Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Channelized migration, which links geographically specific points of origin and destination,
characterizes the growth of several urban immigrant enclaves. For example, a sizable and
growing Dominican neighborhood exists in Upper Manhattan. Detailed examination reveals
that it is far too simplistic to describe the migration as people from the Dominican Republic
moving to New York. Rather, people from particular towns or regions of the Dominican Re-
public are settling in particular parts of the ethnic enclave in Manhattan. Thus, specific chan-
nels are found within the overall flow of immigrants from the Dominican Republic to the Un-
itedStates. Similar examples appearinotherpartsoftheUnitedStates regardingthisandother
immigrant groups. Similar examples have also been documented in other countries all over the
world.
Neither channelized migration nor migration in general is strictly international. Many countries
provide cases of internal (domestic) migration whose characteristics and impacts are no less signific-
ant. Again, the United States provides excellent examples.
Migrating at home
Domestic migration involves residential relocation within a given country. While some moves may
involve crossing the street, others may be cross-country or inter-regional. The latter are of particular
interest to geography for two reasons. First, and as we shall shortly see, they may be symptomat-
ic of waxing and waning economies of different areas. Second, they may have significant political
ramifications. In the United States, Canada, Britain, and other democracies, the number of legislative
representatives allocated to a state, province, or region is based on the number of residents. In the
United States, for example, the population of each state determines the number of U.S. Represent-
atives that its citizens elect to Congress. As state populations rise and fall because of migration and
other factors, the allocation of delegates to Congress changes, and therefore so does the geography of
political clout.
Relocating within America
Americans are a people on the move. They commute, shop, take their kids here and there, and go
awayonvacation. Buttheyalsomoveinthesense ofchanging their residential locations. Infact, U.S.
government datasuggestthatabout20percent ofAmericans moveeachyear,andthatabout3percent
change their state of residence each year. The latter figure may not seem like a lot. But given some
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