Distilled Demographics: Migration

Product: Video Series

Author: Carl Haub

Date: November 22, 2010

Distilled Demographics: Migration Video thumbnail

Distilled Demographics: Migration

Distilled Demographics: Migration

“Distilled Demographics,” PRB’s video series, highlights key demographic concepts such as fertility, mortality, and migration. Through these short videos, you can learn demography’s real-world application and impact. “These videos not only show that demography can be exciting, but also highlight how population trends and issues affects the well-being of us all,” says Carl Haub, senior demographer at PRB. “Fertility, mortality, and migration—along with other demographic issues—play a major role in determining what kind of opportunities and challenges people face in their communities and countries.”

Migration is a minefield for demographers; varying definitions and measurements can be difficult to sort out. Migration is the geographic movement of people across boundaries to establish a new ­permanent or semipermanent residence. Along with fertility and mortality, migration is a component of population change. The terms “immigration” and “emigration” are used to refer to moves between countries (international migration). The parallel terms “in-migration” and “out-migration” are used for movement between areas within a country (internal migration).

How is an “immigrant” defined? Why do people migrate? How is the world becoming a “melting pot”? In this video, Haub answers these questions and clarifies how migration affects population.
