Geography Migration Key Terms

Vocabulary flashcards covering key definitions and concepts related to human geography, migration patterns, displacement, and demographic indicators.

Migration

Movement of people away from their usual residence, either within a country or across an international border.

Internal migration

Movement within a state or country, usually involving a new temporary or permanent residence.

International migration

Movement across an international border to a country of which the person is not national.

Forced migration/displacement

Movement caused by people being forced or obliged to leave homes, commonly to avoid conflict, violence, rights violations or disasters.

Refugee

A person requiring international protection under refugee law or UNHCR mandate catergories.

Asylum seeker

A person seeking international protection whose claim has not yet been finally decided.

Internally displaced person (IDP)

A person forced or obliged to flee but who has not crossed an internationally recognised state border.

Protracted displacement

A situation where refugees or IDPs remain displaced for an extended period or time because the conditions that forced them to leave have not been resolved (refugee camps).

Climate migration

Movement linked predominately to sudden or progressive environmental change due to climate change.

Migration flow

The movement of migrants into or out of a place over a specific period.

Migration stock

The total number of international migrants present in a place at one point in time.

Place of origin

The place people leave.

Place of destination

The place people move to.

Diaspora

A large group of people who leave their orignal homeland and spread to different parts of the world (often live in communities).

Remittances

The money sent back to the support the family from an older child that migrated to get a better job, to help support the family.

Ghettoisation

The process by which a specific minority, ethnic, religious, or socioeconomic group is confined or segregated into a distinct, restricted neighbourhood or sector of a city.

Dependency ratio

A measure of the number of dependents (non-working aged) to non-dependents (working aged) in a given population, can also be changedd to youthful or old age.

Economic migration

People move when employment, wages or education are unevenly distributed between places.

Political migration

Political insecurity can force people to move to safer places and can alter destination patterns through policy.

Social/Cultural migration

Existing networks reduce risk and cost, creating clustered migration corridors and destination communities.

Environmental migration

Environmental stress reduces livelihood security and can trigger temporary, permanent, internal or cross-border movement.

Climate change migration

Climate change can intensify environmental pressures and make migration a form of adaptation or displacement.

Voluntary migration

The relocation of individuals or groups who choose to move by their own free will, typically seeking better economic, social, or personal opportunities rather than being forced.

Skilled migration

The international or regional movement of workers who possess high levels of education, specialised professional experience, or technical qualifications that meet specific labor market demands.

Settlement

Any place where people live, build homes, and form a community.

Population momentum

The tendency for a population to continue growing (or shrinking) for decades after fertility rates reach replacement level, driven by its current age structure.

Fertility rate

The average number of children that a hypothetical cohort of women would bear through their reproductive years.

Replacement fertility rate

$2.1$ The average number of children per woman needed to keep a population's size stable from one generation to the next without relying on migration.