Human Geography: Migration and Mobility

A complete set of vocabulary flashcards covering terms, definitions, models, and classifications of migration and spatial mobility.

Spatial Mobility

All forms of geographical movement, including people’s everyday commuting and travels.

Social (upward) Mobility

Movement in class of social status from economic reasons and other.

Migration

The long-term or permanent relocation of individuals, families, or entire communities from one place to another.

Migrant (Mover)

A person who migrates or moves.

Non-Migrants (Stayers)

A person who does not move.

Origin

A person’s location before migration.

Destination

The place where a migrant is going.

Emigration (Out Migration)

The act of a migrant leaving their place (country) of origin.

Emigrants (Out-Migrants)

A person who leaves their country of origin.

Immigration (In-Migration)

The act of a migrant arriving at their destination country.

Immigrants (In-Migrants)

A person who arrives at their destination country.

Migration Stream

The flow of all migrants from an origin to a destination.

Counterstream

The flow of all migrants in the direction opposite a particular migration stream, from its destination back to the origin.

Net Migration

The difference between the number of in-migrants and out-migrants.

Net Migration Rate (NMR)

A gauge of the impact of migration on population change, determined by dividing a country’s net migration by its total population, then multiplying by $1000$.

Migration Age Profile

The relatively stable relationship between the odds of migration and age across different countries.

Brain Drain

A phenomenon where a country or a place loses young, more educated, and skilled people through migration.

Brain Gain

A phenomenon where a country or a place gains young, more educated, and skilled people through migration.

Push-Pull Theory of Migration

Theory asserting that two contrasting sets of factors are at work in migration decisions.

Push Factors

Factors that cause people to be dissatisfied with their present locales and want to move somewhere else.

Pull Factors

The attributes of other places that make them appealing to potential migrants.

Intervening Obstacles

A complication that potential migrants will need to overcome to reach their destination.

Social Networks

People’s friends and relatives.

Intervening Opportunity

A nearby attractive locale where migrants may decide to settle instead of going to the intended destination farther away.

Voluntary Migration

Migration that is done willingly.

International Migration

When moves are made across national borders.

Guest Worker

A person with temporary permission to work in another country.

Transnational Migration

When migrants move back and forth between their home countries and those to which they have migrated.

Internal Migration (Interregional Migration)

When people move within the borders of a country.

Great Migration

The twentieth-century movement of 6 million African Americans from the rural southern states to the cities of the midwestern and northeastern states.

Rural-to-Urban Migration

When people move from the countryside to cities.

Residential Mobility

Moves that occur within a metropolitan area.

Step Migration

Reaching the end destination through small stops rather than a one journey all at once.

Chain Migration

The process by which some people’s migration to a new place leads their family members, friends, and others to move to the same place.

Return Migration

Migrants going back, or returning, to their previous place of residence or origin.

Black Belt

Ethnic homeland in the U.S. South.

Seasonal Migration

Migration based on the time of year.

Transhumance

A phenomenon where herders and their livestock move seasonally between their summer and winter pastures.

Mobility Transition Model

Geographer Wilbur Zelinsky’s conclusion that there are regularities in migration as an essential component of a country’s modernization process.

Circulation

Short-term and cyclical movement that occurs repeatedly on a regular basis.

Forced Migration

Migration caused by forces out of one’s control, such as disasters, social conflicts, or developmental projects.

Refugees

A person who leaves their country because of persecution based on race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, or political opinion.

Internally Displaced Person (IDP)

Someone who remains within his or her country’s borders despite being persecuted by their home country.

Ethnic Cleansing

The forced removal of one ethnic group by another ethnic group to create an ethnically consistent territory.

Repatriated

When refugees or displaced persons return to their home country.

Diaspora

Involuntary mass dispersions of a population from its home territory.