2025 APHG Unit 2: Ch. 5

Human Migration

the permanent movement of humans from one place to another

Emigration

migration away from a location

Immigration

migration to a location

Net Migration

the difference between the number of emigrants and immigrants in a location

Gravity Model

a model that predicts the interaction between two or more places; geographers derived the model from Newton’s law of universal gravitation

Ravenstein’s Laws of Migration

Migration is typically over a short distance.

Migration occurs in steps.

Long-distance migrants often move to places of economic opportunity (urban areas)

Every migration generates a movement in the opposite direction, or a counter flow (not necessarily the same number of migrants).

People in rural areas migrate more than people in cities.

Males migrate over longer distances than females.

Most migrants are young adult males.

Cities grow more by migration than by natural increase.

Migration increases with economic development.

Migration is mostly due to economic factors.

Push factor

a negative cause that compels someone to leave a location

Pull Factor

a positive cause that attracts someone to a new location

Voluntary Migration

type of migration in which people make the choice to move to a new place

Forced Migration

type of migration in which people are forced to move by economic, political, environmental, or cultural factors

Transnational Migration

international migration in which people retain strong cultural, emotional, and financial ties with their countries of origin

Internal Migration

migration within a country’s borders

Transhumance

the movement of herds between pastures at cooler, higher elevations during the summer months and lower elevations during the winter

Chain Migration

type of migration in which people move to a location because others from their community have previously migrated there

Step Migration

series of smaller moves to get to the ultimate destination

Intervening Obstacle

an occurrence that holds migrants back

Intervening Opportunity

an occurrence that causes migrants to pause their journey by choice

Guest Workers

migrants who travel to a new country as temporary labor

Circular Migration

migration pattern in which guest workers move back and forth between their country of origin and the destination country

Refugee

a person who is forced to leave their country for fear of persecution or death

Asylum

the right to protection in a country

Internally Displaced Persons

person who has been forced to flee their home but remains within the country’s borders

Human Trafficking

the recruitment, transportation, harboring, or receipt of persons by improper means such as force, abduction, fraud, or coercion

Rural-Urban Migration

type of migration from rural areas to cities

Interregional Migration

migration from one region of a country to another

Intraregional Migration

migration within one region of the country

Quota

limit on the number of immigrants allowed into the country per year

Unauthorized (Undocumented) Immigrants

immigrants without legal authorization

Skills Gap

a shortage of people trained in a particular industry

Remittance

money earned by an emigrant abroad and sent back to their home country

Brain Drain

the loss of educated people to the lure of work in another often richer country

Relocation Diffusion

the spread of culture traits through migration