GED Social Studies: Human Migration and Population Concepts
Importance ★★★★☆ · 30% (estimate)
Overview
This chapter is about why people move and what happens to cultures when they do.
Emigration is leaving a country; immigration is moving into one. Push factors, such as war or lack of jobs, drive people away, and pull factors, such as jobs or freedom, draw them in. In the Great Migration (about 1910-1970), millions of Black Americans left the rural South for cities in the North and West, pulled by factory jobs and pushed by Jim Crow.
When cultures meet, ideas and customs spread (cultural diffusion), and newcomers often adopt the culture of their new home over generations (assimilation). A people spread far from their homeland form a diaspora. Over the past century, Americans moved steadily from rural areas to cities, a trend called urbanization.
Key concepts
Emigration vs. immigration
Emigration: leaving your country. Immigration: coming into a new country.
Memory tipE = exit; I = in.
Push and pull factors
Push factors drive people away; pull factors attract them to a new place.
Memory tipJim Crow pushed; factory jobs pulled.
Cultural diffusion
The spread of foods, ideas, music, and customs from one culture to others.
Memory tipPizza spreading worldwide.
Assimilation
Immigrants gradually adopting the language and customs of their new country.
Memory tipOften happens over generations.
Diaspora
A people scattered from their homeland to many places.
Memory tipIrish, African, and Jewish diasporas.
Often tested
- The share of Americans living in urban areas roughly doubled from 1900 to 2010.
- Do not mix up diffusion (customs spread) with assimilation (people adopt a culture).
3 sample questions
Verified practice questions from this unit.
Question 1. What does emigration mean?
- ① Visiting another country on vacation
- ② Moving into a new country to live there
- ③ Moving to a different neighborhood in the same city
- ④ Leaving your home country to live in another country
▼ Show answer and explanation▲ Hide answer and explanation
Answer: ④ Leaving your home country to live in another country
Key point: Emigrate = exit; immigrate = come in
Emigration is leaving your home country. Immigration is coming into a new country. The same person is an emigrant from the old country and an immigrant to the new one.
Wrong choices
- Visiting another country on vacation: A short visit is travel, not migration.
- Moving into a new country to live there: Moving into a new country is immigration. Emigration is the leaving.
- Moving to a different neighborhood in the same city: Moving within a city is not leaving your country.
Question 2. In the study of migration, what are push factors?
- ① Reasons that draw people to a new place, such as good jobs
- ② Reasons people choose to stay where they are
- ③ Reasons that make people leave a place, such as war or lack of jobs
- ④ Laws that make moving illegal
▼ Show answer and explanation▲ Hide answer and explanation
Answer: ③ Reasons that make people leave a place, such as war or lack of jobs
Key point: Push factors drive people out; pull factors draw them in
Push factors are problems that cause people to leave, such as war, persecution, natural disasters, or lack of jobs. Pull factors attract people to a new place, such as jobs, freedom, safety, or family.
Wrong choices
- Reasons that draw people to a new place, such as good jobs: Reasons that draw people to a new place are pull factors.
- Reasons people choose to stay where they are: Push factors are about why people leave, not why they stay.
- Laws that make moving illegal: Push factors are conditions that drive people out, not laws against moving.
Question 3. Pizza was first made in Italy. It became popular in the United States and then around the world. What is this an example of?
- ① Cultural diffusion
- ② Diaspora
- ③ Urbanization
- ④ Assimilation
▼ Show answer and explanation▲ Hide answer and explanation
Answer: ① Cultural diffusion
Key point: Cultural diffusion: customs spread from one culture to others
Cultural diffusion is the spread of ideas, foods, music, language, and customs from one group to another. Trade, travel, migration, and media all help cultures spread.
Wrong choices
- Diaspora: A diaspora is a group of people scattered from their homeland, not the spread of a food.
- Urbanization: Urbanization is the growth of cities.
- Assimilation: Assimilation is when a person or group takes on the culture of a new society. Pizza spreading worldwide is a custom moving between cultures.
AI-written · Verified · Written by AI. Only units that passed a separate AI check (re-reading facts and numbers) are published. Tell us if you find a mistake.