Where the world's migrants go, in

one map
Updated by Katy Lee on March 9, 2015, 10:00 a.m. ET  @kjalee

Most popular migrant destinations around the world (DMan9797 (

https://i.imgur.com/m1SykVB.png))

This map, put together by Devinn Jani, also known as Reddit user
DMan9797 (
http://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/2xq7b4/most_popular_de
2013 United Nations data (
http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/data/es
to show migration flows around the world. The design is simple
— each country is labeled with the most popular destination for
its migrants. Some destinations are shown with color code: red
represents countries whose migrants mostly go to the United
States, blue to France, and pink to the United Kingdom.

Just a quick glance tells you that America is the most popular
destination for migrants from most of the Western Hemisphere
and some surprisingly far-flung nations; it's the top pick for
countries as far apart as Iran and Japan, Nigeria and Germany.
There are a few other interesting and surprising things it can tell
us, too:

The traffic between Mexico and the US is two-way

The United States is, unsurprisingly, the most frequent
destination for Mexican migrants, but the reverse is also true —
Mexico is the most popular choice for people leaving the US.

A large share of migrants leaving the US for Mexico will likely be

either Mexican nationals or people of Mexican heritage. Mexicans
currently account for nearly a third (
http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/mexican-
immigrants-united-states) of the foreign-born citizens
residing in the US, but in the 2000s the huge wave of migration
that brought millions across the border during the 20th century
began to reverse (
http://www.pewhispanic.org/2012/04/23/net-
migration-from-mexico-falls-to-zero-and-perhaps-less/).

A big factor in this was the economic recession in the United

States. This brought a sharp drop in demand for low-skilled labor,
especially in construction — a key source of work for
unauthorized Mexican migrants — as the housing market
crashed. Hundreds of thousands of Mexicans are also deported
( http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21595891-
united-states-expulsion-policy-toward-migrants-carries-
big-human-cost-bordering-cruelty) from the US every year.

Many migrants have also headed back to Mexico for personal

reasons: a survey by the nonprofit Mexicans and Americans
Thinking Together (
http://www.matt.org/uploads/2/4/9/3/24932918/dc_launch_presentati
found family reasons and nostalgia were cited as top reasons for
the return trip.

The legacy of European colonialism shows here

France noticeably remains the most popular destination for
several French-speaking former colonies in Africa, marked in
dark blue, such as Algeria, Senegal, and Cameroon.

The same is less true for former British colonies: while the
United Kingdom is still the favored new home of South Africans,
Australians, and Kenyans, it's no longer the choice of migrants
from India — the former jewel in the crown of the British Empire
— or from neighboring Pakistan.

Things have changed since the years after World War II,
when hundreds of thousands of colonial workers from sub-
Saharan Africa, South Asia, and the Caribbean moved to the UK
( http://www.historytoday.com/zig-henry/new-
commonwealth-migrants-1945-62). The legacy of that mass
movement of people can still be seen in the UK's multicultural
makeup today.

Regional economic powerhouses attract migrants

Check out the cluster of gray countries around Germany, light
blue around Argentina, dark green above South Africa, and the
splash of orange on India's borders. Strong economies have
always been a pull for migrants seeking a better life, but the
blocks of color around regional economies say a lot about where
the opportunities are today (or were in 2013, anyway).

One striking thing is that China does not appear to be ringed by

migrants rushing to take advantage of opportunities in the
world's second-largest economy. Language barriers and lack of
freedoms under Communist rule could both come into play here,
though China is slowly becoming more p (
http://www.iom.int/cms/en/sites/iom/home/where-we-
work/asia-and-the-pacific/china.html)opular (
http://www.iom.int/cms/en/sites/iom/home/where-we-
work/asia-and-the-pacific/china.html) (
http://www.iom.int/cms/en/sites/iom/home/where-we-
work/asia-and-the-pacific/china.html)as a destination for
workers from South Korea, the US, and Japan.

It's also important to bear in mind that this map is based on

official statistics — it will not account for the tens of thousands
of unauthorized migrant workers (
http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/china-emerging-
destination-economic-migration) reportedly smuggled into
China from Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries every
year.

Rich Gulf states: a hub for migrant labor

Fifty years ago, migrants from India and Pakistan might have
looked to their British former colonial overlord in their search for
work.

These days, South Asian laborers are much more likely to head to
the Gulf: the map shows most Indians go to the United Arab
Emirates and Pakistanis to Saudi Arabia. The oil-rich Gulf has
become a key destination (
http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/labor-migration-
united-arab-emirates-challenges-and-responses) for
temporary migrant laborers, many of whom find work in
construction or low-paid services, or as domestic workers. Rights
abuses against such migrants — many of whom are working to
send money back home to desperately poor families — are well
documented (
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jun/25/saudi-
arabia-migrant-mistreatment).

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