Children around the world

This boy participates in the annual Lantern Festival in the city of Taitung, Taiwan. During this festival, volunteers undress to represent Handan-yeh, the Daoist money god. As he dislikes cold, people shell the volunteer with firecrackers to heat him up. This picture shows the boy prior to the bombardment. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Hush, little baby, don’t say a word

Mama’s gonna buy you a mockingbird

And if that mockingbird won’t sing

Mama’s gonna buy you a diamond ring

And if that diamond ring turns brass

Mama’s gonna buy you a looking glass

And if that looking glass gets broke

Mama’s gonna buy you a billy goat

And if that billy goat won’t pull

Mama’s gonna buy you a cart and bull

And if that cart and bull turn over

Mama’s gonna buy you a dog named Rover

And if that dog named Rover won’t bark

Mama’s gonna buy you a horse and cart

And if that horse and cart fall down

You’ll still be the sweetest little baby in town

So hush little baby, don’t you cry

Daddy loves you and so do I!

Traditional song, possibly originating in the southern United States.

“One morning, somewhere between the towns of Giresun and Bulançak, we are awoken by shouting children. We arrived late in the evening, and now we realize that we have parked near a village school. Our cars are surrounded by lovely and curious children, who talk non-stop, handing us nuts, flowers, and bread. We join them to the school, where the friendly teachers invite us inside.

In the evening, we are paid a visit by two peasant girls, dressed in the local red women’s dress. They are spectacular, but when I try to take pictures, they run away, giggling. The kids assist us in making a fire, and we chat with them, until their parents call them to their homes.”

Quote from the page Travel episodes – Iran & Turkey 1973: “Kurdistan! Bum-bum-zip!”

We woke up to discover that we had parked just outside a village school. In this picture, we are posing with teachers and students in front of the school. My companion Arne is wearing a green shirt, I a blue. The young man wearing a checkered shirt is a German we travelled with for about a week. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Austria

Cambodia

The Khmer are the most numerous people in Cambodia, accounting for over 97% of the 16 million people in the country. They are descended from the founders of the Khmer Empire (802-1431 A.D.), foremost among Southeast Asian Hindu kingdoms. This empire left a superb legacy in the form of the Angkor ruins. The pictures below are all from the Angkor area.

Tonle Sap in western Cambodia is the largest lake in Southeast Asia. This lake is home to a rather large group of Vietnamese, living in so-called ‘floating villages’ – houses built on pontoons or rafts, anchored to the lake bottom. Other pictures from this area may be seen on the page Culture: A place to live, and Culture: Boats and ships.

Cameroun

China

Pictures from Tibet are shown separately under ‘Tibet’.

The Yunnan and Guizhou Provinces of south-western China are home to approximately 50 tribal peoples, who often wear very colourful traditional dresses. Other pictures, depicting these tribes, are shown on the page People: Chinese minorities.

Comoro Islands

When a companion and I were walking down this road near Itsoundzou, Grande Comore, children were fleeing in all directions. Obviously, foreigners were a rare sight in this village. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Costa Rica

Tortuguero is a small island in the province of Limón – a very peaceful place with a friendly and relaxed population.

Denmark

This little girl is sitting in a field, full of dandelions (Taraxacum officinale), central Jutland. This plant is described on the page Plants: Plants in folklore and poetry. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Danish postcard from c. 1920, depicting a little girl, dressed up for a studio photograph. (Photo: Public domain)

During forest walks in eastern Jutland, this little girl got tired. In the upper picture, she is sleeping in the child carrier on her father’s back, and the lower picture shows her, riding on her mother’s shoulders. (Photos copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Egypt

Ethiopia

Ethiopia is home to a multitude of peoples, the largest of which are the Amhara, counting about 20 million, or c. 27% of the country’s population. The pictures below show children in various regions of this vast country. Other pictures may be seen on the page Portraits, and in the gallery at People: Tribals of Ethiopia.

This young priest is blowing a horn during the Christian festival Timkat, celebrated in the town of Lalibela. This festival is described on the page Travel episodes – Ethiopia 1996: Timkat – a Christian festival. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

France

Germany

Guatemala

My adventures in Guatemala are related on the page Travel episodes – Guatemala 1998: Country of the Mayans.

Most women and many girls in this country wear a gorgeous blouse, called a huipil, consisting of several layers of cloth, sown together into intricate patterns. Every village in Guatemala has its own distinct huipil colours and patterns, and almost every woman weaves the cloth for her huipil herself. These gorgeous blouses are not only worn at religious festivals or other important events, as one might judge from the beauty of them, but constitute a part of the daily dress.

Antigua, former capital of Guatemala, is a gorgeous old Spanish colonial town, with cobbled streets, pastel-colored houses, arches across the streets, and a huge number of spectacular churches. The pictures below were all taken in this city.

Holland

Iceland

For the major part of the year, Icelandic sheep roam the mountains freely, but when winter is approaching, they are driven into a large enclosure, where they are divided, according to owners, who recognize their animals from their ear-marks. They then drive the sheep back to their farms on lorries.

India

Aboriginals of India are small people, many of Australoid descent, which lived in the forests for thousands of years. When the Dravidians, and later the Aryans, invaded India, these tribal peoples were driven into remote areas. Many still live in the states of Odisha (Orissa), Chattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh.

Sadly, the culture and way of living of these peoples are rapidly disintegrating, and many have lost their land to entrepreneurs, who extract coal, iron and other minerals from it. Owners of paper factories have persuaded several of the tribes to plant eucalyptus trees on their land, promising these people a large outcome from these trees. However, they omit to inform them that eucalyptus trees dry out the soil, often leading to scarcity of water in areas, which were previously covered in lush forest.

When the pictures below were taken in 1997, many tribal peoples had still preserved part of their traditional ways. Other pictures are shown on the page People: Vanishing peoples of India.

In areas dominated by Tibetan Buddhism, or Lamaism, many boys spend longer or shorter periods of time as apprentices in local monasteries, called gompas. These buildings, and other aspects of Buddhism, are described on the page Religion: Buddhism.

At the partition of India in 1947, millions of Muslims emigrated to the new state of Pakistan. Many stayed in India, though, and today Muslims constitute about 170 million people, or c. 14 % of the population, scattered throughout the nation. The following pictures show Muslim children at various places in India.

These girls, in the city of Bijapur, Karnataka, are dressed up for a Muslim wedding. Patterns have been applied to their hands, using dye made from the henna plant. This species is described on the page Plants: Plants in folklore and poetry. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

The following three images depict Indian school children.

The vast Thar Desert stretches across the state of Rajasthan, and further west into Pakistan. The main part of this desert is level sand or gravel plains with scattered bushes and trees.

This desert is surprisingly densely populated, inhabited by a number of peoples, who belong to various religions, such as Jains, Bishnoi, Muslims, and Hindu Rajputs. Scattered across the bleak landscape lie numerous towns and villages. One such town is Jaisalmer, close to the Pakistani border, which was founded in 1156 by a Rajput prince, Roa Rawal Jaisal.

This fascinating area is described in depth on the pages Travel episodes – India 1986: Sir, would you like to see this peacock?, and India 2003: Camel safari in the Thar Desert.

This Muslim and his children enjoy the evening, sitting on a sand dune near the village of Bambara, situated in the heart of the Thar Desert, near the border to Pakistan. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

At the annual market on the shore of the Gandak River, near Sonpur, Bihar, this woman and her daughter are sound asleep among their belongings, despite the tremendous noise from numerous loudspeakers. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Pilgrims, waiting to enter Sri Venkatesvara, a temple dedicated to the Hindu god Krishna, Tirumalai, Andhra Pradesh. The boy has been tonsured, and lime applied to his skull. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Wait for me! – Bringing home her family’s cows shortly before dusk, this girl in the village of Kaza, Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, is holding on to the tail of one of the cows. Usually, Himalayan cattle owners do not let their animals graze out at night for fear of attacks from wolves or bears. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Tamils are a people of South India, numbering around 76 million, thus being the largest Dravidian people. They constitute about 6% of the population in India, 15% in Sri Lanka, 6% in Mauritius, 7% in Malaysia, and 5% in Singapore.

This little girl in the Markha Valley, Ladakh, is playing an ancient game. She throws several pebbles into the air, trying to grab more pebbles from the ground before catching the falling ones. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

A wandering musician and his son enjoy a break outside the Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur, Rajasthan. The musician has only one leg – the artificial one is seen to the right. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Holi is a Hindu spring festival, celebrating the god Krishna, and the victory of good over evil – a gay festival, in which people, regardless of caste, pelt each other with red, yellow, purple, or green powder, or with water, dyed with powder. For this reason, Holi has been dubbed The Festival of Colours.

My own ‘colourful’ adventures during this festival are related on the page Travel episodes – India 1991: Attending Hindu festivals in Rajasthan.

Using his teeth, this little boy is tearing off the outer hard shell of a sugarcane stem, and then chews the white, sweet internal layer. – Kokkare Belur, near Mysore, Karnataka. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Indonesia

The Batak are a group of closely related Austronesian peoples, including the Karo, Pakpak, Simalungun, Toba, Angkola, and Mandailing, who live in a large area of northern Sumatra. My acquaintance with these people stems from a visit to Lake Toba in 1975.

Other pictures, depicting Batak people, are shown on several other pages on this website, including Culture: Musicians, and in the gallery at People: Tribals of the Sunda Islands.

Iran

The Lur are a people, living in the Zagros Mountains, south-western Iran. My at times rather bizarre adventures in this area are related on the page Travel episodes – Iran 1973: In the mountains of Luristan.

Iraq

For thousands of years, a huge marsh area in southern Iraq, between the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, was the home of the Madan tribe, whose way of life was completely adapted to the wet habitat. They moved about in canoes, built their reed houses on islets, and made a living by hunting and fishing, growing rice, and raising water buffaloes.

The regime of Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti (1979-2003) put an end to their way of life by draining the marshes, as a retaliation for the Madan siding with the Americans during the First Gulf War (1990-1991).

This interesting wetland is presented in detail on the pages Travel episodes – Iraq 1973: The hospitable mudir, and Iraq 1973: Dust storm and sheep’s head.

Children in the village of Hamar, situated at the outskirts of the marshes. It is often the duty of Arabian girls, however young, to take care of a smaller sibling. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Jordan

Kyrgyzstan

In the summertime, a small number of Kyrgyz still live a semi-nomadic life. This picture shows an elderly man with his grandchildren, photographed in the Karakol Valley, Tien Shan Mountains. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Malawi

Lake Malawi is the third-largest lake in Africa, 575 km long and up to 85 km wide, covering an area of c. 23,000 km². The majority of the population of this area are various Bantu tribes, including the Achewa, who live around the south-western corner of the lake.

My adventures on board a ferry on this lake are related on the page Travel episodes – Malawi 1997: A three-day ferry cruise on Lake Malawi.

This boy has paddled his dug-out canoe out to our ferry, hoping to sell a few mangoes to passengers. Soon a furious haggling over the price begins, and when the two parties have come to an agreement, the fruits are handed up, and coins are tossed into the canoe. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Malaysia

The indigenous population of Borneo consists of various Malayan tribes, known by the common name Dayaks, including Punan and Iban. My stay in a Punan village is related on the page Travel episodes – Borneo 1975: Canoe trip with Punan tribals.

Punan girls, pounding rice on the veranda in front of a longhouse along the Rajang River. With a graceful movement of her foot, one of the girls in the lower picture pushes back some of the rice into the pile, without making any pause in her pounding. (Photos copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Punan children in a longhouse along the Rajang River. The turtles have been brought back to the longhouse as a kind of live provisions, which can be eaten when need be. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

These Punan boys have invented an amusing game. Stark naked, they slide on their behind down the smooth surface of the mud, ending in the river with a splash. (This photo was kindly lent to me by Elisabeth Souvignier, copyright ©)

Myanmar

In Myanmar, a white paste is made from branches of the orange jessamine tree (Murraya paniculata), locally called thanaka. This paste protects the skin against the sun and also makes it smooth. (Photos copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Nepal

The majority of the inhabitants in the Kathmandu Valley are Newars, a people of mixed Caucasian and Mongoloid origin.

The colourful Hindu festival of Bisket Jatra is celebrated with vigour in the city of Bhaktapur. During the festival, this Newar woman has wrapped a cloth around her sleeping child on her back. She has also applied charcoal around the eyes of the child to keep flies away. Bisket Jatra is described on the page Religion: Hinduism. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

During Bisket Jatra, this Newar girl, dressed in her finery, is gathering coins from a shrine, which have been brought as an offering to the god Kalo Bhairab – the local name of the great god Shiva. Rice kernel have been applied to the red tika mark on her forehead, which is only done during major festivals. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

About 500 years ago, the Sherpa, a Tibetan tribe of pastoral nomads, migrated south and settled in several separate areas: Langtang, Helambu, Solu-Khumbu, and Arun Valley in Nepal, and Darjiling in India. In Tibetan, sherpa means ‘a person from the East’, relating to the fact that the Sherpa originated in eastern Tibet. Today, they number about 150,000, and they still speak a Tibetan dialect.

From the safety on her mother’s back, this little Thakali girl in the Marsyangdi Valley is watching my doings intensely, probably evaluating whether I am dangerous or not. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Following the Chinese invasion of Tibet in the 1950s, thousands of Tibetans fled to Nepal and India. Today, they constitute a very prominent part of the population in Nepal, and Tibetan monasteries have been constructed several places.

During Losar, the Tibetan New Year, these Tibetan boys, clad in their best finery, pay a visit to the great Bodhnath Stupa in Kathmandu. This stupa is described on the page Religion: Buddhism. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Stark naked, apart from flip-flops and a rosary, this little Gurung boy enjoys a warm spring day, near Syange, Lower Marsyangdi Valley, Annapurna. The flowering tree near the suspension bridge is a coral tree, Erythrina stricta, described on the page Plants: Himalayan flora 2. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Walking along the Rapti River, southern Nepal, this little girl has a firm grip in her grandmother’s skirt. To the right is a zebu ox, described in depth on the page Animals: Animals as servants of Man. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

A red tika mark has been applied to the forehead of this Hindu girl in the Marsyangdi Valley, and rice kernels have been pressed into the paste, indicating that a major Hindu festival is taking place. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

The common greeting in most parts of the Himalaya is Namaste, approximately translated as ‘I salute the divinity in you.’ While greeting, you cup your hands in front of your face or chest. These sweet little children were photographed in the village of Betrawati, Trisuli Valley. (Photos copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Children in the Himalaya are accustomed to work from an early age. The following pictures show Nepalese children, performing various tasks.

During a hike towards the village of Gul Bhanjyang, Helambu, my guide and I took shelter from heavy rain in the first small hotel we encountered along the trail. As it turned out, the house owners were out working in their fields, but their three sweet little daughters made tea for us, and soon their parents returned. As the rain continued for the rest of the day, we spent the night with this sympathetic family.

This hike is presented in detail elsewhere, see Travel episodes – Nepal 2009: Across a snow-covered pass.

Hiking towards the Lamjura Pass in eastern Nepal, I passed these children, who were playing outside their home. As Nepalese children will often do, they shouted something after me. When I went up to photograph them, they suddenly became very silent, watching my doings with deep interest. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Norway

Sculptures, depicting mothers with their children, created by Norwegian artist Gustav Vigeland (1869-1943). These and many other sculptures are displayed in the Vigelandsparken, Oslo. In the lower picture, black-headed gulls (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) are resting in the background. (Photos copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Pakistan

In 1978, in the city of Kot Sabzal, Sind, we went to a bank to change some travellers checks. This was a lengthy affair, but in the meantime we made friends with several of the employees, including a clerk who went out to get a boy with a nice voice who sang for us. Later, the clerk took some time off to go around in the neighbourhood with us to study farming methods of the area.

Indian jujube (Ziziphus mauritiana) is a shrub or a small tree, also known as Chinese date and Chinese apple, and in Urdu and Hindi ber. As it has been widely cultivated for more than 4,000 years, its place of origin is disputed, but is probably large parts of Africa and southern Asia.

The flowers yield honey, and the fruits are tasty, eaten cooked, dried, candied, pickled, or as so-called ber butter. They are a common ingredient in Chinese dishes. A beverage is also made from them, being very rich in vitamin C. Ripe fruits are dried in the sun, ground, and kept for out-of-season. In Ethiopia, the fruits are used as fish poison.

Philippines

Scotland

Spain

Sri Lanka

Veddas are the aboriginal people of Sri Lanka, thought to be of mixed Negrito and Australoid origin. They were driven far into the jungles by invading Sinhalese, a people from North India, who, in the 6th Century B.C., conquered most of Sri Lanka, creating an advanced civilization, comprising several competing kingdoms. The various peoples of Sri Lanka are presented on the page Travel episodes – Sri Lanka 1974: Among the Veddas.

This little Sinhalese girl lives with her parents in a temporary shelter, built for Buddhist pilgrims, who make the demanding ascent to the temple atop the sacred Adam’s Peak. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Three Sinhalese siblings, from left Chamare, Surange, and Lasante Fernando, who live on the shore of Lake Bolgoda, south-western Sri Lanka. My at times rather bizarre adventures in this area are described on the page Travel episodes – Sri Lanka 1976: Among alcohol brewers. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Tamils in Sri Lanka descend from residents of the former Jaffna Kingdom in the northern part of the island, and from Vannimai chieftaincies in the eastern part. Scientific evidence shows that Tamils have a very long history in Sri Lanka, living on the island since at least around the 2nd Century B.C.

Sweden

These children enjoy participating in the Midsummer’s Festival, taking place in the village of Himmelsberga, Öland. The girl is wearing a flower garland around her hair. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Taiwan

During a trip to a local city park in Taichung, these kindergarten children are all wearing masks. The picture was taken during the outbreak of corona virus in February 2020. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Taiwan is home to a multitude of peoples of Malayan origin, who inhabited this island long before the invasion of Chinese peoples. Today, these indigenous tribes are numbering about 600,000 persons, or c. 2.5% of the island’s population. They include the Bunun, numbering about 50,000 people, mainly live in the mountains in the central part of the island.

The following two pictures, from the village of Dalinpo, near Kaohsiung, show two attitudes when it comes to transporting children on scooters.

The prevalent religion in Taiwan is a peculiar mixture of Buddhism and Daoism, described in detail on the page Religion: Daoism in Taiwan.

During the Daoist Boat Burning Festival, which honours the God of Plague, Wang-yeh, celebrated on the island of Siao Liouchou, this boy is dressed and decorated as a Bajiajiang, a devil-like, beneficial being. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Accompanied by music from gongs, children, dressed as Bajajiang, perform a dance in front of a temple during the Tiger God festival, celebrated in the town of Shinggang. The ground is littered with debris from exploded firecrackers. (Photos copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

A very common practice among Daoists is burning fake paper money as an offering in ovens, constructed in front of the temples. These children are throwing bundles of fake money into an oven in the town of Madou. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

During Chinese New Year, this little girl is burning incence sticks in a Daoist temple, dedicated to the Mother Goddess Mazu, Dajia. But perhaps I am more interesting? (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Tanzania

Near Lake Natron we met these Masai boys, who are wearing elaborate head ornaments, adorned with ostrich feathers, bits of brightly coloured cloth, and small birds, which the boys themselves had killed. This ornament indicates that soon the boys will go through initiation ceremonies to become morani (warriors). – One of the boys seems to make fun of us with his club! (Photos copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

This boy has caught a young African broadbill (Smithornis capensis) and is now carrying it on his head, Litipo Forest, southern Tanzania. This bird is described on the page Animals – Birds: Birds in Africa. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Thailand

Tibet

My adventures in this fascinating country are related on the page Travel episodes – Tibet 1987: Tibetan summer.

Turkey

At Pamukkale, western Turkey, water, containing dissolved calcium bicarbonate, is running down a slope over a wide area, where the mineral is deposited, and, over time, has formed numerous bluish-white terraces, some dry, some containing ponds with shallow water.

Children, bathing in some of the ponds at Pamukkale. The little boy in the bottom picture enjoys his bath stark naked, whereas his mother is dipping her toes, dressed very modestly. (Photos copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Uganda

United States

My late friend John Burke was born in New York 1951. This picture from 1952 shows him and his four sisters, from left Patricia, Katharine, Margaret, and Rosemary. Rosemary is dressed in kindergarten costume, as a cat. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

In September 2001, my late friend John Burke and I attended an outdoor play at Fort Ticonderoga, Lake Champlain, New York State, in which scenes from the American Revolutionary War (1763-1783) were re-enacted. This picture shows a young flutist, marching with revolutionary troops. Several other pictures from this performance are shown on the page Novel: Rose of the Revolution. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Vietnam

Zambia

The majority of the population in Zambia are various Bantu peoples. The pictures below show members of two of these tribes from the northernmost part of the country, the Bena Kabende and the Unga.

The Bena Kabende live near the town of Samfya. Other pictures, depicting this tribe, may be seen on the page People: Women are more than half of the world, and People: Portraits.

The Unga, who live in the great Bangweulu Swamps, are presented in depth on the page Countries and places: Bangweulu – where water meets the sky. The pictures below were all taken in these swamps.

Unga mothers. Most Unga women wrap a gaily coloured cloth, called chitenge, around their waist. When the mother is busy, her baby is wrapped in a chitenge on her back. (Photos copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

This Unga boy is punting his canoe along a river channel through dense vegetation, consisting mainly of papyrus (Cyperus papyrus) and reed (Phragmites australis). (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Unga woman and children, catching fish in a big basket. The children will try to shoo fish towards the woman, who is holding the basket beneath the surface, lifting the basket, when fish are above it. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

This Unga girl, who is staying in a temporary fishing village in the swamps, carries lake water in a big bowl to the kitchen. In the lower picture, she is carrying a smaller sibling. (Photos copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

(Uploaded August 2016)

(Latest update September 2024)

Kaj Halberg - writer & photographer

Travels ‐ Landscapes ‐ Wildlife ‐ People

Children around the world