What is Migration?

The term 'migration' refers to the movement of people, animals, customers, or information from one place to another. It is used in diverse fields such as biology, geography, computing, business, and economics.

In human context, immigration is the movement of people into a country, while emigration is the movement out of a country. These moves are typically permanent or for the foreseeable future. Human migration has a long history, spanning hundreds of thousands of years.

Push factors are reasons people leave their countries, such as extreme poverty, low pay, unemployment, natural disasters, persecution, or wars. Pull factors are what attract people to a new country, including jobs, good wages, healthcare, public safety, education, and social stability.

Animal migration, or seasonal migration, involves long-distance movements of certain birds, fish, and land animals. For example, birds fly south in winter and return north in spring. The primary motivation for animal migration is the availability of food.

In computing, migration means moving data or systems from one device or system to another. This can be as simple as copying photos from a smartphone to a laptop, or it can involve moving applications, domains, data, or storage.