Mapping the Movement of Migrants

A mapmaker named Max Galka created an interactive map that shows the migration of the world’s human population between 2011-2015 using UN Population Division data. The interactive map shows how many people are moving out of a country versus how many are moving in, as well as individual migration numbers for any country you want to learn more about.  

Countries that have a positive net migration (i.e. more people are immigrating to the country than emigrating) are shown as blue circles.  Those with a negative net migration are shown in red circles.

For instance, the majority of Syrians leaving Syria because of the civil war went to Sweden. Others migrated to Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey, while there was actually a negative amount of migration to richer countries like the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, despite them being geographically in the same region.

For all the immigration fear-mongering going on in Britain, there have actually been more Britons immigrating to places like Australia, America, Switzerland, and Canada than there have been other nationalities settling in the United Kingdom.

Most people seriously overestimate the number of immigrants in their country, usually by a very large amount. The fact of the matter is that there is a very large disparity between how many immigrants we think there are and the actual reality of the immigration situation from our various countries around the world.

Maps like this hope to help change perceptions of immigration before people permanently alter the policies around this important topic.

Visit: All the World’s Immigration Visualized in 1 Map, Max Galka

Related Articles

• The World’s Largest Mass Migration
• The Complex Geography of the Brexit Vote
• Map of Where the Population of Europe Is Growing and Where It’s Declining