Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
the depression years of the 1930s, and then resumed its
upward climb.
In the 1970s, the trend began to reverse itself: African
Americans began leaving the North and returning to the
South. The reversal had several causes. Although the civil
rights movement in the 1960s did not change conditions
in the South overnight, it undoubtedly played a role in
the reverse migration. Disillusionment with deteriorating
living conditions in the Rustbelt of the urban North and
West, coupled with growing economic opportunities in
Southern cities, also drew African Americans southward.
African Americans who lived in Northern cities migrated
to Southern cities, not to rural areas, as the urban econo-
mies of the Sunbelt began to grow.
Russia also experienced a major internal migration,
but in Russia, people migrated east, from the heartland
of the Russian state (near Moscow and St. Petersburg)
to the shores of the Pacifi c. This eastward migration
signifi cantly altered the cultural mosaic of Eurasia,
and understanding this migration fl ow helps us under-
stand the modern map of Eurasia. During the tsarist
(1800s-1910s) and communist periods (1920s-1980s),
Russian and Soviet rulers tried to occupy and consoli-
date the country's far eastern frontier, moving indus-
tries eastward, building railroads and feeder lines, and
establishing Vladivostok on the Pacifi c Coast as one of
the world's best equipped naval bases. As Russia and then
the Soviet Union expanded outward and to the east, the
country incorporated numerous ethnic minorities into
the country.
During the communist period, the Soviet govern-
ment also employed a policy of
Russification
, which
sought to assimilate all the people in the Soviet territory
into the Russian culture. One way the Soviets pushed for
Russifi cation was by encouraging people of Russian heri-
tage to move out of Moscow and St. Petersburg and fi ll
in the country. By 1980, as many as 30 million Russians
had moved out toward the borders. After the collapse of
the Soviet Union in 1991, some people moved back to
their original homelands, but the map will long carry the
impact of Russia's eastward expansion.
Mexico offers a more recent example of internal
migration. As many as 1 million Mexicans successfully
cross into the United States each year, both legally and ille-
gally. Many Mexicans emigrate from the northern areas of
Mexico into the southern areas of the United States. In the
northern Mexican State of Zacatecas, an estimated one out
of every two people is currently living in the United States.
As a result, the northern areas of Mexico are experiencing
a labor shortage. In response, Mexican workers from areas
farther south in the country are migrating northward to
fi ll the labor shortage, especially in Mexico's agricultural
sector. Many Mexicans migrating north within the country
are Huichol Indians, one of Mexico's indigenous popula-
tions. Ironically, the Huichol in northern Mexico are expe-
riencing the same kind of substandard living conditions,
lack of acceptance by locals, and exploitation by employers
that the Mexicans from the north are experiencing in the
United States.
Guest Workers
The countries of Europe that were major participants in
World War II lost millions of young men in the long con-
fl ict. After the war, European countries, rebuilding their
economies with the help of the U.S.-sponsored Marshall
Plan, found themselves in need of laborers. Two fl ows of
migration into Western European countries began: fi rst
within the European region, as workers from poorer
European countries and regions migrated to economically
growing areas, and second from outside of Europe, as mil-
lions of foreign workers immigrated from North Africa
(the majority to France) and Turkey (mostly to Germany)
as well as from the Caribbean region, India, and Africa
(many to the United Kingdom).
Western European governments called the labor
migrants
guest workers
. The laws allowing guest work-
ers into Europe assumed the workers would fi ll the void
left by those who died during World War II, and then
they would return to their home countries. Instead, the
guest workers stayed both because they wanted to and
because they were needed. Two to three generations of
Turks have now been born in Germany, making them far
more than “guests.” The German government, which had
for decades defi ned German citizens as those of German
descent, allowed Turks to become citizens of the country
in 2005.
Not only in Germany, but in countries around the
world, millions of guest workers live outside of their
home country and send remittances from their jobs
home. Guest workers often work as agricultural laborers
or in service industries, including hotels, restaurants, and
tourist attractions. The home states of these workers are
fully aware that their citizens have visas and are working
abroad. In many instances, the economies of the home
countries come to rely on the remittances, and the home
governments work with destination countries and with
the international labor organization to protect the rights
of the guest workers.
Despite the legal status of guest workers and the
work of governments and international organizations to
protect them, many employers abuse them because guest
workers are often unaware of their rights. Long hours
and low pay are common, but guest workers continue to
work because the money is better than they would ordi-
narily receive and because they are supporting families
at home.
