GeographyICSE Class 8 · Migration

Types of Migration, Push and Pull Factors and Their Impact (ICSE Class 8 Geography)

Updated 17 October 2026 · Draft, not yet fact-checked

Migration is the movement of people from one place to another to settle, temporarily or permanently. Internal migration is within a country (rural-urban, urban-urban); international migration is between countries (emigration from the origin, immigration into the destination). Push factors such as unemployment drive people out; pull factors such as jobs and schools attract them. Net migration = immigrants - emigrants.

People are pushed out of the origin by problems and pulled to the destination by opportunities; most migration is a mix of both.

Illustration drawn for QuestionBuddy.

Understand Types of Migration: Push and Pull Factors with Examples

1. Meaning and basic terms. Migration is the movement of people from a place of origin to a place of destination with the intention of settling, temporarily or permanently. It may be seasonal, for some years, or permanent. *Internal migration* takes place within a country; *international migration* crosses borders.

2. Push and pull factors.

*Push factors* drive people out: unemployment and poverty, low wages, lack of land, crop failure, drought or floods, lack of schools and hospitals, conflict and persecution.
*Pull factors* attract people: jobs and higher wages, better education and health care, security, better living conditions and family already settled there.

Most migration results from a mix of both, and better transport and communication make it easier.

3. Emigration and immigration. The same journey seen from two ends. Emigration is leaving one's own country to live in another; the person is an emigrant from the country of origin. Immigration is entering a country to live there; the person is an immigrant in the country of destination. An Indian nurse who moves to the United Kingdom is an emigrant from India and an immigrant in the UK. Net migration = immigrants - emigrants: positive means a gain of people, negative a loss.
Examples from the world: the USA, Canada and Australia have received large numbers of immigrants; many South Asian workers, including Indians, emigrate to Gulf countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia; refugees move to escape war or persecution, for example people who fled the conflict in Syria.

4. Rural-urban migration. People move from villages to towns and cities. It is the most important type of internal migration in developing countries. Causes: few jobs and low incomes in villages, small landholdings and crop failure (push); factory, construction and service jobs and better schools and hospitals in cities (pull). Examples: workers from villages of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha to Mumbai, Delhi and Surat; rural people to factory cities on China's eastern coast.

5. Urban-urban migration. Movement from one town or city to another for better jobs, promotion, higher education or specialised work, for example young professionals moving from smaller cities to Bengaluru, Hyderabad or Pune for jobs in information technology.

6. Other internal types. Rural-rural (for example a woman moving to her husband's village after marriage, or labourers moving to areas with more farm work) and urban-rural (for example retirees returning to villages).

7. Impact on place of origin and destination. Origin: gains are remittances, less pressure on land and returning migrants' skills; losses are loss of young workers, more women, children and elderly left behind, a higher sex ratio in the village, split families and dependence on remittances. Destination: gains are labour for factories and services, skilled workers, cultural diversity and help for ageing countries; losses are overcrowding, slums, pressure on water, transport and schools, low wages for migrants and tension over jobs. Overall, migration changes the age, sex, occupational and cultural structure of society.

Types of Migration: Push and Pull Factors with Examples: key facts

Net migration: $N e t mi g r a t i o n = immi g r an t s - e mi g r an t s ∣ P os i t i v e : p o p u l a t i o n g ain ∣ N e g a t i v e : p o p u l a t i o n l oss$
Types: Internal: rural-urban, urban-urban, rural-rural, urban-rural | International: emigration and immigration
Push factors: Unemployment
Poverty
Drought and floods
Conflict
Lack of schools and hospitals
Pull factors: Jobs
Higher wages
Education
Health care
Security

How to answer Types of Migration: Push and Pull Factors with Examples questions

Identify the place of origin and the place of destination.

1Decide whether the move crosses a border (international) or not (internal).
2Name the type: rural-urban, urban-urban, emigration or immigration.
3List a push factor at the origin and a pull factor at the destination.
4Add one gain and one problem for each end when asked for impact.

Types of Migration: Push and Pull Factors with Examples in real life

The idea, met in an everyday situation. Answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

A bus ticket to the city

Suppose a young man leaves a drought-hit village for a nearby city where a building site pays three times his village wage, and sends money to his parents each month.

Name the type of migration, one push and one pull factor, and one benefit and one problem for the village.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

The move is from village to city within the country: rural-urban, an internal migration.
Push: drought and low wages; pull: higher wages in construction.
Benefit to village: remittances; problem: loss of a young worker, so farm work falls on the elderly.

Answer: Rural-urban; push drought, pull wages; remittances against loss of young labour.

Memory hook: Origin pushes, destination pulls.

Tricks to remember Types of Migration: Push and Pull Factors with Examples

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

E for Exit, I for In
Emigration = exit from your country; immigration = coming in.
Use it when: Distinguishing the two terms.
Push from home, pull to new place
Think of being shoved out of the origin and tugged to the destination.
Use it when: Causes questions.
Origin sends, destination hosts
Remittances go to the origin; crowding builds at the destination.
Use it when: Impact questions.

Types of Migration: Push and Pull Factors with Examples: solved examples

Ordered from board level to HOTS. Try each one before you open the solution.

Example 1: Define and distinguish · 2 marks · Short answerBoard level

Distinguish between emigration and immigration with one example.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Emigration: leaving one's own country to settle in another.
Immigration: entering a country to settle there.
Example: an Indian worker moving to the UAE is an emigrant from India and an immigrant in the UAE.

Answer: Emigration is exit from the origin country; immigration is entry into the destination country.

Example 2: Push and pull · 2 marks · Short answerBoard level

Give two push factors and two pull factors of migration.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Push: unemployment, drought or floods, lack of schools or hospitals, conflict.
Pull: jobs and higher wages, better education and health care, safety.

Answer: Push: unemployment and drought; pull: jobs and better schools.

Example 3: Net migration · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level

In a year a country receives 82,000 immigrants and 1,10,000 people emigrate. (a) Find the net migration. (b) State whether the country gains or loses people.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

(a) Net migration = 82,000 - 110,000.
= -28,000.
(b) Negative, so the country loses 28,000 people.

Answer: -28,000; the country loses people.

Example 4: Rural-urban causes and effects · 4 marks · Long answerHarder board level

Explain why rural-urban migration is common in developing countries, and give two problems it creates in the destination cities.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Causes: few jobs, low incomes, small landholdings and crop failure in villages (push); factory, construction and service jobs and better schools and hospitals in cities (pull).
Problem 1: overcrowding and housing shortage, leading to slums.
Problem 2: pressure on water supply, transport, schools and hospitals.

Answer: Push and pull drive the move; cities face slums and strain on services.

Example 5: Village after migration · 4 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency

In a village, most men aged 20-40 work in cities. (a) How will the sex ratio and age structure of the village change? (b) Name one positive and one negative effect on the village's economy.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

(a) The sex ratio of the village rises because fewer men are present; the village has more women, children and elderly.
(b) Positive: remittances raise family incomes and pay for education and housing.
Negative: a shortage of young workers hurts farming and local activities, and the village may depend on remittances rather than local development.

Answer: (a) Sex ratio rises, more women, children and elderly (b) Remittances against lost labour.

Where students lose marks in Types of Migration: Push and Pull Factors with Examples

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

Mistake: Interchanging emigration and immigration
The two terms are used for the wrong end of the journey.
Do this: Emigrate = exit from the origin; immigrate = enter the destination.
Usually costs: 1 mark.
Mistake: Listing only push factors
Pull factors at the destination are ignored.
Do this: Give one factor for each end.
Usually costs: 1 mark.
Mistake: Net migration sign error
Immigrants - emigrants is reversed.
Wrong working
Net = 110,000 - 82,000 = +28,000
Right working
Net = 82,000 - 110,000 = -28,000 (a loss)
Do this: Immigrants first, then subtract emigrants.
Usually costs: 1 to 2 marks.
Mistake: Examples without type
A route like UP to Mumbai is not labelled rural-urban.
Do this: Name the type after every example.
Usually costs: 1 mark.

Exam tips

Always write origin and destination when you describe a move.
Give examples from India and from the world, as the syllabus asks.
Use "push" and "pull" labels explicitly in cause answers.
In impact answers, write a separate sentence for each end of the journey.

Practice questions on Types of Migration: Push and Pull Factors with Examples

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

Q1 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level
Migration of people from one village to another after marriage is an example of:
(a) rural-urban
(b) rural-rural
(c) urban-urban
(d) international
Hint
Both ends are villages.
Answer
(b) rural-rural.
Q2 · 1 mark · Very short answerBoard level
What are remittances?
Hint
Money sent home.
Answer
Money sent home by migrants to their families.
Q3 · 2 marks · Short answerBoard level
Name the type of migration shown by IT professionals moving from smaller cities to Bengaluru, and give one reason.
Hint
Both ends are cities.
Answer
Urban-urban migration; they move for better jobs and career prospects.
Q4 · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level
A district gained 15,400 immigrants and 9,800 emigrants. A neighbouring district gained 7,200 immigrants and 11,500 emigrants. Find the net migration of each and state which district is growing through migration.
Hint
Subtract in each case.
Answer
First: 15,400 - 9,800 = +5,600. Second: 7,200 - 11,500 = -4,300. The first district is gaining population from migration.
Q5 · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level
Assertion (A): Refugees are mainly pulled to a new country by higher wages.
Reason (R): People who flee war or persecution leave because of danger in their homeland.
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(c) A is false but R is true.
(d) A is true but R is false.
Hint
Is the main factor push or pull?
Answer
(c) Refugees mainly move because of push factors such as war.
Q6 · 4 marks · Long answerHarder board level
Explain three ways in which in-migration can harm a destination city and one way in which it can benefit it.
Hint
Think of housing, services and workers.
Answer
Harm: overcrowding and slums; pressure on water, transport, schools and hospitals; low wages and poor conditions for migrants; tension over jobs (any three). Benefit: labour for factories, construction and services helps the economy to grow.
Q7 · 4 marks · Case-basedHOTS / competency
Case: Town X has an ageing population and many unfilled jobs. Town Y has many unemployed young people. The two are connected by a good railway. (a) Predict the likely direction of migration. (b) Name the type of migration. (c) Give two effects on Town Y.
Hint
Jobs attract, unemployment pushes.
Answer
(a) Young people from Y will move to X. (b) Urban-urban migration. (c) Remittances may rise and unemployment fall in Y, but Y may lose its young workers and be left with more elderly people.
Q8 · 3 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency
"Migration is both a cause and a result of unequal development." Explain with one example in each direction.
Hint
Cause and effect.
Answer
Result: villagers of Bihar or Odisha move to Mumbai or Surat because their home regions have few jobs and low incomes (unequal development causes migration). Cause: when young workers leave, the origin villages lose labour and rely on remittances, so they develop more slowly, while the destination cities grow faster and become overcrowded (migration deepens inequality).

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

1.Define migration.Show answer
Movement of people from one place to another to settle temporarily or permanently.
2.Another name for leaving a country to settle elsewhere?Show answer
Emigration.
3.Most common internal migration in developing countries?Show answer
Rural-urban.
4.Net migration?Show answer
Immigrants - emigrants.
5.Name one push factor.Show answer
Unemployment (or drought, conflict, poverty).

Types of Migration: Push and Pull Factors with Examples: frequently asked questions

Is moving to another state migration?

Yes, it is internal migration within the country.

Can a person be an emigrant and an immigrant?

Yes, from different countries' points of view.

What is seasonal migration?

Moving for part of a year, for example for farm work, and then returning.

Why do migrants send remittances?

To support families at home, pay for education, health care and housing.