Affluent is a word that derives from the Latin word affluens and that allows us to describe something that flows. In this regard, it must be said that the verb afluir is used to mention what appears abundantly or in great quantity in a certain place and everything that is directed towards a single point.
The concept of tributary is common in hydrology in reference to the body of water whose mouth does not occur in the sea, but rather in a higher or larger river. The tributary joins the effluent at the site or area known as confluence.
Typically, the difference between tributary and effluent is established by the importance of each river according to its length, flow or basin area. In this way, the river considered the most outstanding is the effluent, and the one that contributes the waters to the other river constitutes the tributary.
Take the case of the Amazon River, which, with 6,800 kilometers, is the longest and largest in the world. Its river system accounts for more than 1,000 tributaries, with some 25 rivers that are more than 1,000 kilometers long. The Amazon is born from the confluence of the Marañón and Ucayali rivers in northern Peru.
The Nile River used to be mentioned as the longest in the world until recent studies left that privilege to the Amazon. The Nile, however, remains one of the most relevant rivers for hydrography, with multiple tributaries such as the White Nile or the Blue Nile.
The notion of tributary can also be used figuratively. For example: “Socialism and anarcho-syndicalism were the main tributaries of this movement that arose in the humblest areas of North American cities”, “The migrant tributary does not stop despite the efforts of the authorities to close the borders”.
The crisis and the migratory tributary
In the migratory tributary concept, the term in question reveals a large number of people, potentially from different nations, who enter a country at a certain point in history. The last two decades have seen a great increase in this phenomenon, with the main objective being the European continent. The most chosen countries in the search to improve the quality of life and escape from the inevitable poverty are England, Italy and Spain.
The reason for these choices is rooted in a linguistic issue. On the one hand, there are Latin American emigrants, who often go to Spain to avoid learning a foreign language; However, many are unaware of the infinite differences that exist in the use of Spanish, although in no way do they represent an impossible challenge to overcome. Italy is another of their favorite destinations, given that they rely on the false idea that both languages are practically identical, but also because many of these citizens are of Italian descent and can obtain the relevant passport, which considerably minimizes the inconvenience and the number of procedures to be carried out.
Finally there is England, which has the language considered universal, and which is relatively easy to enter, provided you have a European passport. Many of the people who travel to this country to save themselves from indigence do so because the United States is a much more difficult goal to achieve, given the difficulty of obtaining a visa. With respect to other countries, such as Sweden, its migratory tributary is not negligible at all, but it does have diverse characteristics; The change in life that involves going from a warm climate to an almost eternal winter is very violent, and if you add the urgent need to learn a language, the decision becomes very delicate.
