Unit 3: Migration

Migration

Form of relocation diffusion involving permanent move to a new location.

Immigration

Migration to a new location

Emigration

Migration from a location

Net Migration

The difference between the number of immigrants and the number of emigrants

Migration Transition

Change in the migration pattern in a society that results from industrialization, population growth, and other social and economic changes that also produce the demographic transition

International Migration

Human movement involving movement across international boundaries

Voluntary Migration

Movement in which people relocate in response to perceived opportunity; not forced

Forced Migration

Permanent movement compelled usually by cultural/environmental factors

Internal Migration

Permanent movement within a particular country.

Interregional Migration

Permanent movement from one region of a country to another

Intraregional Migration

Permanent movement within one region of a country

Counter-urbanization

Net migration from urban to rural areas in more developed countries

Push Factor

A factor that induces people to move out of their present location

Pull Factor

A factor that induces people to move to a new location

Refugee

A person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster

Internally Displaced Person (IDP)

Someone who has been forced to migrate for similar political reasons as a refugee but has not migrated across an international border

Asylum Seeker

Someone who has migrated to another country in the hope of being recognized as a refugee

Floodplain

The area subject to flooding during a given number of years according to historical trends

Desertification

Degradation of land, especially in semiarid areas, primarily because of human actions like excessive crop planting, animal grazing, and tree cutting.

Intervening Obstacle

An environmental or cultural feature of the landscape that hinders migration

Remittance

Transfer of money by workers to people in the country from which they emigrated

Unauthorized Immigrants

A person who enters a country without proper documents to do so (the term preferred by academic observers as a neutral term)

Undocumented Immigrant

The term preferred by some of the groups that advocate for more rights for these individuals

Illegal Alien

Term preferred by some of the groups that favor tougher restrictions and enforcement of immigration laws

Quotas

Maximum limits on the number of people who could immigrate to the United States from each country during a one-year period

Brain Drain

The loss of highly educated and skilled workers to other countries

Chain Migration

Migration of people to a specific location because relatives or members of the same nationality previously migrated there

Kinship Links

Types of push or pull factors that influence a migrant's decision to go where family or friends have already found success

Guest Worker

A foreign laborer living and working temporarily in another country

Circular Migration

The temporary movement of a migrant worker between home and host countries to seek employment.

Transhumance

The action or practice of moving livestock from one grazing ground to another in a seasonal cycle

• Typically lowlands in winter and highlands in summer

• Ex. of seasonal migration