Life On The Water: 11 Floating Villages Across The World
Throughout history, civilisations flourished near rivers, lakes and other water sources to meet basic needs like drinking, washing and irrigating their lands to grow food. This can be seen even today as several modern cities are centred around rivers for commercial and industrial purposes. However, some communities live on water in tiny clusters or small floating villages. Also known as boat communities, these settlements on the surface of inland water bodies developed due to ethnic and occupational reasons.
Here is a list of 10 floating villages in various parts of the world.
1. Tonle Sap, Cambodia
One of the freshwater lakes in Cambodia, Tonle Sap, houses hundreds of floating villages. The number of villages on the lake depends on the size of the lake which fluctuates with every season. There are about 170 floating villages on towering stilts in the lake. The people comprising the villages belong to three ethnic groups; Vietnamese, Cham and Khmer and are seen as people without a homeland.
In the monsoon months, the lake covers 31,000 sq km of area. This largest freshwater lake in Asia and the largest freshwater floodplain in the world is ecologically diverse and was included in the United Nations Biosphere List in 1997.
Tonle Sap is also one of the world’s most productive fishing lakes and supports more than 3 million people, providing 75% of Cambodia’s inland fish catch and 60% of the people’s protein intake.
2. Mogen, Thailand
Mogens or sea gypsies, as they are often referred to, live in waters surrounding SouthEast Asia and gained attraction after the 2005 tsunami, though none of them were victims of the calamity. This nomadic community inhabits the waters off the coasts of Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, and Borneo.
They live a simple life on boats and follow their traditions and customs. They also speak a different language and have a close-knit community. Their origin remains a topic of contestation among researchers as some say they came from Indonesia while others trace their roots to India.
The government of Thailand decided to offer them citizenship and hence their name was changed to Thai Mai meaning New Thai.
3. Uros, Peru
The Uros people of Lake Titicaca in the Latin American country of Peru have created their own floating reed islands. Made with a special kind of reed – Totora – available only in this region, their homes, despite their traditional lifestyle, feature products such as televisions and radios etc.
While each island that is part of the community has reed houses, the biggest island features a watchtower. Uros community is regarded to have originated much before the Incas ruled these areas and it is believed that they were forced to choose this lifestyle when the Incas expanded onto their land.
According to their folklore, they were once God’s chosen but later on, discarded and banished as inferiors because of avarice and other vices. At present, the community makes its living from fishing and tourism.
4. Day-asan, Philippines
Day-asan Floating Village in Surigao City, Philippines is a fishing village known for its houses on wooden stilts and coral rocks in waters close to mangrove forests.
Popularly known as Little Venice of Surigao City, the village is home to around, 1800 people or 400 households. The houses can be accessed by walking or passing through the narrow bridges or passageways in river boats called Baruto.
The people live close to nature in a pristine environment. They catch fish and raise lobsters as well to sustain themselves. There are two restaurants in the area where one can order seafood fresh from the cage.
5. Ha-Long Bay, Vietnam
Halong Bay in Vietnam is known for its floating villages, some of which have been designated as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. These include the villages of Ba Hang, Vung Vieng and Cong Dam.
Tourists can get to these villages in rowboats and the locals welcome them, offering glimpses into their unique ways of life.
Each village consists of 30 to 50 families with a population of 200 to 600 people and since most islands in the area cannot be cultivated, food and essential supplies are transported from the mainland, making the lives of these people quite difficult.
They essentially sustain themselves from fishing and income from tourism. Children here learn to swim before walking and help the adults at an early age.
People of these villages tie their houses together in times of storms or typhoons.
6. Ganvie, Africa
Lying in the southern part of Benin-Republic, close to the city of Cotonou is the biggest floating village of Africa called Ganvie. It lies amid Lake Nokoue and comprises vibrant wooden stilt homes built around artificial islands which date back to the 17th century.
This floating village was established by the Tofinu tribe, who are West Africans. They are skilled fishermen and lived on Benin’s coast before the 17th century. They moved to Lake Nokoue to protect their community from the Fon tribe, who resorted to selling members of other tribes to Portuguese slave traders.
According to their beliefs, the Fon tribe could not attack them on water as it is considered sacred. The people designed an urban system and used aquaculture for urban planning and finally named the village ‘Ganvie’, meaning ‘we survived’.
The village was added to the list of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in 1996 when it was famous among tourists and visited by 10,000 people every year.
With a population of almost 20,000 people, the village features a school, hospital, floating shops and even a hotel. The mode of transportation used by the villagers is kayaks while the main occupation is fishing and trading fruits and vegetables.
7. Yawnghwe, Myanmar
Located on the lake of Inle, the floating village of Yawnghwe has a cluster of 17 hamlets with a population of around 70,000 people.
The Lake of Inle is the second largest lake in Myanmar having an estimated surface area of 116 km2. In the floating village of Yawnghwe, the houses are built on stilts and kayaks are used for transportation.
Fishing is the main activity and locals also sell fresh vegetables and fruits for a living. Currently, the floating village of Yawnghwe is a major tourist attraction in the country.
8. Kampong Phluk, Cambodia
A cluster of three villages with stilted houses, Kampong Phluk is located within the floodplain about 16 km southeast of Siem Reap in Cambodia. Home to about 1800 families and around 6000 people, Kampong Khleang is a major tourist destination in the region.
During the dry season in Kampong Phluk, water levels drop and many villagers move onto the lake to stay in temporary houses.
When the water level rises and the stilts of the houses go underwater, the families move to their permanent houses on the floodplain. The villagers make their living from fishing, particularly from shrimp harvesting.
9. Aberdeen, Hong Kong
The Aberdeen Floating Village lies in Aberdeen Harbour in the southern part of Hong Kong. It is home to 6000 people and gets many visitors due to its beautiful landscape and mouth-watering seafood and other local dishes.
It is in the Ocean Park of Hong Kong and the village has many bridges and harbours, a wholesale fish market and a floating restaurant.
The village perfectly contrasts the city’s environmental and cultural aspects. It was also the first place where the British landed when they reached Hong Kong.
It is home to the Tanka people and is known for the Dragon Boat Race, sampan boats, its culture, traditions and restaurants.
The best time to visit the village is early morning on a weekday when it is not crowded.
10. Sea Gypsies of Borneo
The Bajau, also called Sea Gypsies live on the waters off the coasts of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
They have floating houses away from the mainland which keeps them distanced from modern civilisation, allowing them to retain their original ways of life.
They live in small boats with thatched roofs and sail for most parts of the day, using their fishing skills to make a livelihood, earning the title of Nomads of the Sea.
These people are experienced sailors and have evolved to hold their breaths underwater for longer periods than other people, as they have been reported to have 50% larger spleens than other homo sapiens.
Their community was established after ethnic conflicts forced them to migrate from the islands of the Sulu Archipelago in the Philippines to Sabah and Borneo.
11. Koh Panyee, Thailand
Located in Phang Nga Province of Thailand, Ko Panyi is an Indonesian fishing village built on stilts. Situated under a vertical limestone cliff, Ko Panyi consists of 360 families with a total population of about 1685.
This floating village features a school, market, mosque, and most interestingly, a football pitch built using old scraps of wood and fishing rafts. While Life in Ko Panyi depends on fishing, tourism is one of the main income sources.
It is a Muslim village with unique traditions, given that Muslims are a minority in Thailand, the culture of these people is very different from the mainland.
The village was founded two centuries ago by a group of fishermen from Indonesia. Per legend, they were looking for a new home after their boats were caught in a storm and they came across the island of Koh Panyee. First they lived on their boats but later began building houses on stilts over water.
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About Author
Zahra is an alumna of Miranda House, University of Delhi. She is an avid writer, possessing immaculate research and editing skills. Author of several academic papers, she has also worked as a freelance writer, producing many technical, creative and marketing pieces. A true aesthete at heart, she loves books a little more than anything else.
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