The Current Global Migration Routes In Five Maps

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Families and individuals on the move swell into long-used migration routes across the globe.

National Geographic: The World’s Congested Human Migration Routes in 5 Maps

Europe is not the only part of the world facing a refugee crisis.

The desperate men, women, and children flooding into Europe from the Middle East and Africa are not the only people moving along ever-shifting and dangerous migration routes.

Last year saw the highest levels of global forced displacement on record—59.5 million individuals left their homes in 2014 due to “persecution, conflict, generalized violence, or human rights violations” according to the United Nations. That's 8.3 million more people than the year before.

Now Europe’s governments are straining as hundreds of thousands more have been making the journey this year. A majority are from war-ravaged Syria, risking treacherous waters and unscrupulous smugglers as they push north for a better and safer life.

WNU Editor: That is a lot of people on the move.