Though the realities of life in Mongolia’s landscapes can be harsh, roughly 40 percent of the country’s people live seminomadically. Even as the country has rapidly urbanized, around one-third of the population still live in gers, tentlike structures that have been central to Mongolian culture for millennia. The design offers housing that’s both reasonably quick to construct and disassemble (important for herders who travel along seasonal routes tending to their livestock) and built to adapt to different weather, which can range from extreme sandstorms during spring to summer hail and winter blizzards.

Last winter, photographer Matt Dutile visited the ger camps of a few herder families across Mongolia, learning how residents use the structures to meet their changing lifestyles and the enduring cycle of the seasons.

“The through concept of nomadic culture is to leave no trace. If you build a house, it is left there when you die. But a ger can be broken down and dissolved.”
—Nara Nasanbuyn

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As told to Sarah Buder, with reporting by Matt Dutile

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In Mongolia, a Traditional Housing Type Meets the Changing Realities of Its Residents