ABSTRACT
The movement of people between various regions of a country is one of the most important processes in shaping the settlement system, the spatial structure of the economy, and the spread of socio cultural attributes over national territory. Interregional migration is a basic condition for efficient allocation of the production factors of a national economy. Migration theory, in its various forms and variations, is based on a disequilibrium situation; there exists an imbalance between the capabilities and preferences of individuals, on the one hand, and, on the other, the availability of opportunities and resources with which to utilize capabilities and satisfy preferences in the locations where those individuals reside, as compared with opportunities in alternative locations. On the basis of numerous empirical works carried out on internal migration in developing countries, it is possible to draw a few generalizations about three topics that are relevant to the analysis of migration policies in relation to rural development.
