Mass migration refers to the

migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

of large groups of people from one geographical area to another. Mass migration is distinguished from individual or small-scale migration; and also from seasonal migration, which may occur on a regular basis.

History and examples of mass migrations

A specific mass migration that is seen as especially influential to the course of history may be referred to as a ' great migration'. For example, great migrations include the

Indo-European migrations The Indo-European migrations were hypothesized migrations of Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) speakers, and subsequent migrations of people speaking derived Indo-European languages, which took place approx. 4000 to 1000 BCE, potentially expla ...

to Europe, the Middle East, and South Asia during the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

, the

Bantu migrations The Bantu expansion is a hypothesis about the history of the major series of migrations of the original Proto-Bantu-speaking group, which spread from an original nucleus around Central Africa across much of sub-Saharan Africa. In the process, ...

across sub-Saharan Africa, Barbarian invasions during the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

, the Great Migration from England of the 1630s, the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

from 1848–1850, the Great Migration of African Americans from the rural American South to the industrial north during 1920–1950, and

The Great Oromo Migrations The Great Oromo Expansions, also known as the Oromo migrations, were a series of expansions, outlined by a Ethiopian monk named Bahrey, in the 16th and 17th centuries by the Borana Oromo, Borona segment of the Oromo people from southern Ethiopia. ...

of Oromo tribes during the 15th and 16th centuries in the Horn of Africa.

UNHCR The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

estimates 14 million Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims were displaced during the

partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

, the largest mass migration in human history. The largest documented voluntary emigration in history was the

Italian diaspora , image = Map of the Italian Diaspora in the World.svg , image_caption = Map of the Italian diaspora in the world , population = worldwide , popplace = Brazil, Argentina, United States, France, Colombia, Canada, P ...

, which migrated from Italy between 1880 and 1915, with 13 million people leaving the country.

Forced migration

Mass migrations may be

forced displacement Forced displacement (also forced migration) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR defines 'forced displacement' as follows: dis ...

s, such as

human trafficking Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extrac ...

deportation Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...

population cleansing Population cleansing is the deliberate removal of a population with certain undesirable characteristics, such as its ethnicity ( ethnic cleansing), its religion ( religious cleansing), its social group (social cleansing), its social class, its ideo ...

Age of Mass Migration

Historians often identify an "age of mass migration" occurring from c. 1850 to 1914 (sometimes 1940), in which long-distance migration occurred at an unprecedented and exceptionally high rate. There were three factors that led to the 'age of mass migration'. First, the cost of migration decreased dramatically. Second, the benefits of migration rose (the return on migration was higher in the United States than in other countries). Third, open border regimes encouraged migration. The 'age of mass migration' usually refers to the voluntary transatlantic migration of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

peasants A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...

and laborers to the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

. Immigration from Europe accounted for about 40% of the total United States population growth in the late 19th century. It has been argued that the term should include other mass migrations that occurred in the same period since similarly, large numbers of people migrated long distances within the continent of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

, most notably during the

Pakistan Movement The Pakistan Movement ( ur, , translit=Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān) was a political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslim-majority areas of British India. It was connected to the pe ...

and the subsequent

in 1947. During open border regimes, immigrants were attracted by the falling costs of migration and higher wages in the United States. The partition of India caused the movement of 18 million people. This caused both religious and civil tensions between Hindus and Muslims. This resulted in the highest casualty rate for one migration according to the Guinness Book of World Records 2014. One million people were killed and 12 million became homeless.

References

{{reflist Human migration

History and examples of mass migrations

Forced migration

Age of Mass Migration

See also

References