Migration is a socio-demographic process that performs many important functions - social, political, economic, cultural, etc. There are several types of migration, each of them in a certain way affects the demographic composition of cities, countries and even continents.
What is the role of migration?
From a demographic point of view, migration is as fundamental a mechanism as population reproduction. Due to migration, the population size, its age and ethnic composition can change significantly. All this affects the demographic balance of territorial units of various levels - from a small village to the whole continent. Therefore, in most countries of the world, migration is subject to the strictest control. Controlling migration allows a certain demographic framework to be established in a society from which to benefit the population as a whole.
In the demographic development of countries, migration can play three roles: to reduce the size of the population with a negative balance, or increase it with a positive balance. The factors in which the outflow of the population from the country is accompanied by the influx of migrants into the country say that migration performs a compensatory function. Moreover, quantitative compensation is far from always equal to qualitative compensation: human resources valuable for the development of society can decrease from the country, and cheap labor force can come.
Types and laws of migration
Migration movements are divided into internal (within a territorial object) and external (between different territorial objects). In terms of residence time, migrations can be temporary and long-term. There are quite a few classifications for migration, but the most popular is the classification for reasons. The reasons may be as follows:
- economic (including labor migration);
- cultural;
- political;
- social;
- military.
Migration, like any other demographic process, is carried out according to completely logical laws. For example, large cities and developed countries are more attractive destinations for migrants than small ones. In addition, statistics show that large cities are growing more due to migration than due to natural population growth. Economic development is a decisive factor in determining the volume of migration: the more developed trade and production, the more migrants arrive in the country. A particularly important aspect is the development of transport.
Distances between sites for migrants are of great importance. Thus, the largest number of migrations is carried out between close settlements. One of the important laws that determine the demographic development of countries and cities is the counter-flow law: for each flow of migrants inside a territorial object, there is a flow directed in the opposite direction. Having ascertained the qualitative composition of these flows, it is possible to determine the socio-economic situation in the country.
