Unit 2b - Migration Vocabulary

Asylum Seeker

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

Brain Drain/Gain

 Large-scale emigration and immigration by talented people

Activity Space

The space within which daily activity occurs

Chain Migration

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

Circulation Migration

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

Counterurbanization

Net migration from urban to rural areas in more developed countries

Dispora

A dispersion of people from their homeland

Emigration

Migration from a location

Floodplain

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

Forced Migration

Permanent movement, usually compelled by cultural factors

Gravity Model

A model that holds that the potential use of a service at a particular location is directly related to the number of people in a location and inversely related to the distance people must travel to reach the service

Guest Worker

A term once used for a worker who migrated to the developed countries of Northern and Western Europe in search of a higher-paying job

Immigration

Migration to a new location

Internal Migration

Permanent movement within a particular country

Internally Displaced Person

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

International Migration

Permanent movement from one country to another

Interregional Migration

Permanent movement from one region of a country to another

Intervening Obstacle

A negative environmental or cultural feature of the landscape that hinders migration

Intervening Opportunity

A positive environmental or cultural feature of the landscape that allows you to remain where you are

Intraregional Migration

Permanent movement within one region of a country

Migration

A permanent move to a new location

Migration Transition

A change in the migration pattern in a society that results from industrialization, population growth, and other social or economic changes that also produces the demographic transition

Mobility

All types of movements between locations

Net Migration

The difference between the level of immigration and the level of emigration

Place Utility

A concept used to measure an individual’s satisfaction with a given location

Protracted Refugee

A situation where in which at least 25,000 refugees from the same country have been living in exile for more than five consecutive years.

Push Factors

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

Pull Factors

A factor that induces people to move to a new location

Quotas

A law that places a maximum limit on the number of people who can immigrate to a country each year

Refugees

Someone who is forced to migrate from their home country and cannot return for fear of persecution because of race, religion, nationality, or political opinion

Stateless Person

People who are not considered by any state as nationals; lost their citizenship

Step Migration

A type of migration where people move in a series of smaller, incremental steps rather than making a single, long-distance move

Suburbanization

A term used to describe the movement of people, businesses, and industries from urban centers to outlying areas

Transhumance

The seasonal migration of livestock between mountains and lowland pastures

Urbanization

An increase in the percentage of and the number of people living in urban settlements

Unauthorized Immigrants

A person who enters a country without proper documents to do so

Voluntary Migration

Permanent movement undertaken by choice

Xenophobia

A dislike, hatred for, or fear of outsiders