Cities are major recipients of intra-regional and interregional migrations, and internal migration is a driving force in Kazakhstan’s gradual urbanisation. However, its importance should not be overestimated: in most large cities, natural population growth is higher than net inward migration (see Chapter 1). Distance plays an important role in determining internal movements in the country, but migration across cities or regions can also be explained by economic incentives, since migrants are attracted by higher wages or incomes.