Population Geography Migration
Vocabulary Migration - A permanent move to a new location Immigration - Migration from a location Emigration - Migration to a location
Questions Why do people migrate? How have social, economic, political, and environmental factors influenced migration?
Push and Pull Factors People decide to migrate because of push and pull factors. A push factor induces (drives/causes) people to leave a location. A pull factor induces people to move to a new location.
Push Factor - Overpopulation People often leave areas that are heavily populated.
Push Factor - Religious Persecution When people cannot worship as they wish they migrate. The pilgrims that landed at Plymouth were fleeing religious persecution.
Push Factor - Lack of Jobs The vast majority of people migrating from Latin America, Africa, and Asia are migrating because there are no jobs.
Net migration rates: Countries in blue have a positive migration rate and countries in brown have a negative.
Push Factor - Agricultural Decline Agricultural decline means a person cannot grow as much food on the same amount of land as they once could. Over time land becomes less fertile and people have to move.
Push Factor - Conflict People flee from wars. These people are known as refugees. There are many refugee camps in Africa due to a long history of civil war in many countries.
Push Factor – Political or Religious Persecution Political and Religious persecution means that people are punished when they disagree with the government. This happens most in dictatorships or communist countries. People have migrated from China and Cuba because of political persecution. They have migrated from the Middle East for religious persecution.
Push Factor - Natural Hazards Droughts Floods Tsunamis Earthquakes Volcanoes
Push Factor - Limits on Freedom Communist countries often limit personal freedom. People cannot listen to certain music, watch certain television shows, or even say things bad about the government.
Push Factor - Environmental Degradation Deforestation Desertification - An expansion of arid conditions into non-arid regions. This is a problem in the Sahel, a region near the Sahara Desert in North Africa.
Pull Factors Religious Freedom Economic Opportunity Land Availability Political Freedom Ethnic and Family Ties Arable Land
Impact of Immigration/Migration Language Religion and Religious Freedom Customs/Traditions Cultural effects Economic effects Political effects
Example The Bantu-speaking people spread across southern Africa. Wherever they settled, the Bantu brought their language and iron-making skills (technology) to the people of the region. Even if the Bantu moved on, their language and iron making techniques remained. So migration changed the existing culture in several ways.
Bantu Migrations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAB75bP7rdk
Cultural Effects Creates diversity Many ways to think about something Variety of people Discrimination- actions that are hurtful to an individual or group
Economic Effects Can hurt or help an economy Can be too many people for the number of jobs Can provide skills and technology and a needed workforce if there are a lot of jobs and not enough people to fill them
Political Effects Policies of a country or region can be affected by the arrival of immigrants Some immigrants may be viewed as dangerous or unwanted. Government may treat them well or badly.