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.

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.

Kina

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 of these tribes may be studied in the gallery at People: Tribals of China.

Comoro Islands

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 presented in detail 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)

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.

France

Guatemala

Guatemala is presented in detail 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, the 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.

Unfortunately, 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.

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 in detail 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.

The girls in the picture below, from 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.

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.

You may read more about this fascinating area elsewhere, see Travel episodes – 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)

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)

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)

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.

More pictures of the Batak may be seen 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 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.

Jordan

Kyrgyzstan

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. One of these peoples are the Punan, who live along the Rajang River, Sarawak. 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. 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)

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.

During the Hindu festival of Bisket Jatra, celebrated in the city of Bhaktapur, the little Newar girl in the picture below, 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.

Bisket Jatra is described on the page Religion: Hinduism.

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. (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. (Photo 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)

Pakistan

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)

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

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 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 Shingang. The ground is littered with debris from exploded firecrackers. (Photos copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

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)

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! (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Thailand

Tibet

My adventures in this fascinating country are related in detail 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

Vietnam

Zambia

The majority of the population in Zambia are various Bantu peoples. The Unga, who live in the great Bangweulu Swamps, are presented in detail on the page Countries and places: Bangweulu – where water meets the sky.

Unga boy, punting his canoe along a river channel in the Bangweulu Swamps. To the right is 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)

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

(Uploaded August 2016)

(Latest update March 2023)

Kaj Halberg - writer & photographer

Travels ‐ Landscapes ‐ Wildlife ‐ People

Children around the world