Human Migration and Population Geography

Study Notes

The speaker, Alizé Carrère, returns to her childhood home in the United States for a month, leaving behind her pet rats Alfonso and Romeo.
Over 18 million people of Indian descent live outside of India, with Indian culture visible globally.
Migration is a key aspect of population geography, studying the movement of people and populations over space.
People move due to push factors, such as poor living conditions, or pull factors, like better wages or a safer environment.
In the 1800s, the British colonizers advertised to Indians to work on sugar plantations in Trinidad, promising decent wages and working conditions.
Indians migrated to Trinidad as indentured labor, with some able to return to India, buy land, or mix with other cultures to create a unique creole culture.
Monsoon Migration, driven by monsoon winds, has been happening between India, the Persian Gulf, and East Africa for at least 2,000 years.
Seasonal or cyclical migration occurs when people migrate in a back-and-forth pattern, often tied to agricultural harvest seasons or transportation patterns.
In East Africa, Indians were used as indentured labor or to oversee Africans, leading to forced migration; later, voluntary migration occurred as people encouraged others to join them.
Chain migration reduces uncertainty, as people join existing networks in their new location.
In Uganda, Indians wove themselves into the community, becoming business leaders and establishing schools, but were eventually expelled in 1972 by Idi Amin.
Many expelled Indians held British passports and relocated to the United Kingdom, while others settled in neighboring countries like Kenya.
The migration field of those expelled from Uganda in 1972 included India, Kenya, Tanzania, and Great Britain.
Refugees often have nowhere to go, but return migration can occur when a person returns to their country of origin or citizenship.
In 2020, there were 26.4 million refugees and 56 million people displaced due to environmental or economic reasons.
Climate change is increasingly pushing people to migrate, and refugees are supposed to have protected status, but unlivable situations are becoming widespread.
International organizations like the United Nations attempt to create international protections for refugees, but the Missing Migrants Project estimates that at least 5,000 migrants die every year attempting to relocate.
The Indian diaspora is the largest in the world, with millions of Indians living in the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, the Middle East, and East and South Africa.- People in a diaspora may not have been born in the place they have a cultural affinity for, but they often have a desire to maintain a cultural or physical connection to that place.
In 2020, the majority of Indian migrants are voluntary economic migrants working in various places, including the Persian Gulf, primarily in oil fields and manual jobs like caregiving and cleaning.
These Indian workers are mostly male and send money back home as remittances to support their families and provide them with greater economic opportunities.
However, as oil prices fall and oil demand decreases, fewer Indians are migrating to the Gulf, which will impact the international migration field and economies reliant on remittances.
Internal migration within a country is more common than international migration, often occurring as people move from rural areas to urban centers in search of better job opportunities.
This internal migration can eventually lead to international migration, following a pattern known as step migration, where individuals make progressively more drastic moves.
International migration can be risky, as it often involves leaving behind cultural and family networks that provide emotional support.
Understanding the reasons, patterns, and economic forces behind migration helps explain the cultural landscapes we see today.
Migration leads to the blending of cultures, resulting in unique cultural expressions, such as the mix of food and music found in Trinidad.
The cultural complexity of places like Zanzibar, shaped by monsoon migration, colonialism, and empire, is another example of the impact of migration.
As people interact and exchange cultural elements, innovations emerge, and human migration patterns are influenced by political and economic factors.
Modern geopolitical divisions and borders often do not reflect the original inhabitants of the land, and geographical place names may not acknowledge Indigenous or Aboriginal languages.
It is essential to acknowledge the traditional and ongoing relationship between Indigenous and Aboriginal peoples and their lands, and to learn about the history of one's local area through resources like native-land.ca.

Description

Explore the complex world of human migration, from push and pull factors to the impact of climate change. Discover how migration shapes cultural landscapes, economies, and identities, and learn about the experiences of Indian diaspora communities around the world.