human migration: Quick Facts

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Photos

A long line of several thousand migrants, including families with children, walk along a grassy path in Slovenia toward Germany on a sunny day.

Swedish immigrants en route to the western United States, mid-19th century

World map showing major routes of early human migration out of Africa and across the globe, with orange arrows indicating movement paths and blue boxes marking estimated time periods in years ago for each migration wave into regions such as Europe, Asia, Australia, North America, and South America.

World map tracing the migration routes of Homo sapiens between 61,000 and 25,000 years ago, using colored arrows to indicate the paths of different mitochondrial DNA haplogroups as humans dispersed from Africa into Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Americas. Each route is labeled with a haplogroup letter and approximate time in thousands of years, showing major movements into all inhabited continents except Antarctica.

World map showing the migration routes of Homo sapiens over the past 25,000 years, traced by mitochondrial DNA haplogroups. Colored lines represent different haplogroups, with arrows indicating movement from Africa and Eurasia into Europe, Asia, North America, and South America. A legend identifies haplogroups C, D, I, K, T, V, and W, along with approximate timing in thousands of years.

World map showing migration routes of Native Americans from northeastern Asia across the Bering land bridge into North America and then southward through the Americas. Purple shading marks areas covered by glacial ice during the Pleistocene, and red dots indicate late Pleistocene Paleoindian archaeological sites in Siberia, Alaska, the United States, Mexico, Central America, and South America.

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Topics

Trail of Tears: Routes, Statistics, and Notable Events Diaspora Today in History—February 19: The Donner Party’s Devastating Predicament Today in History—August 15: The Mayflower’s First Attempt immigration How long was the voyage of the Mayflower?emigration What Does the Catholic Church Say About Immigration?Jewish Diaspora refugee population urban culture city World Heritage site rural society city-region Nomadism region metropolitan area Climate

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