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Top 5 largest mass human migrations in history

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Estimated people moved or displaced — Migration

Snapshot · 2026-05-31

  1. 1

    European emigration to the Americas (1846-1940)

    ~55+ million

  2. 2

    Partition of India (1947)

    ~14-18 million

  3. 3

    Atlantic slave trade (16th-19th c.)

    ~12.5 million forcibly transported

  4. 4

    Post-WWII expulsion of Germans (1944-50)

    ~12-14 million

  5. 5

    Syrian refugee crisis (2011-present)

    ~6.7 million refugees