Does everyone in the world live in a house or apartment?

No. Although people need houses for the same reason—to provide shelter—people live in different styles or types of houses. Their homes are determined by their country’s climate (wet, dry, cold, or hot), location (in the desert, near a river, in a big city), natural resources (such as wood, stone, or snow), number of people living in the dwelling, and the amount of money they have to spend on a home. In China, for example, families who fish may still live on boats called junks, while city dwellers usually live in apartments. The Mongolians of Inner Mongolia in northern China live in transportable homes called yurts, a dome-shaped tent made of dried grass, animal wool, and leather hides. Herdsmen sleep in them when they are driving their herds, because they can carry them easily and set them up in an hour. In parts of the Philippines, near rivers that often flood, families live in homes on stilts. Some Navajo families today live in traditional eight-sided homes called hogans, but most of them live in ranch-style homes. The Inuits, who live along the northern coast of Canada, live in homes called igloos or snowhouses, which are made from blocks of snow fitted and shaped together in an arc. In some villages in Tanzania people live in mud homes, with roofs made from dried grass and banana and palm leaves.