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The migration of Turks has undoubtedly had a big influence on the composition of the German population. In the same way the population of many other European countries has been changed, especially by migration from their former colonies.
Migration: the past and the present
| Between 1860 and 1911 large numbers of people from India were brought to the former British colony of Natal to work on the sugar plantations. Today their descendants still live mainly in Kwazulu-Natal, one of our country’s nine provinces. |
| The Islam faith was established in South Africa during the seventeenth century, amongst others by people who had been banned from the Dutch colonies, because they instigated rebellion against the colonial powers. |
| After gold was discovered on the Witwatersrand in the late nineteenth century, many Zulus moved to that area to work in the mines. This is one of the reasons why Zulu is still the home language of many citizens of the present Gauteng province. |
| The population of the American city of Miami is supplemented by Americans who choose to retire there, because they enjoy holiday weather all the year round without having to endure the cold of the more northerly states where they used to live. |
| Many South Africans have left the country over the past 15 years, settling in Australia, New Zealand or Canada. They believe that the salaries they earn there will never be matched in South Africa. Some of them even prefer the political dispensation in these countries. |
| In 1846 Ireland was stricken with disaster when the potato crop was a complete failure. Tens of thousands of people died of famine and misery, or emigrated. The Irish population dropped by two million. |
| Jamaica, an island in the Caribbean Ocean, was “discovered” by Columbus in 1494, and became a Spanish colony in 1509. The island, then called Santiago, was ruled by eight Spanish families. The original population, Indian Arowaks, were exterminated and replaced with African slaves. |
| Almost 90% of the Australian population live in the south-eastern part of the country. The interior, consisting mainly of steppes, desert and also salt desert, is practically uninhabitable. |
| Colonial governments found that the local populations of many African countries were unable or unwilling to engage in the new economy. As a result they imported workers from other parts of the world. For the same reason the British imported people from India to help build the railway line between Mombasa and Kampala (Uganda). The Indians remained there after their contracts had expired, and today they form the backbone of the entire East African economy. |
Large scale emigration can influence countries in a very negative way.
If circumstances force people to leave the country of their birth permanently, it is often the most enterprising people, the entrepreneurs, who take the big step. The rest is often too scared to venture into the unknown. When the top human potential of the country of origin leave, it is often to the country’s further detriment.
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