Pastoral Nomadism- Mongolia

Pastoral Nomadism- Mongolia

For three-thousand years the Mongolian people have adopted a pastoral life constantly moving in the search of the best pastures and campsites. A little more than half of Mongolia's population is still roaming the vast steppes of Mongolia to this day

Mongolia is known as the land of the horse. Mongolian horses have a short stature countered with an incredibly hearty resilience. Almost all nomads can ride a horse as well as they can walk and run. Also from their very first steps, they are taught how to ride a horse due to the horses important impact on their lifestyle. The horse provides a source of food for the nomads, but not with their meat, but rather with their milk. The nomads take the milk and make it into a slightly alcoholic beverage. They also use the milk to make various cheeses, and curds. Typically the nomads raise cattle, sheep, and goats along with horses. The cows provide meat, leather, and milk. The sheep provide wool ant meat. Lastly the goats provide skin for tents, milk, and meat. Goats are the most difficult to raise but they are extremely useful and appreciated for their meat and kashmere, which is goats down. 

Nomadic families usually move about 50 to 100 kilometers a year depending on rainfall. The amount of rainfall is crucial to Mongolian nomads because it determines how long a family will stay in one spot. If there is little rainfall vegetation growth will be slow so the family will move to a different spot much farther away where there is a better chance of fresh vegetation. If there is a lot of rainfall the family will move a shorter distance because vegetation will be abundant in the same area.