Types of migration
Migration is the movement of people from one place to another. Internal migration happens within a country's borders, for example a move from the countryside to the city. International migration crosses national borders — those who leave are emigrants and those who enter are immigrants.
Push and pull factors
- Push factors (in the origin area): unemployment, shrinking farmland, poor facilities, and natural disasters such as floods.
- Pull factors (in the destination area): job opportunities, higher wages, and good education and health facilities.
Key idea
Rural-urban migration is the most striking type of internal migration, driven by push factors in the village and pull factors in the city.
Effects of migration
In the origin area (rural), there is a shortage of young labour and abandoned land. In the destination area (urban), the population grows so fast that congestion, squatter areas and pollution arise. Even so, migration also supplies labour and cultural diversity to the city.
Governments try to balance migration by developing rural areas and providing jobs and basic facilities in the countryside so that not all young people move to the city. Such steps help ease the pressure on large cities and develop rural areas at the same time. Controlled migration can bring benefits, but excessive migration creates many social and environmental problems.