Analysis of Migration Flows from the Border Provinces of Iran

The aim of this article is to study the emigration flows from the Iran's border provinces over the last three decades. The research method is secondary analysis of migration data from census for 16 border provinces during the period of 1986-2016. The results showed that the yearly number of out-migrants during period 1986-96 was 150901, which increased to about 241996 in 1996-2006, then declined to 174042 during 2006-2011, and finally aging increased to 186643 during 2011-2016. Among border provinces, Ardebil, Ilam, Kurdistan and Kermanshah provinces have always been the most emigrant provinces in the last three decades. Analysis of emigration flows from border provinces showed that men were more likely to migrate than women and young people aged 15-29 years old than other age groups. The main destination for migrants has always been Tehran and their neighboring provinces. In recent decades, Alborz province after Tehran province has been one of the main destinations for migration from the western and northern border provinces of the country; among the southern and eastern border regions, only Khuzestan province has migrated to Alborz province. Employment, education, and military service especially for young people aged 15-29, have been the most important reasons for emigration from border provinces.