MONGOLIAN GERS
Notes from Nomads
WIKIPEDIA

A ger (Mongolian) or yurt (from the Turkic languages) is a portable, round tent covered and insulated with skins or felt and traditionally used as a dwelling by several distinct nomadic groups in the steppes and mountains of Inner Asia. The structure consists of a flexible angled assembly or latticework of wood or bamboo for walls, a door frame, ribs (poles, rafters), and a wheel (crown, compression ring) possibly steam-bent as a roof. The roof structure is sometimes self-supporting, but large gers may have interior posts or columns supporting the crown. The top of the wall of self-supporting gers is prevented from spreading by means of a tension band which opposes the force of the roof ribs. Gers take between 30 minutes and 3 hours to set up or take down, and are generally used by between five and 15 people. Nomadic farming with gers as housing has been the primary life style in Central Asia, particularly Mongolia, for thousands of years.

Modern gers may be permanently built on a wooden or concrete platform; they may use modern materials such as metal framing, plastics, plexiglass dome, or radiant insulation.