work also takes place in the field of
integration of migrants into destination-societies.
Political science
Political scientists have put forth a number of theoretical frameworks relating to migration, offering different perspectives on processes of
security" \n\n\nsecurity.txt is a proposed standard for websites' security information that is meant to allow security researchers to easily report security vulnerabilities. The standard prescribes a text file called \"security.txt\" in the well known locat ...
,
citizenship, and
international relations
International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the Scientific method, scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities betwe ...
. The political importance of
diaspora
A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews aft ...
s has also become a growing field of interest, as scholars examine questions of diaspora
activism
Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range f ...
, state-diaspora relations, out-of-country
voting
Voting is a method by which a group, such as a meeting or an electorate, can engage for the purpose of making a collective decision or expressing an opinion usually following discussions, debates or election campaigns. Democracies elect hol ...
processes, and states'
soft power strategies. In this field, the majority of work has focused on immigration politics, viewing migration from the perspective of the country of destination. With regard to
emigration processes, political scientists have expanded on
Albert Hirschman's framework on '"voice" vs. "exit" to discuss how emigration affects the politics within countries of origin.
Historical theories
Ravenstein
Certain laws of
social science
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...
have been proposed to describe human migration. The following was a standard list after
Ernst Georg Ravenstein
Ernst Georg Ravenstein (Ernest George) (30 December 1834 – 13 March 1913) was a German-English geographer and cartographer. As a geographer he was less of a traveller than a researcher; his studies led mainly in the direction of cartography a ...
's proposal in the 1880s:
# every migration flow generates a return or counter migration.
# the majority of migrants move a short distance.
# migrants who move longer distances tend to choose big-city destinations.
# urban residents are often less migratory than inhabitants of rural areas.
# families are less likely to make international moves than young adults.
# most migrants are adults.
# large towns grow by migration rather than natural increase.
# migration stage by stage (
step migration).
# urban, rural difference.
# migration and technology.
# economic condition.
Lee
Lee's laws divide factors causing migrations into two groups of factors: push and pull factors. Push factors are things that are unfavourable about the area that one lives in, and pull factors are things that attract one to another area.
Push factors:
* Not enough jobs
* Few opportunities
* Inadequate conditions
* Desertification
* Famine or drought
* Political fear of persecution
* Slavery or forced labour
* Poor medical care
* Loss of wealth
* Natural disasters
* Death threats
* Desire for more political or religious freedom
* Pollution
* Poor housing
* Landlord/tenant issues
* Bullying
* Mentality
* Discrimination
* Poor chances of marrying
* Condemned housing (radon gas, etc.)
* War
* Radiation
* Disease
Pull factors:
* Job opportunities
* Better living conditions
* The feeling of having more political or religious freedom
* Enjoyment
* Education
* Better medical care
* Attractive climates
* Security
* Family links
* Industry
* Better chances of marrying
Climate cycles
The modern field of climate history suggests that the successive waves of Eurasian nomadic movement throughout history have had their origins in
climatic cycles, which have expanded or contracted pastureland in Central Asia, especially
Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million ...
and to its west the
Altai. People were displaced from their home ground by other tribes trying to find land that essential flocks could graze, each group pushing the next further to the south and west, into the highlands of
Anatolia, the
Pannonian Plain
The Pannonian Basin, or Carpathian Basin, is a large basin situated in south-east Central Europe. The geomorphological term Pannonian Plain is more widely used for roughly the same region though with a somewhat different sense, with only th ...
, into
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...
, or southwards, into the rich pastures of China. Bogumil Terminski uses the term "migratory domino effect" to describe this process in the context of
Sea People
The Sea Peoples are a hypothesized seafaring confederation that attacked ancient Egypt and other regions in the East Mediterranean prior to and during the Late Bronze Age collapse (1200–900 BCE).. Quote: "First coined in 1881 by the Fre ...
invasion.
Food, sex, security
The theory is that migration occurs because individuals search for food, sex and security outside their usual habitation; Idyorough (2008) believes that towns and cities are a creation of the human struggle to obtain food, sex and security. To produce food, security and reproduction, human beings must, out of necessity, move out of their usual habitation and enter into indispensable social relationships that are cooperative or antagonistic. Human beings also develop the tools and equipment to interact with nature to produce the desired food and security. The improved relationship (cooperative relationships) among human beings and improved technology further conditioned by the push and pull factors all interact together to cause or bring about migration and higher concentration of individuals into towns and cities. The higher the technology of production of food and security and the higher the cooperative relationship among human beings in the production of food and security and the reproduction of the human species, the higher would be the push and pull factors in the migration and concentration of human beings in towns and cities. Countryside, towns and cities do not just exist, but they do so to meet the basic human needs of food, security and the reproduction of the human species. Therefore, migration occurs because individuals search for food, sex and security outside their usual habitation. Social services in the towns and cities are provided to meet these basic needs for human survival and pleasure.
Other models
*
Zipf's inverse distance law (1956)
*
Gravity model of migration The gravity model of migration is a model in urban geography derived from Newton's law of gravity, and used to predict the degree of migration interaction between two places. Newton's law states that: "Any two bodies attract one another with a for ...
and the
friction of distance
*
Radiation law for human mobility
*
Buffer theory
* Stouffer's
theory of intervening opportunities (1940)
*
Zelinsky's Mobility Transition Model (1971)
* Bauder's regulation of
labour markets (2006): "suggests that the international migration of workers is necessary for the survival of industrialised economies...
tturns the conventional view of international migration on its head: it investigates how migration regulates labour markets, rather than labour markets shaping migration flows."
Migration governance
By their very nature, international migration and displacement are transnational issues concerning the origin and destination States and States through which migrants may travel (often referred to as “transit” States) or in which they are hosted following displacement across national borders. And yet, somewhat paradoxically, the majority of migration governance has historically remained with individual states. Their policies and regulations on migration are typically made at the national level. For the most part, migration governance has been closely associated with State sovereignty. States retain the power of deciding on the entry and stay of non-nationals because migration directly affects some of the defining elements of a State. Comparative surveys reveal varying degrees of openness to migrants across countries, considering policies such as visa availability, employment prerequisites, and paths to residency.
Bilateral and multilateral arrangements are features of migration governance at an international level. There are several global arrangements in the form of international treaties in which States have reached an agreement on the application of human rights and the related responsibilities of States in specific areas. The 1966
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the 1951
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (Refugee Convention) are two significant examples notable for being widely ratified. Other migration conventions have not been so broadly accepted, such as the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, which still has no traditional countries of destination among its States parties. Beyond this, there have been numerous multilateral and global initiatives, dialogues and processes on migration over several decades. The
Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (Global Compact for Migration) is another milestone, as the first internationally negotiated statement of objectives for migration governance striking a balance between migrants' rights and the principle of States' sovereignty over their territory. Although it is not legally binding, the Global Compact for Migration was adopted by consensus in December 2018 at a United Nations conference in which more than 150
United Nations Member States participated and, later that same month, in the
United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), by a vote among the Member States of 152 to 5 (with 12 abstentions).
[IOM. 'Chapter 11: Recent developments in the global governance of migration: An update to the World Migration Report 2018.]
World Migration Report 2020. p. 291.
/ref>
See also
* Colonization
Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...
* Demographics of the world
* Early human migrations
* '' El Inmigrante'' – 2005 film
* Environmental migrant
* Existential migration
* Expatriate
* Feminisation of migration
* Genographic Project
* Humanitarian crisis
A humanitarian crisis (or sometimes humanitarian disaster) is defined as a singular event or a series of events that are threatening in terms of health, safety or well-being of a community or large group of people. It may be an internal or extern ...
* Illegal immigration
* '' Linguistic Diversity in Space and Time''
* Immigration to Europe
* List of diasporas
** Jewish diaspora
The Jewish diaspora ( he, תְּפוּצָה, təfūṣā) or exile (Hebrew: ; Yiddish: ) is the dispersion of Israelites or Jews out of their ancient ancestral homeland (the Land of Israel) and their subsequent settlement in other parts o ...
* Migrant literature
* Migration in China
* Most recent common ancestor
* Offshoring
* Political demography
* Queer migration
* Refugee roulette
* Religion and human migration
* Replacement migration
* Separation barrier
A separation barrier or separation wall is a barrier, wall or fence, constructed to limit the movement of people across a certain line or border, or to separate peoples or cultures. A separation barrier that runs along an internationally recogn ...
* Settler colonialism
Settler colonialism is a structure that perpetuates the elimination of Indigenous people and cultures to replace them with a settler society. Some, but not all, scholars argue that settler colonialism is inherently genocidal. It may be enacte ...
* Snowbird (person)
A snowbird is a person who migrates from the colder northern parts of North America to warmer southern locales, typically during the winter. The southern locales include the Sun Belt and Hawaii in the United States, as well as Mexico and the ...
* Space colonization
* Timeline of maritime migration and exploration
References
Sources
Books
* Anderson, Vivienne. and Johnson, Henry. (eds
Migration, Education and Translation: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives on Human Mobility and Cultural Encounters in Education Settings
New York: Routledge, 2020.
* Behdad, Ali. ''A Forgetful Nation: On Immigration and Cultural Density in the United States'', Duke UP, 2005.
* Chaichian, Mohammad. ''Empires and Walls: Globalisation, Migration, and Colonial Control'', Leiden: Brill, 2014.
* Jared Diamond, '' Guns, germs and steel. A short history of everybody for the last 13'000 years'', 1997.
* De La Torre, Miguel A., ''Trails of Terror: Testimonies on the Current Immigration Debate'', Orbis Books, 2009.
* Fell, Peter and Hayes, Debra. ''What are they doing here? A critical guide to asylum and immigration'', Birmingham (UK): Venture Press, 2007.
* Hanlon, Bernadette and Vicino, Thomas J. ''Global Migration: The Basics'', New York and London: Routledge, 2014.
* Hoerder, Dirk. ''Cultures in Contact. World Migrations in the Second Millennium'', Duke University Press, 2002.
* Idyorough, Alamveabee E. "Sociological Analysis of Social Change in Contemporary Africa", Makurdi: Aboki Publishers, 2015.
* IOM World Migration Report, se
World Migration Report International Organization for Migration
* Kleiner-Liebau, Désirée. ''Migration and the Construction of National Identity in Spain'', Madrid / Frankfurt, Iberoamericana / Vervuert, Ediciones de Iberoamericana, 2009. .
* Knörr, Jacqueline. ''Women and Migration. Anthropological Perspectives'', Frankfurt & New York: Campus Verlag & St. Martin's Press, 2000.
* Knörr, Jacqueline. ''Childhood and Migration. From Experience to Agency'', Bielefeld: Transcript, 2005.
* Manning, Patrick. ''Migration in World History'', New York and London: Routledge, 2005.
* Miller, Mark & Castles, Stephen (1993). ''The Age of Migration: International Population Movements in the Modern World.'' Guilford Press.
* ''Migration for Employment'', Paris: OECD Publications, 2004.
* ''OECD International Migration Outlook 2007'', Paris: OECD Publications, 2007.
* Pécoud, Antoine and Paul de Guchteneire (Eds): ''Migration without Borders, Essays on the Free Movements of People '' (Berghahn Books, 2007).
* Purohit, A. K. (ed.) ''The Philosophy of Evolution'', Yash Publishing House, Bikaner, 2010. .
* Abdelmalek Sayad. ''The Suffering of the Immigrant'', Preface by Pierre Bourdieu, Polity Press, 2004.
*
**
* Stalker, Peter. ''No-Nonsense Guide to International Migration'', New Internationalist, 2nd ed., 2008.
* White, Micheal (Ed.) (2016). ''International Handbook of Migration and Population Distribution''. Springer.
Journals
* '' International Migration Review''
* '' Migration Letters''
*
International Migration
'
* ''Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies
The ''Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies'' is an academic journal published by Routledge.
According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the journal had a 2018 impact factor
The impact factor (IF) or journal impact factor (JIF) of an aca ...
''
* '' Review of Economics of the Household''
External links
1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article
International Organization for Migration's World Migration Report 2020
'
*
' (subscription service)
*
Migration Policy Centre
'
iom.int International Organisation for Migration
up-to-date statistics on net immigration by country
Stalker's Guide to International Migration
a comprehensive interactive guide to modern migration issues, with maps and statistics
Integration: Building Inclusive Societies (IBIS)
a UN Alliance of Civilisations online community on good practices of integration of migrants across the world
Mass migration as a travel business
Return migration between 1850 and 1950 by Dr. Sarah Oberbichler
Newseye projet (https://newseye.eu)
Story of migration
{{DEFAULTSORT:Human Migration
Anthropology
Demographic economics
Demography
Genetic genealogy