Population and Migration

Watch

• Urbanization and the future of cities - Vance Kite ↗TED-Ed
• Hans Rosling: Global population growth, box by box ↗TED
• Mapping global population and the future of the world ↗The Economist
• Overpopulation – The Human Explosion Explained ↗Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell
• Overpopulation & Africa ↗Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell
• The impact of urbanisation in Africa, explained - BBC Africa ↗BBC News Africa

Read

• The Age of Migration: International Population Movements in the Modern World ↗The definitive academic primer, offering a comprehensive and authoritative overview of global migration's theories, history, and policy implications.Stephen Castles, Hein de Haas, and Mark J. Miller
• Exodus: How Migration is Changing Our World ↗A provocative and accessible exploration of migration's economic and ethical dilemmas, challenging conventional wisdom from both sending and receiving country perspectives.Paul Collier
• The Great Demographic Reversal: Ageing Societies, Waning Inequality, and an Inflation Revival ↗Essential reading for understanding how profound global demographic shifts, particularly ageing populations, are reshaping the world economy and financial markets.Charles Goodhart and Manoj Pradhan
• International Migration and Development: A Theoretical PerspectiveA seminal synthesis of migration theories, providing a robust analytical framework crucial for comprehending the multifaceted drivers and impacts of human mobility.Douglas S. Massey, Joaquín Arango, Graeme Hugo, Ali Kouaouci, Adela Pellegrino, and J. Edward Taylor
• The Globalisation of Migration (from "The World on the Move" Special Report)A concise and insightful overview from a leading global affairs publication, dissecting the economic and social forces driving contemporary international migration.The Economist

Voices to follow

• Douglas Massey ↗His rigorous empirical work has illuminated the complex drivers and consequences of international migration, particularly between the United States and Mexico.Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs, Princeton University
• Saskia Sassen ↗A leading voice on globalization and urban studies, she offers incisive analysis of how global economic forces shape migration patterns and the formation of 'global cities'.Professor of Sociology, Columbia University
• Hein de Haas ↗His research meticulously debunks common myths about migration, providing an evidence-based counter-narrative essential for informed policy debates.Professor of Sociology, University of Amsterdam
• Sarah Harper ↗As a leading demographer, she provides critical insights into the profound global shifts in population age structures and their far-reaching implications for societies and economies.Professor of Gerontology, University of Oxford
• Parag Khanna ↗His forward-looking analyses connect demographic shifts and migration flows to broader geopolitical trends, offering a strategic lens on future global challenges.Geopolitical Strategist and Author

Glossary

• Asylum SeekerSomeone who has left their home country and is asking for protection from another country, claiming to be a refugee. They are waiting for their claim to be officially decided. For example, a person who arrives in a new country and immediately asks the government for safety because they fear for their life back home is an asylum seeker.
• Birth RateThe number of live births per 1,000 people in a population over a specific period, usually a year. It tells us how quickly new people are being added to a population. For example, if a town has a high birth rate, it means many babies are being born there each year.
• Death RateThe number of deaths per 1,000 people in a population over a specific period, usually a year. It tells us how quickly people are leaving a population due to death. For example, if a country has a low death rate, it suggests people are living longer and healthier lives there.
• DemographicsThe study of populations, looking at things like age, gender, income, education, and how these groups are distributed. It helps us understand who lives where and how populations are changing. For example, studying the demographics of a city might show that it has a growing number of young families or an aging population.
• EmigrationThe act of leaving one's own country to live permanently in another country. Someone who does this is called an emigrant. For example, if someone from India moves to Canada to live and work, they are emigrating from India.
• ImmigrationThe act of moving to a new country with the intention of living there permanently. Someone who does this is called an immigrant. For example, if someone from Canada moves to India to live and work, they are immigrating to India.
• MigrationWhen people move from one place to another to live, either within a country or across different countries. This move is usually for a long time, not just a short visit. For example, if a family moves from Mumbai to Delhi for a new job, that's internal migration.
• PopulationThe total number of people living in a specific area, like a city, country, or even the whole world. It's basically a count of all the residents. For example, the population of your school is the total number of students and staff who are part of it.
• Pull FactorsPositive reasons or attractions that draw people to a new place or country. These factors "pull" people towards a new location. For example, better job opportunities, good schools, or a safer environment can be pull factors for someone deciding where to move.
• Push FactorsNegative reasons or conditions that make people want to leave their current home or country. These factors "push" people away. For example, a lack of jobs, war, or natural disasters like floods can be push factors making people move.
• RefugeeA person who has been forced to leave their country because of war, persecution (being treated badly for who you are), or natural disaster, and cannot safely return home. They seek protection in another country. For example, people fleeing a war-torn country and seeking safety in a neighboring nation are refugees.
• UrbanizationThe process where a growing number of people move from rural (countryside) areas to urban (city) areas, causing cities to grow larger. This often happens as countries develop. For example, as more people move from villages to big cities like Bengaluru or Mumbai for work, those cities experience urbanization.

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Where this connects to other fields, and why it's worth knowing.

• Secularization Religion

  Non-religious people tend to have far fewer kids than deeply religious people. Over generations, that means the devout keep growing while the secular shrink, simply by out-having them. So the drift away from religion may be quietly reversing itself through nothing more than birth rates.

• Armed Conflict & State Fragility Global Risks

  When a country has a huge wave of young men and nowhere near enough jobs for them, trouble tends to follow. Restless, broke, and idle, they become fuel for unrest. That means a simple chart of a country's ages can hint at civil war before it starts.

• Gender & Society Sociology

  China once ordered families to have just one child; other governments beg couples to have more. Either way, the state is reaching straight into people's decisions about having babies. Reproduction, one of the most personal things there is, becomes a lever a government pulls to shape the whole nation.

• Sexual & Reproductive Health Health

  In parts of Asia, families choosing to abort daughters has left tens of millions of 'missing women,' a gap you can see in the population numbers. That leaves huge crowds of young men who can't find partners. Researchers link that lopsided ratio to rising crime and unrest, so a personal choice ripples out into a whole society's stability.

• Biogeochemical Cycles Environment

  Plants need nitrogen to grow, and for most of history we could only get it from nature. Then in 1909 two chemists figured out how to pull nitrogen straight out of the air to make fertilizer. Roughly two out of every five people alive today are only fed because of that one reaction, meaning billions of us exist thanks to a trick for grabbing food from thin air.

• Calculus & Rates of Change Mathematics

  Even after couples start having fewer than two kids each, a country can keep growing for decades. Why? Because a huge crowd of young people is still coming of age and having babies. It's like a giant ship that keeps gliding forward long after you cut the engine; the momentum in the age structure carries it past the turning point.