ABSTRACT
Migration, or the movement of people from one geographical location to another, has been taking place since the origin of the human species. Over time, it has not only increased in volume and diversity but has also involved steadily lengthening distances (Potts 1990). With the emergence of a world economy and the globalization of communications, migration, in turn, has ‘exploded’ at all geographical scales and become of major concern, thus justifying Goldstein’s (1976: 424) observation that ‘whereas the study of fertility dominated demographic research in the past several decades, migration may well become the most important branch of demography in the last quarter of the century’. Therefore, the necessity to identify and explain such population movements is vital, both in practical and academic terms, in many parts of the world (Clarke 1989).
