游牧民族群体倾向从一处移居到另一处，多于定居一地。在古代，不少文明曾经是游牧民族，在工业化后，游牧民族愈来愈罕见。

在动物驯化的约数万年前，游牧－采猎者是当时主要的生活方式，他们从一处移居到另一处，目的是寻找猎物及野果。

在中国历史上，中原地带的汉族人以农耕为生，将北方及西域（现今蒙古及**）的游牧民族称为胡人，带有贬义。

在中国历史上出现过的游牧民族有：

A nomad (Greek:νομάς, nomas, plural νομάδες, nomades; meaning one roaming about for pasture, pastoral tribe) is a member of a community of people who live in different locations, moving from one place to another. Among the various ways Nomads relate to their environment, one can distinguish the hunter-gatherer, the pastoral nomad owning livestock, or the "modern" peripatetic nomad. As of 1995, there were an estimated 30–40 million nomads in the world.