History
Famous Mass Migrations
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Updated:4/9/2026
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Migration↕ | Period↕ | From↕ | To↕ | People Moved↕ | Cause↕ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Atlantic Slave Trade | 1500-1866 | West/Central Africa | Americas | 12.5 million forced | Chattel slavery for plantation economies |
Partition of India Exodus | 1947-1948 | Punjab and Bengal | Across new India-Pakistan border | 15-20 million | Religious partition of British India |
Great Migration (US Black) | 1916-1970 | Rural US South | Northern and Western US cities | 6 million | Escape from Jim Crow, industrial jobs |
Trail of Tears | 1830-1850 | Southeastern US | Indian Territory (Oklahoma) | 60,000+ Native Americans | Indian Removal Act, forced relocation |
Bracero Program | 1942-1964 | Mexico | United States | 4.6 million contracts | US wartime farm labor shortage |
European Migration to Americas | 1820-1930 | Europe | United States, Argentina, Brazil | 55-60 million | Famine, pogroms, economic opportunity |
German Expulsions Post-WWII | 1944-1950 | Eastern Europe | Germany, Austria | 12-14 million ethnic Germans | Potsdam Agreement, retribution for Nazi occupation |
Chinese Coolie Trade | 1840s-1920s | Southern China | Southeast Asia, Americas, Caribbean | Millions of indentured laborers | Abolition of slavery, labor demand |
Irish Famine Emigration | 1845-1855 | Ireland | US, Canada, Britain, Australia | 2 million | Great Famine (An Gorta Mor) |
Syrian Civil War Exodus | 2011-present | Syria | Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, EU | 13 million displaced | Civil war, ISIS, Assad regime |
Dust Bowl Migration | 1930-1940 | US Great Plains | California and West | 2.5 million Okies | Drought, soil erosion, Depression |
Vietnamese Boat People | 1975-1995 | Vietnam | Southeast Asia, US, Australia, Europe | 2 million | Fall of Saigon, reeducation camps |
Huguenot Diaspora | 1685-1700 | France | Netherlands, Britain, Prussia, Americas | 200,000-400,000 | Revocation of Edict of Nantes |
Soviet Jewish Aliyah | 1989-2006 | USSR/post-Soviet states | Israel, US, Germany | 1.6 million to Israel | Fall of USSR, freedom to emigrate |
Rohingya Exodus | 2017 | Myanmar (Rakhine) | Bangladesh | 742,000+ | Military persecution, ethnic cleansing |
Afghan Refugee Waves | 1979-present | Afghanistan | Pakistan, Iran, Europe | 6 million+ cumulative | Soviet invasion, civil war, Taliban |
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