ABSTRACT
For every country in Western Europe other than Switzerland, Austria, Portugal and Eire, migration flow data can be obtained which are an improvement on birthplace statistics. The patterns of net migration are presented at a common scale in figs. They showed migration gains only in their major urban zones and in tourist areas, but these gains were very great and were matched by the heaviest rural depopulation in Western Europe. The studies of migration fields have concentrated on variations in the levels and slopes of distance-decay functions for groups of places and groups of people. Finally, little account has been taken of the flows between Western European countries. However, with nine of the fourteen countries studied being signatories to the Rome Treaty, with its ‘free movement of labour’ clauses, there is perhaps need to question traditional notions of what constitutes ‘internal’ migration.
