Nomad
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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A nomad (νομάς, nomas, plural νομάδες, nomades; meaning one roaming about for pasture, pastoral tribe), is a member of a community of people who move from one place to another, either with their livestock (pastoral nomads) or subsisting on hunting and gathering. Nomadism is a lifestyle adapted to infertile regions such as steppe, tundra, or ice and sand, where mobility is the most efficient strategy for exploiting scarce resources. As of 1995, there were an estimated 30–40 million nomads in the world.
Nomadic hunting and gathering, following seasonally available wild plants and game, is by far the oldest human subsistence method. Pastoralists raise herds, driving them or moving with them, in patterns that normally avoid depleting pastures beyond their ability to recover.
Sometimes also described as "nomadic" are the various itinerant populations who move about in densely populated areas living not on natural resources, but by offering services (craft or trade) to the resident population.
See also
- Eurasian nomads for the historically and pre-historically important Horse People
- Kochari
- Mongol Empire
- Nomadic empires
- Nomadic tents
- Nomads of India
- Snowbird (people)
- Sea Gypsies
- Seasonal human migration
- Uncontacted peoples
- Wanderer
- Examples in industrialized nations