Describe any five characteristics of ‘Pastoral Nomadism’ in the world.

Nomadic herding or pastoral nomadism is a primitive subsistence activity, in which the herders rely on animals for food, clothing, shelter, tools and transport.

Certain characteristics of ‘Pastoral Nomadism’ in the world are:

1. Herder along with their livestock move from one place to another depending upon the amount and quality of pastures and water.

2. Each nomadic community occupies a well-identified territory as a matter of tradition.

3. Movement in search of pastures is undertaken either over vast horizontal distances or vertically from one elevation to another in mountainous regions.

4. The process of migration from plain areas to pastures on mountains during summer and again from mountain pastures to plain areas during winters is known as transhumance.

5. The number of pastoral nomads has been decreasing and the areas operated by them shrinking, due to (a) imposition of political boundaries; (b) new settlement plans by different countries.

To remember: Nomadic pastoralism is different from hunting, in the sense that it practices domestication of animals. It is also different from agriculture as there is the domestication of plants involved nor there is settled communities.