1. PEOPLE IN MOTION Migration
AP HG
Mr. Hensley
SRMHS
Migration focuses on the motion of people through space. In this section, we introduce the Ravenstein Model of Human Migration.

2. Migration Terminology
Migration refers to the diffusion of people from one region to another
If the move is meant to be permanent, we classify it as migration
If the move is temporary or cyclical, it is circulation
Ex: college students

3. In or Out? People leaving a country are called emigrants
People entering a country are called immigrants
Net migration = Immigrants minus emigrants
Globalization versus diversity – migration is still about place

4. Ravenstein’s Model
Ravenstein is a famous German geographer (19th Century) who did much work on migration
Breaks it down into three groups: reasons for migrating, distance and characteristics of the migrants
Each group contains push (reasons to leave) and pull (reasons to come) factors

5. Examples of Push and Pull

6. REASONS for Migrating Economic reasons are usually the most important
Cultural (and political) reasons are also common – historically, slavery has been the largest cultural migration reason
Environmental reasons

7. Case Study: United Kingdom

8. ECONOMIC Reasons
Better jobs and higher living standards are the primary goal
“Good jobs” are relative and can change over time
Resources can create jobs and attract migrants (“boom towns”)
Ex: North Dakota Oil sands and shales (Bakken Formation)

9. CULTURAL reasons
Currently, political instability is the biggest cultural push factor
Freedom (especially religious) the biggest cultural pull factor
Refugees are migrants who were forced to leave and cannot return for fear of persecution

10. ENVIRONMENTAL Reasons
Environment usually operates as a push factor (droughts, floods)
Can be a pull factor (example of Hawaii)
Famous example: “Okies” of the 1930’s fleeing the Dust Bowl
People living near rivers (floodplains) are vulnerable

11. Case Study: Eastern Europe
After WW2, Eastern Europe was controlled by totalitarian states – migration was cultural
After 1991, democracy was the norm – now reasons are economic
Also, better pollution controls in the West mean a superior environment

12. DISTANCE of Migration
Ravenstein believed most migration was internal to a country’s borders
He also believed most international migration occurred for economic reasons
Cities got big from migration not from population growth
Distance-decay idea

13. CHARACTERISTICS of Migrants
Most long-distance migrants are male
Most long-distance migrants are single adults not families with children
40% of all US immigrants are between 25 and 40 years old – versus 20% of all Americans
Implications for the future? (Pop. pyramid?)

14. Is This What we Expect?

15. Migration Cartograph
(Net migration < 0 and nation is shrunk to zero)

16. Historical Trends
Between 1525 and 1866, 12.5 million Africans were shipped to the New World.
10.7 million survived
This fundamentally shaped the destinies of North and South America
Why Africans?

17. The Scots-Irish
In America, over 200,000 Scots-Irish emigrated from Great Britain during the 1700’s
They spread westward, seeking land until they encountered the natural barrier of the Appalachian Mountains

18. Germans and Irish
In the 1840’s, large groups of Germans cane to America to escape political chaos at home
The Irish came to escape oppression and mass starvation (potato blight)
Both faced discrimination

19. Asian Immigrants in the West
After the Gold Rush (1849), hundreds of thousands of Chinese emigrated to the United States (railroad work)
They faced severe discrimination
Only allowed to live in certain parts of the city (“Chinatown” ghettoes)

20. “Yellow Peril” racism

21. Eastern European Immigration
Peaked from the 1870’s through the 1920’s
Immigrants almost always settled in large Eastern cities
Factories need cheap labor
No laws to protect the poor (squalid conditions)