How can we possibly say that the almost 8 billion humans on our planet are 8 billion immigrants?

​Thank you for showing the curiosity and open mindedness to try to figure it out with me.

Putting our personal opinions and beliefs aside, let’s look at historical facts.

1. From the beginning of time, humans have always naturally migrated.

2. The term "frontier” came from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"—the region of a country that fronts on another country.

3. The concept of a worldwide passport standard is relatively new, created in the aftermath of the First World War.

4. Today, there are 196 countries in the world and each of them started off at some point in history. The first countries were unlike modern nation-states. In the ancient times, most of them were not described as a “country.” Rather, they were empires ruled by various dynasties. Their political situations have changed over centuries, the boundaries have changed, and their demographics have changed.

1. Homo sapiens, the first modern humans, evolved from their early hominid predecessors between 200,000 and 300,000 years ago, on the continent of Africa.

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2. The first modern humans began moving outside of Africa and populating parts of Europe and Asia starting about 70,000-100,000 years ago. They reached the Australian continent in canoes sometime between 35,000 and 65,000 years ago.

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3. We are not sure of the exact reasons humans first migrated off the African continent, but it was likely correlated with a depletion of resources (like food) in their regions and competition for those resources. 

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4. The development of language around 50,000 years ago allowed people to make plans, solve problems, and organize effectively. Once humans were able to communicate, they could assess together whether the pressures in their current home outweighed the risk of leaving to find a new one.

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5. 15,000 years ago, the first humans cross the Bering Strait into the Americas.

From their earliest days, America and other countries have been nations of immigrants. Not only have we tremendously helped in the shaping of these great nations, but today, immigrants in the US alone, are known to drive small business creation at a rate that far outpaces their share of the population

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Immigration runs in the blood of all of us, either directly by our own choice, or through our ancestors.

I sincerely think we are all immigrants. Shouldn't we be more respectful and supportive of each other?

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~ Armelle Cloche

Creator, Founder, & CEO

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Sources:

- In demographics, the world population is the total number of humans currently living and was estimated to have reached 7.7 billion people as of April 2019. See more. World population clock.

- Humans migration across the globe. More.

- History of migration.

- 10 oldest countries in the world.

- History of passport.