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Mar 14, 2010

Do Eskimos live in igloos?

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Eskimos do not actually live in igloos as what most people commonly think. The word "igloo" means house in one of the Eskimos dialects and not always referring to a round-shaped structure made of ice blocks. Eskimos or rather "Inuit", as what they preferred to be called live in more permanent structures.

The Inuit, and other Artic populations, have used igloos as temporary shelters for thousands of years, especially during a hunting trip. In order to find food, it was necessary for them to live a wandering life, following their migrations. Generally, they would have a summer home and a winter home. Tents made of seal or caribou skin provided shelter during the summer months and during the winter, they built igloos.

Inside an igloo, the temperature can be below zero, but when comparing to the outside, -40 degrees Celcius, it is still much warmer. Igloos are surprisingly strong and can hold the weight of the builder standing on top. The important thing about igloos is that they are relatively easy to build (with practice) and can be built very quickly (10 minutes) and it uses a resource that there is plenty of in the artic, ice and snow.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is good,but needed more information.Understood............................But the last paragraph was very informative.......

Anonymous said...

The word is "Arctic", not artic.

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