Describe the way of life of nomadic herders in the World.

Nomadic herding or pastoral nomadism is known to be a primitive subsistence activity, in which the herders wholly depend on animals for food, clothing, shelter, tools and transport. They move from one place to another along with their livestock, depending on the amount and quality of pastures and water. Each nomadic population occupies a well-identified territory as a matter of tradition.

Movement in search of pastures is undertaken either over vast horizontal distances or vertically from one elevation to another in the mountainous regions. The process of migration from plain areas to pastures on mountains during summers and again from mountain pastures to unadorned areas during winters is known as transhumance.

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

Nomadic herding is associated with three important regions. The core region extends from the Atlantic shores of North Africa eastwards across the Arabian peninsula into Mongolia and Central China. The second region extends over the tundra region of Eurasia. In the southern hemisphere, there are small areas in South-West Africa and on the island of Madagascar.