Migración y petróleo en Tabasco

Abstract

At the beginning of the seventies, important economic investments aimed at developing and commercializing the newly discovered oilwells were made in the state of Tabasco. As a result of this, the distribution and the social growth of the population in this state changed.

This paper analyses the general characteristics of these changes, particularity those related to migration. This analysis is based, fundamentally, on the Socio-demographic Survey of the state of Tabasco, effected by the Consejo Nacional de Población and the government of Tabasco in 1980. Generally speaking, the most important migratory movements which took place in this state during the oil boom were from one municipality to another and not from other states to Tabasco, as was thought at first. These migratory flows which originated basically in the "rancherías" (settlements of less than 2 500 inhabitants), are not detected by population census, and this is the reason why the 1980 census does not provide any information on the great social growth of the population of Tabasco.

This paper also describes the direction of the migratory flows and provides information about the sex of the migrants and about their insertion within the sphere of employment.