Unit 2b Migration

E.G. Ravenstein, a 19th-century geographer, formulated a set of laws to describe migration patterns. These laws, known as Ravenstein’s Laws of Migration, remain relevant today, providing a foundational understanding of human movement across space.

Key Laws:

1: Most migrants move only a short distance:

• This distance decay principle suggests that migration decreases with increasing distance. People are more likely to move to nearby locations due to familiar environments, lower transportation costs, and easier communication.
• Its easier to move short distances than long distances, duh

2: Migrants who move longer distances tend to go to large cities:

• This highlights the role of pull factors like economic opportunities and urban amenities in attracting migrants from further afield.
• Why tf would you move across the world to farm corn bruh

3: Migration occurs in steps:

• People often migrate in stages, moving first to a nearby town or city before venturing further. This is especially true for rural-to-urban migration and reflects a gradual process of adapting to new environments.

4: Each migration flow produces a counter-migration:

• For every migration stream, there is an opposing flow. This highlights the push-pull factors that influence migration, with people moving in response to both positive and negative conditions in their origin and destination areas.
• Kinda just a bs rule to cover our asses
  • Mexico to US: Mexicans want to go to estados unidos to escape el cartelo
  • US to Mexico: Retired Americans to to Mexico (really just Cancun) for the warm weather and cheap prices
• Return Migration: People have had enough of the country they move to, and come back once
  • Lebanon -> Turkey -> Lebanon (-> Turkey?)
  • Beirut Explosion + Inflation + bank run, people leave the country
  • Things are stablilizing so people came back
  • Hezbollah decided to poke the lion’s balls and now they are involved with the Hamas War, so everyone is back to being gone
• Chain Migration
  • Outlier
  • When one person leaves, and then the whole squad comes over
    • Dad leaves for job
    • Mom comes back with the kids

5: Most migrants are young adults:

• This reflects the life cycle stage where individuals are most likely to be seeking employment, education, or family opportunities.

6: Males are more likely to migrate than females:

• Men are more ambitious than women and are much more likely to take a big risk by moving
• Indians moving to dubai to work in construction until they die creates the 3:1 male:female ratio

7: Most moves are economic

• tryna get the bag
• not much more to say