Here in North America, we're used to seeing suburban homes with yards and garages when we think about homes for sale. Living in these homes is considered the continental standard, but we rarely think of how people in other parts of the world live. If you're interested in broadening your horizons a little, this article will introduce you to the type of living space your family of four could expect if you were living in various other countries in the world. This is but a small sampling of living conditions worldwide.

Japan

Japan is a small island nation that supports more than 127 million people. In many Japanese cities, space is a major concern, so there are few suburbs where families can have detached houses and gardens. Instead, a Japanese family like yours who would have been living in a very small home with several other generations of your family, where your thin sleeping mats are packed away each day to make the most of your living space and privacy is provided by decorated screens.

Australia

Australia is a huge country with sprawling cities and many historic and modern buildings. Some Australian families live in suburban homes or condos just like yours in North America, but some special climate conditions in other parts of Australia make for some very different homes. For instance, if your family live in Coober Pedy, a mining town in the Outback of South Australia, your home would be dug into the rock and completely underground to take advantage of the relative coolness.

Africa

Africa is a continent of many different nations, each of which has its own housing traditions. In Senegal, people construct their own homes out of what is available, which includes straw, sticks, and mud baked hard by the sun. We are certain you would not find similar homes for sale on the California real estate market for instance, that is for sure! And because their well water is too salty to drink, if your family were Senegalese they would build their roof with a bowl in the center to collect drinking water from the rain.

Mongolia

In very dry, barren regions like the Sahara desert and the grasslands of Mongolia, people aren't able to stay in one place long enough to build permanent structures. Instead, they're constantly on the move, so their homes are easy to pack up and take along with them as they search for new places to graze their animals. If your family were Mongolian, you would live in a home called a Yurt - a circular, tent like structure that folds up for travelling. These descriptions of home types from around the globe was provided by Cremationandcelebrations.com