MIG - Internal Migration Lesson

Internal Migration

Internal Migration is much more frequent than international migration because of distance, cost and cultural factors.

Migration within the US

  1. Population has changed dramatically since colonization
  1. Americans began on the east coast only, but moved throughout the interior to the west coast of the nation
    1. Intervening obstacles - Appalachian Mts. and Native American tribes
  2. The "center" of the nation (population-weighted centroid) has moved west with each census (10 years) - the pattern has begun to move west and south

Map Reflecting the Changing Center of Population Point in the US

Changing US Center of Population Map

US Historical MigrationMap of the Great Plains

  1. Settlement began in the Northeast and then expanded to the entire east coast
  2. As the nation was established and began to purchase land citizens moved towards the West and began to settle the interior of the nation
    1. Canals (Erie) helped increase the population distribution
  3. During the early 19th century the Great Plains region (west of Kansas) remained sparsely populated due to less than optimal farming opportunities
  4. The great expansion of railroads and agricultural innovations in the late 19th century led to the population of the Great Plains

Southern Migration

  1. The South became the location for most internal in-migration during the late 20th century
    1. Jobs opportunities (agricultural and industrial), climate, retirement options are common pull factors
    2. Map of the Sun BeltThe " Sun Belt " offers preferable climates (replaced the name "Cotton Belt" as the area gained technology and industry)
      1. Place Utility - opportunities of an area compared to others
        • Leads to 3/4 most populous states being in this region (TX, CA, FL)
      2. African American patterns differed from the overall trend with large numbers moving to urban areas in the Northeast and Midwest during the mid-20th century (the Great Migration)

        • At the same time whites were moving South from the "Rust Belt" as factories were closing/moving (IL, ID, MI, OH)

        • The racial trends are now uniform as many African Americans moved back to the South in the late 20th century

Migration within a Region: Rural to Urban

  • Most movements are intraregional
    • Includes movement from rural to urban
  • This trend began in the 1800s in Western Europe and North America
  • Usually focused on economic opportunities
    • With 5% of the populations living in urban regions in 1800 and 80% in 2010
  • LDCs are currently going through a similar process
    • 20 million people migrating from rural to urban each year
    • Many of these people are pushed by economic factors, but they are not finding the jobs or housing that they seek
      • This leads to squatter settlements ( favelas or shanty towns ) that lack resources and utilities
      • Brazil, Mexico, Philippines, India, Thailand, etc.

Squatter Settlements

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Migration within a Region: Urban to Suburban

  • In the late 20th and early 21st centuries the movement in MDCs has been from central cities to suburban areas
    • North America and Western Europe
      • This movement has led to central cities' populations decreasing with suburban population increasing
    • Movement to the cities focused on jobs, but movement to the suburbs focuses on increased standard of living
      • Larger homes, more land, better schools, less crime, recreation and entertainment opportunities
    • This movement decreases the population of the central city, but actually increases the population of the urban area as the suburbs become part of the metropolitan area
      • Process of suburbanization can occur when the farms and land on the periphery of a city are converted to housing developments and become suburban towns and cities  

Urbanization and Counterurbanization Trends

  • In the late 20th century (with economies flourishing) more people began moving from urban areas to rural areas (rather than rural to urban)
    • Rural to urban - urbanization
    • Urban to rural - counterurbanization
  • Many factors contributed to these changes:
    1. Blurry lines between suburbs and rural areas
    2. Technological advancements allowed for remote work environments
    3. Factory and agricultural work
    4. A less frantic pace
    5. Time-space compression keeps people in MDCs connected almost anywhere
    6. Retirement options
  • This trend slowed in the US due to rural jobs ending with the economic crisis during the first decade of the 21st century, agricultural downturns and international competition for jobs – the pattern has begun again with the resurgence of the economy

Review Activity

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IMAGES CREATED BY GAVS (Map reflecting the changing center of population point in the US - Image is in the public domain, created by the US Census Bureau; Images are available in the Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons; Creative Commons License Attribution)