Where do people migrate within a country?

• internal migration for most people is less disruptive than international

Interregional Migration

• historically, people migrated interregionally in search of better farmland

  • densely settled regions → empty frontiers

• today, principal type is rural to urban

  • more jobs are clustered in urban areas

Migration between Regions of the US

• prominent example is the opening of the American West

Changing Center of Population

• population center is the average location of everyone in the country

  • “center of population gravity”

• center has changed throughout eras

  • 1790: hugging the coast

    • colonial-era settlements were near the Atlantic Coast

    • people depended on shipping links with Europe

    • Appalachian Mountains blocked the west

    • indigenous residents resisted expansion

  • 1800-1840: crossing the Appalachians

    • transportation improvements

    • Erie Canal allowed people to travel by boat

    • large land for low prices were in the west

      • people travelled through river valleys

  • 1850-1890: rushing to the gold

    • shifted westward more rapidly

    • people went to California during the Gold Rush

    • believed the Great Plains was a desert

  • 1900-1940: filling in the Great Plains

    • westward movement slowed because of immigration to the East Coast

    • advances in agricultural technology allowed people to cultivate the Great Plains

    • railroads encouraged settlements of the Great Plains

  • 1950-2010: moving south

    • more westward migration, as well as southward

      • job opportunities

      • warm climate

    • people in the Northeast and Midwest believed that southern states stole industries from them

• less interregional migration in the US now

• recession in 2008 discouraged migrating

Migration Between Regions in the World’s Largest Country

• long-distance interregional migration is important for economic development in Russia

• population is clustered in the western, European portion of the country

• east of the Ural Mountains, very few people live

• Soviet policy encouraged factory construction near raw materials

  • however, there weren’t enough workers

• wanted to populate Siberia because its richness in

  • fossil fuels

  • minerals

  • forests

• government forced people to migrate to the Far North to construct and operate enterprises

• later, the government encouraged the migration rather than forced

  • higher wages

  • more paid holidays

  • earlier retirement

• people didn’t want to move because of the

  • harsh climate

  • remoteness from population clusters

• each year about half of the immigrants migrate back to the western portion

• government sent a brigade of young volunteers (Komsomol) to help construction projects during school vacations

• after the Soviet Union collapsed, Russian government officials no longer dictated “optimal” locations for factories

Migration between Regions in Other Large Countries

Canada

• has had migration east to west

• three westernmost provinces are destinations for most interregional migrants

China

• 100 million people left rural areas in the interior to large urban areas along the east coast

  • jobs are most plentiful

Brazil

• most live along cities near the Atlantic Coast

  • Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro became 2 of the world’s largest cities

• Brazil’s interior is very sparsely inhabited

• government moved its capital to Brasilia to attract people to the interior

• coastal areas now have net out-migration, interior have net in-migration

Intraregional Migration

• far more people move within the same region

• worldwide, most common is rural to urban

• in the US, most common is cities to suburbs

Migration from Rural to Urban Areas

• began in the 1800s in Europe and North America due to the Industrial Revolution

• urbanization diffused to LDCs

• people seek economic advancement

  • pushed from rural by declining opportunities

  • pulled to cities by factories and service industries

Migration from Urban to Suburban Areas

• most common in MDCs

• migration to suburbs isn’t related to economic factors, but rather the suburban lifestyle

  • detached house

  • private yard

  • garage and driveway

  • schools are better

  • cars and trains allow jobs in cities

• farms on the periphery of urban areas are converted into suburbs

Migration from Urban to Rural Areas

counterurbanization: net migration from urban to rural areas in MDCs

• people are attracted to the lifestyle

• technology and transportation allow people to be connected even if they are physically remote

• intraregional migration slowed due to the severe recession