Internal Migration: Developing Countries

Abstract

The intensification of migratory movements always implies societal transformations, including the accentuation of regional and social inequalities, modifications in patterns of population distribution, and changed demographic profiles in both origin and destination areas. Migration studies, however, are complex. The definition of the term itself and its measurement and interpretation are not straightforward. Depending on the type of migration and the focus of the analysis, very diverse theoretical approaches have been used. As a component of demographic growth, migration plays a fundamental role in the rapid growth of developing countries' large cities, as well as producing significant alterations of the population's distribution over its territory. All of the studies concerned with measuring the role of migration show that, to a great extent, it was the volume of movements from rural to urban areas which explains the intense rhythm of urban population increase in the second half of the twentieth century. However, considering its multiple facets, internal migration is not restricted to rural–urban movements, since other types may emerge and grow in importance as a result of changes in economic and sociocultural contexts and in spatial configurations, as well as resulting from specific historical moments through which countries pass.