geog paper 2

China rural urban migration

• 64% rate of urbanisation

• 20 million rural migrants arrive in cities each year

• Hukou system since 1958 to control population size means that rural citizens are prevented from accessing some social benefits

• created a ‘floating population’

• rural children left behind

Schengen area international migration

• 1995 - borders removed for free movement

• Eastern european countries joined in 2007

• concerns over refugees - undocumented

• Germany has almost 16m international migrants (second in world)

Variation in international migration

• Singapore/Asian Tigers - high ethnic diversity, international schools, Malay is spoken less than english, 4th largest financial ceentre

• Australia - strict points based system, only skilled workers allowed in, 1970s ‘White Australia’, 70% of migrants in areas of skills shortage

• Japan - ageing population, requires almost 20m migrants by 2050 to meet economic demand, limited due to culutre and language, closed door policy

Forced migration

• 8.1m refugees left Ukraine in 2022

Poltiical tensions from migration

• Spanish as a first language for over 40m in the USA due to migration from Mexico

• USA spent 4bn USD on US/Mexico border security in 2020

• Mexican immigrants are 4% of US GDP

Variation in nation states

• Iceland - geographically isolated, low levels of international migration,18% foreign born

• Singapore - open migration policy, english spoken commonly, 47% foreign born

Colonial borders

• Rwanda - Tutsis and Hutus

• Belgian rule has given Tutsis more political power and Hutus were oppressed ‘

• 1962 independence led to overthrowing of Tutsis

• despite peace agreeement conflict remained and worsened in late 1990s due to assassination of Hutu president

• 800k Tutsis killed

Contested borders

• Iraq conflict between shia muslims and sunni muslims

• Ukraine and Russia - Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 after claims that population was ethnically Russian - strategic position for oil reserves due to Black sea

Decolonisation

• Winds of change in Africa - Harold Macmillan to south african parliament e.g. 17 countries gained independence in 1960

• Conflict e.g. Rwanda

• Vietnam proxy war - USA for democratic south, USSR and China for communist north

• Over 3 milion killed in this war

• chemical weapons e.g. agent orange and almost 10 million tons of US bombs dropped - land destroyed

Alternative economic models

• Bolivia - inequality reduced from 62 to 41 in 2021

• growth of 3.1% - double rate of rest of Latin America

• reliance on oil and gas

• nationalisation of oil and resources - government revenue rises

• low energy promotion - less use of resources

• subsidies to poorer citizens

• reduction in overseas imports to encourage domestic industry

UN interventions

• Trade embargo on Iran

  • nuclear program - restrictions on arms sales, travel, financial assets

  • 2016 - iran agreed to stop enriching uranium

  • 2018 - US pulled out, Iran recession

• UN forced in Congo - MONUSCO

  • mandate to protect citizens and maintain humanitarian aid

  • armed conflict in east, violence

  • peaceful transfer of power in 2019 + response to Ebola outbreak

Intervention in failed states

• Iraq war 2003-2011

• Suspicions that Iraq was making weapons of mass destruction

• ‘war on terror’

• 8 trillion USD spent since 9/11

• short term success of war but led to tensions and growth of ISIS due to strengthening of Iran

• 38 million war refugees and displaced persons

SAPs

• Jamaica 1977

• austerity measures e.g. wage freezing, austerity, trade lib, deregulation

• social unrest in 1980s

• growth rate only 1.4% annually in 1990s

• poverty rate increasing

• very high debt to gdp ratio

HIPCs debt servicing

• debt reduced from 35% in 1998 to 6% in 2004

• increased to 120% in zambia during covid

IGOs and environment

• Montreal 1987

• Kyoto and paris - 1.5c

• CITES - protects endangered species - 40k species

  • China still trades - asccounting for 20%

• UNCLOS - gives each country a SEZ to use 1994

• Helsinki - 1966, use of water, expanded in Berlin 2004

• Millenium Ecosystem Assessment - supports ecosystems and human development

• Antarctic Treaty - 1959, science only, 56 countries

  • Whaling in IWC however Japan does not follow - scientific program and 333 Minke whales die each year

Challenges to national culture

• SWFs e.g. Qatari own 95% of the shard, Chinese govt 10% stake in Heathrow

• BMW owns essential British cars e.g. Mini

• McDonald’s in over 100 countries

• ‘Londongrad’ Russian oligarchs

• Ethnoscapes e.g. Nice in France

Independence movements

• Catalonia

  • recognised as seperate nationality in 1979

  • referendum declared independence 90% in 2017

  • Spain deemed this illegal

  • Spain benefits economically - fiscal imbalance

• Scotland

  • Own scottish parliament

  • referendum in 2014 decided to remain

  • SNP mainly elected

  • currently 60% scotland want to be in EU so this may cause further tensions

Eastern European immigration

• Boston Lincolnshire - 24% foreign born

• agricultural, low skilled jobs that locals won’t do

• low cost of living

• change in services e.g. Lithuanian cake shop

Tensions in Luton

• 17,000 foreign born

• 2/5 not from UK

• 44% arrived since 2011