Chapter 3 Key Issue 2

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

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