Internal migration in Colombia in the transition to 21st century. A multi-scale approximation

Abstract

This paper evaluates the Colombian pattern of internal migration and its relationship with the historical transformations in the country since the second half of the 20th century, especially in a context of enduring armed conflict. We use Colombian demographic censuses to show the distribution of migrations in the national territory and to estimate the effect of migration on population composition at several scales of analysis: regional, departmental, provincial and municipal. The results show that despite the major role of metropolitan areas in absorbing migrant populations, over time new areas – such as the near border areas and abroad – have increasingly attracted migrants and reshaped migration patterns within Colombia.