transhumance

transhumance
transhumant, adj.
/trans hyooh"meuhns/ or, often, /yooh"-, tranz-/, n.
the seasonal migration of livestock, and the people who tend them, between lowlands and adjacent mountains.
[1900-05; < F, equiv. to transhum(er) to shift ground (modeled on Sp trashumar; see TRANS-, HUMUS) + -ance -ANCE]

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      form of pastoralism or nomadism organized around the migration of livestock between mountain pastures in warm seasons and lower altitudes the rest of the year. The seasonal migration may also occur between lower and upper latitudes (as in the movement of Siberian reindeer between the subarctic taiga and the Arctic tundra). Most peoples who practice transhumance also engage in some form of crop cultivation, and there is usually some kind of permanent settlement.

      Transhumance is practiced in those parts of the world where there are mountains, highlands, or other areas that are too cold to be inhabited and utilized for grazing except in summer. An extreme form of transhumance is that of the Kohistanis of the Swāt area of Pakistan, who range between altitudes of 2,000 and 14,000 feet (600 and 4,300 m). Most Kohistani families possess houses in four or five different settlements, and at any one time of the year nearly the whole population is concentrated in the altitude belt appropriate to the season. Their economy is based on a combination of the cultivation of grain on terraced fields—mostly irrigated and plowed with bullocks—and the breeding of oxen, buffalo, sheep, goats, and donkeys.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

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  • TRANSHUMANCE — Les mouvements pastoraux en montagne ont pour but de profiter au mieux de l’étagement des pâturages en altitude. L’estivage, ou inalpage, des montagnes d’Europe est un déplacement intramontagnard entre des étables d’hiver situées dans les vallées …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • transhumance — [trans hyo͞o′məns, tranzhyo͞o′məns] n. [Fr < transhumer, to practice transhumance < Sp trashumar < tras , trans (< L, TRANS ) + L humus, earth: see HUMUS2] seasonal and alternating movement of livestock, together with the persons who… …   English World dictionary

  • Transhumance — La transhumance, du latin trans (de l autre côté) et humus (la terre, le pays), est la migration périodique d une part du bétail (bovidés, cervidés, équidés et ovins) de la plaine vers la montagne ou de la montagne vers la plaine, d autre part… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • transhumance — noun Etymology: French, from transhumer to practice transhumance, from Spanish trashumar, from tras trans (from Latin trans ) + Latin humus earth more at humble Date: circa 1901 seasonal movement of livestock (as sheep) between mountain and… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • transhumance — (tran zu man s ) s. f. Émigration périodique des troupeaux de moutons des pays de plaine, qui vont, sous la conduite des bergers, passer les mois les plus chauds de l année dans les pâturages des montagnes. •   Quant aux bestiaux, leur entrée et… …   Dictionnaire de la Langue Française d'Émile Littré

  • Transhumance in the Alps — The traditional economy of the Alps throughout history has been based upon rearing cattle involving seasonal migration between valley and high pastures (German de. Almwirtschaft, Alpwirtschaft from the term for seasonal mountain pasture , de. Alm …   Wikipedia

  • TRANSHUMANCE — n. f. T. didactique Action de transhumer …   Dictionnaire de l'Academie Francaise, 8eme edition (1935)

  • transhumance — noun /trænzˈhjuːməns/ the moving of cattle or other grazing animals to new pastures, often quite distant, according to the change in season …   Wiktionary

  • transhumance — The seasonal movement of herd animals, together with the herding population, between regions, as pasture becomes available (often between highlands and lowlands). Transhumant populations, such as the Saami of arctic Scandinavia and the Nuer of… …   Dictionary of sociology

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