International migration flows. Framework for understanding and current features.

The present article aims to outline a framework for the understanding of the present international migratory flows as well as to outline their main traits. In order to do this, we first group together the different migratory flows produced since the sixteenth century up to the mid seventies in the twentieth  century, stopping then for a closer look at the present situation which register the impact of economic globalization, translating it into an increase of said flows and, above all, to their enormous diversification. To end, we make a brief balance of the present period and a critical evaluation on the meaning of one of the flows which attracts most attention, economic migrations south-north, because these are the ones which have the most impact on developed countries.