Arrivants

Arrivants is the plural form of arrivant in French, meaning “new arrivals” or “those who have recently arrived.” In English-language scholarship, arrivants is used to describe newcomers in a community, school, workplace, or neighborhood, particularly within migration or urban studies. The term is often encountered in bilingual research and in discussions of population change and social integration.

In sociology and demography, arrivants denote individuals who have recently moved to a place and are in the early stages of adaptation. Researchers use the term to distinguish them from established residents and to examine their housing, employment, language acquisition, social networks, and access to public services. The concept supports analysis of how newcomers gain social and economic footholds and how communities respond to new residents.

Arrivants can refer to immigrants, refugees, expatriates, or internal migrants within a country. In English usage, more common terms are “new arrivals” or “recent arrivals,” but arrivants appears in bilingual studies or when summarizing French research. The scope of study can be local–neighborhood level, regional, or national.

Data on arrivants inform policy and program design for integration, language instruction, education, housing, and social services. Ethical considerations emphasize avoiding stereotyping and recognizing the diversity of origins, circumstances, and trajectories among arrivants.