• Ambohimanga Royal HousesRoyal timber houses on the hill of Ambohimanga, Madagascar, including Andrianampoinimerina's rosewood house with a peaked roof on a 10 m pillar; UNESCO 2001.
• Andean Ichu ThatchGrass thatch of the high Andes, made from ichu bunchgrass and used on Inca buildings, tied to stone gables with pegs and rope.
• AqalPortable Somali dome hut of bent saplings tied to central poles and covered with woven mats, built by women and carried by camel.
• Asante Traditional BuildingsEarth-and-timber shrine houses near Kumasi, Ghana, once steeply thatched with palm fronds and now mostly roofed in corrugated iron.
• Aspen Ploughshare Shingles (Lemekh)Carved aspen shingles, called lemekh or 'ploughshares', that clad the domes, barrels and tent roofs of wooden churches in the Russian North, as at Kizhi.
• Badgir (Windcatcher)A rooftop tower that catches wind and vents hot air to cool buildings, typical of Iran and the Persian Gulf, where it is called barjeel.
• Bahay Kubo (Nipa Hut)Traditional Philippine stilt house with a tall, steep roof thatched in nipa, cogon or anahaw leaves, built for heavy rain and heat.
• Bahay na BatoSpanish colonial Philippine house of stone and timber with a steep hipped or gabled roof of clay tile, thatch or, from the late 1800s, galvanised iron.
• Bamileke Conical RoofBamileke buildings of Cameroon's West Region pair square bamboo-panel walls with tall conical roofs; chiefdom great huts reach about 17 m.
• Bangla RoofThe bangla roof is a curved, drooping-eave roof form from Bengal, copied from thatched village huts into brick temples and later Mughal and Rajput buildings.
• BarastiGulf houses and shelters built of date-palm fronds (arish), once common along the coasts of the UAE and its neighbours.
• Batak House (Jabu)Traditional houses of the Batak of North Sumatra: the Toba jabu with a huge saddleback roof and projecting gables, and tiered Karo houses with hip roofs of ijuk.
• Batammariba Takienta (Tower-House)Earthen tower-house of the Batammariba of northern Togo and Benin, with livestock below and granaries standing on the roof terrace.
• Bhutanese Shingle RoofThe traditional Bhutanese roof is a gently pitched roof of loose pine shingles held down by stones on laths, raised above an open, ventilated loft.
• Birch-Bark RoofingLayers of birch bark used as a waterproof roof membrane under turf, poles or wooden shingles in Scandinavia, Finland, Russia and the Baltic region.
• BohíoPalm-thatched house of the Taíno of the Greater Antilles, still built in rural Cuba and recorded in Dominican census roof categories.
• Burza Pash Roof (Kashmiri Birch-Bark Roof)Burza pash was the traditional Kashmiri roof of timber boards, birch bark and a layer of earth, which in spring flowered with tulips and irises.
• Cape Dutch ThatchThatched roofs over whitewashed walls and ornate gables, the signature of Cape Dutch architecture in South Africa's Western Cape.
• Chandal RoofTraditional Gulf flat roof of imported mangrove poles (chandal, danshil) overlaid with bamboo, palm or reed mats and clay.
• Chattel HouseSmall, movable timber house of Barbados with a steep roof, set on loose coral-stone blocks; a symbol of post-emancipation Caribbean housing.
• ChhatriA chhatri is a small domed pavilion raised on pillars, used in Rajput and Mughal architecture as a rooftop ornament and as a memorial canopy.
• ChogaChoga is the Korean thatched house and its rice-straw roof, renewed every one to three years and once the home of most Korean working people.
• Coppo (Italian Curved Tile)The coppo is the traditional Italian curved clay roof tile, laid as alternating channels and covers or over flat embrici, descended from Roman roofing.
• Couvreur-ZingueurThe Parisian roofer who works zinc and slate; the skills of Paris roofers and ornamentalists joined UNESCO's intangible heritage list in 2024.
• Cycladic Flat RoofWhitewashed flat masonry roof of the Greek Cyclades, built for a dry, windy climate and used to collect rainwater; often paired with domed churches.
• Dalmatian Stone Slab RoofTraditional roofs of thin limestone slabs (kamene ploče) on houses and dry-stone huts (bunje) of the Croatian Adriatic coast and islands.
• DarbaziTraditional Georgian house with a stepped, corbelled timber roof (gvirgvini) rising to a central smoke and light opening.
• Diola Impluvium HouseRound earth house of the Diola (Jola) of Casamance, Senegal, whose thatched roof slopes inward to collect rain in a central basin.
• Djenné Earthen ArchitectureMud-brick houses and the Great Mosque of Djenné, Mali, with earth-covered palm-timber roofs maintained by an annual community replastering.
• Dogon ArchitectureEarthen houses, thatched granaries and low toguna shelters of the Dogon on the Bandiagara cliffs of Mali.
• Dutch and Danish Reed ThatchWater-reed thatched roofs of the Netherlands, Denmark and northern Germany, used on farmhouses, cottages and modern architect-designed houses.
• Earth LodgeA large, dome-shaped dwelling of the Great Plains, built of a heavy timber frame covered with willow, grass and thick sod over a shallow circular pit.
• English ThatchThatched roofs of England in long straw, combed wheat reed or water reed, with regional styles and a 12-15 year ridge maintenance cycle.
• Fijian BureTraditional thatched Fijian house on a raised rock base with a steep hipped roof; once a men’s house, now also a resort bungalow.
• Fouta Djallon Thatched ArchitectureRound earth houses and mosques of the Fulbe (Peul) of Guinea's Fouta Djallon highlands, crowned with heavy conical thatched roofs.
• Fujian Tulou RoofsTiled roofs with wide overhanging eaves that crown the circular and square earthen tulou of Fujian, China; a UNESCO World Heritage site.
• Funco (Cabo Verde Round House)Traditional round stone house of Cabo Verde with a conical roof thatched with palm fronds, found mainly on Fogo, Santiago and Maio.
• Gando Primary SchoolSchool in Gando, Burkina Faso (2001), by Diébédo Francis Kéré, known for a raised metal roof floating over a ventilated earth-block ceiling.
• Gassho-zukuriSteep thatched farmhouse roofs of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama, Japan, shaped to shed heavy snow; part of a UNESCO World Heritage site.
• Ger RoofThe ger roof is the domed roof of the Mongolian yurt: straight uni poles rising to a wooden toono crown ring, covered with layers of felt and canvas.
• Great ZimbabweMedieval stone-walled capital in Zimbabwe (c. 1100-1450) whose people lived in daga huts inside and around dry-stone enclosures; UNESCO site since 1986.
• GunyahAboriginal Australian shelter of bark, branches, leaves and grass, also called humpy, wurley, mia-mia or wiltija; often domed or a lean-to.
• Haitian Gingerbread HouseOrnate timber and masonry house of Port-au-Prince (1885-1925) with steep roofs and turrets, now mostly corrugated steel; many survived the 2010 earthquake.
• Hanok Roof (Giwa and Choga)Roofs of the traditional Korean house: curved clay-tile giwa roofs of the upper classes and rice-straw choga thatch of rural commoners.
• Harran Beehive HousesConical mud-brick domed houses (kümbet) of Harran in south-eastern Turkey, built without timber and vented at the top.
• Haus TambaranSepik spirit house of Papua New Guinea: a men’s ceremonial house with a towering painted gable and a thatched roof sloping to the ground.
• Hausa Earth Vaults and DomesFlat roofs, arches and domes of earth over cantilevered deleb-palm timber, built by Hausa master masons in northern Nigeria and Niger.
• HidmoTraditional rectangular stone house of Tigray (Ethiopia) and highland Eritrea, with timber ceilings carried on posts and a flat roof of soil.
• HiwadabukiHiwadabuki is Japanese roofing made of many thin layers of hinoki cypress bark fixed with bamboo nails, used on shrines, palaces and temples.
• Icelandic Turf HouseTraditional Icelandic building of turf blocks over a timber frame on a stone base, with a turf-covered roof; on Iceland's UNESCO Tentative List.
• Ifugao House (Bale)The bale, the traditional raised one-room house of the Ifugao of northern Luzon, Philippines, with a steep pyramidal thatched roof and rat-guarded posts.
• Irish ThatchStraw and reed thatched roofs on whitewashed Irish cottages, an ancient building tradition now mostly preserved on heritage and holiday homes.
• Iroquoian Longhouse RoofRounded bark roof of the Haudenosaunee and Wendat longhouse: bent poles sheathed in elm or cedar bark, with smoke vents over a line of hearths.
• Japanese Kawara TileFired clay roof tiles of Japan, used on temples since Buddhism's arrival and on houses since the Edo period, made in centres such as Sanshu and Sekishu.
• Kath-kuniKath-kuni is the Himachal Pradesh building tradition of mortarless timber-and-stone walls under overhanging roofs of local slate or wooden shingles.
• KayabukiKayabuki is Japanese grass thatch, usually miscanthus or reed, used on farmhouses, shrines and the steep gassho-zukuri roofs of Shirakawa-go.
• Kerala Sloping RoofThe long, steep, deep-eaved timber roofs of traditional Kerala architecture in south-west India, shaped by heavy monsoon rain.
• KershefBuilding material of Egypt's Siwa Oasis made of salt rock and mud, used with palm-trunk roofs in the old fortress-town of Shali.
• KokerabukiKokerabuki is a Japanese roof of very thin split cypress shingles, a few millimetres thick, fixed in close courses with bamboo nails.
• Kozolec (Slovenian Hayrack)A kozolec is a permanent, usually roofed timber hayrack used to dry hay and maize, regarded as a symbol of Slovenian vernacular architecture.
• Krio Board HouseTimber house of Freetown's Krio community in Sierra Leone, traced to 18th-century settlers from North America; now rare and often roofed in metal.
• Kulla (Balkan Tower House)A kulla is a fortified stone tower house of Albania, Kosovo and neighbouring Balkan lands, with thick walls, small openings and tall stone storeys.
• Læsø Seaweed RoofA thick roof of dried eelgrass laid over timber on the Danish island of Læsø, developed in the 17th century when salt boiling had stripped the island of trees.
• LauzeA lauze is a flat stone slab of schist or limestone used as a heavy roof covering in the mountains and plateaux of southern and central France.
• Maasai EnkajiThe enkaji is the Maasai house of Kenya and Tanzania: a low, loaf-shaped shell of poles and sticks whose roof is plastered with cow dung and mud by women.
• Macuti HouseTraditional house of Mozambique Island with a hipped roof of coconut palm leaves (macuti) on mangrove poles; it gave the island's southern Macuti Town its name.
• Makuti ThatchMakuti is East African coastal thatch made of coconut palm leaves stitched over sticks into panels, tied to roof battens with sisal fibre.
• MalocaLarge communal thatched longhouse of Indigenous peoples of the northwest Amazon, especially the Tukanoan peoples of Colombia and Brazil.
• Maltese Deffun RoofThe traditional Maltese flat roof: limestone slabs, a lime-and-stone fill, and a beaten surface of lime and crushed pottery called deffun.
• ManeabaThe great pandanus-thatched meeting house of Kiribati, built of coconut wood and coral without nails; the centre of village governance.
• Mangalore TileInterlocking red clay roof tile first made industrially in Mangalore, India, in 1865; widely used on the west coast of India.
• Mangh (Sindhi Windcatcher)A mangh is a fixed rooftop windcatcher of Hyderabad, Sindh, in Pakistan, that scooped the south-west breeze down into the rooms below.
• Maramureș Wooden Church RoofsThe steep shingle roofs and needle-like spires of the wooden churches of Maramureș, Romania, eight of which are on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
• Matmata Troglodyte HousesUnderground pit dwellings in southern Tunisia: rooms carved around a large open pit, so the ground itself forms the roof.
• Maya Thatched HouseThe pole-and-thatch house of the Maya world, roofed with palm leaves or grass, used from ancient times to the present in Mexico and Central America.
• Middle Eastern DomesMasonry domes of mud brick, baked brick and stone used across the Middle East where timber was scarce, from village houses to great mosques.
• Mongulu (Baka Leaf Hut)The móngulu is the dome-shaped leaf hut of the Baka of the Central African rainforest: thin branches bent into a hemisphere and shingled with large leaves.
• Moroccan Green Roof TilesGreen glazed ceramic tiles covering pitched wooden roofs of Moroccan mosques, minaret caps, fountains and shrines, as at Fez's Al-Hamra Mosque.
• MudhifA vaulted guest house of bundled and arched reeds built by the Marsh Arabs of southern Iraq, a form traced back about 5,000 years.
• Mugamba RugoThe rugo is Burundi's traditional round house: a dome of bent poles bound with papyrus rings and thatched in straw, on UNESCO's tentative list since 2007.
• Musgum Tolek (Earthen Dome House)The tolek is the Musgum earthen dome house of northern Cameroon: a self-supporting mud shell up to about 9 m tall, built in coils with raised ribs.
• Muzibu Azaala Mpanga (Kasubi Tombs)The Muzibu Azaala Mpanga at Kasubi, Kampala, is the great thatched dome housing Buganda royal tombs; burned in 2010, it was rebuilt by 2023.
• Najdi Mud RoofsFlat earth roofs on tamarisk timber of the Najdi mud-brick architecture of central Arabia, edged by shurfat parapets.
• NakamalTraditional meeting house of chiefs in Vanuatu, a centre of kastom governance, anecdotally built to withstand cyclones.
• Ndebele House PaintingSouthern Ndebele tradition, from the 18th century, of painting bold geometric designs on the mud walls of homesteads in South Africa.
• New GournaVillage near Luxor, Egypt, built 1946-1952 by Hassan Fathy with mud-brick Nubian vaults and domes; subject of a UNESCO safeguarding project.
• Newar Pagoda RoofThe Newar pagoda roof is the tiered timber roof of Kathmandu Valley temples, carried on carved struts and covered with small terracotta jhingati tiles.
• Nubian VaultEarth-brick vaulted roof built without formwork or timber, revived in Egypt by Hassan Fathy and now promoted across the Sahel.
• Old Town of GhadamesLibyan oasis town of mud-brick houses with palm-timber roofs, roofed streets, and rooftop terraces reserved for women; a World Heritage site since 1986.
• Onion DomeBulb-shaped dome tapering to a point, typical of Russian Orthodox churches and also common on churches in Bavaria and Austria.
• PalapaOpen-sided shelter or house roofed with dried palm leaves, common in coastal and rural Mexico and Central America and on beaches and resorts.
• Palauan BaiPalau’s traditional men’s meeting house, with a tall decorated gable and steep thatched roof, built without nails on a stone platform.
• PallozaA palloza is a round or oval stone house with a conical rye-straw thatched roof, traditional in the Ancares mountains of north-west Spain.
• Pamiri House (Chid)The Pamiri house, or chid, of Tajikistan's Badakhshan region has a flat earth roof on five pillars, lit by a stepped square skylight called the chorkhona.
• Piode (Stone Roof Slabs)Piode are hand-split stone slabs, usually gneiss, used as heavy traditional roofs in Ticino and neighbouring Alpine valleys of Switzerland and Italy.
• Plank HouseLarge rectangular house of the Pacific Northwest coast with walls and a gable or shed roof of split western red cedar planks, built for thousands of years.
• PyatthatThe multi-tiered spired roof of Burmese palaces, monasteries and pagodas, built in odd numbers of tiers, with nine reserved for the king.
• QarmaqInuit transitional-season house with low walls of snow, stone or sod, a whalebone frame and a roof of skins or canvas, used into the 1950s.
• QueenslanderTimber house type of Queensland, Australia, raised on stumps with verandahs and a corrugated iron roof, built from the 1840s.
• QuinchaEarthquake-resistant building system of timber frames filled with cane and mud, used in Peru and Ecuador, often carrying light earth-covered roofs.
• Ravinala ThatchRoofing of Madagascar's east coast made from the fronds of the traveller's palm (ravinala), whose flattened trunks also supply boards for floors and roofs.
• Rock-Hewn Churches of LalibelaEleven medieval churches carved from basalt in Lalibela, Ethiopia; their rock roofs have been covered since 2008 by temporary EU-funded shelters.
• RondavelRound Southern African house with a conical thatched roof on a cylindrical wall, found in South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini and Botswana.
• Roofing in AfghanistanAfghan houses are traditionally roofed either flat, with timber beams, mats and mud, or with mud-brick domes (gunbad), as in the villages around Herat.
• Roofing in AlbaniaHow Albania roofs its buildings: the stone-slab roofs of Gjirokastër, tiered houses of Berat, kulla towers of the north, and post-communist concrete.
• Roofing in AlgeriaAlgeria's best-documented roofing heritage is that of the Saharan ksour, above all the five fortified towns of the M'zab Valley, a World Heritage site.
• Roofing in AndorraAndorran roofing: natural stone-slate roofs on Pyrenean rural buildings and bordes, now required by government construction criteria.
• Roofing in AngolaAngolan homes are roofed with zinc sheet, fibre cement, tile, concrete slab or grass thatch; Mbanza Kongo preserves Kongo and Portuguese building.
• Roofing in Antigua and BarbudaAntiguan and Barbudan roofing: timber and concrete houses with metal-sheet roofs under a mandatory OECS-based code; Hurricane Irma stripped Barbuda's roofs in 2017.
• Roofing in ArgentinaArgentine roofing: Andean grass thatch, Jesuit mission clay tile, the corrugated-iron houses of La Boca, and hand-split shingles in Patagonia.
• Roofing in Argentina and ChileOverview of Southern Cone roofing: Andean grass thatch, colonial clay tile, Chiloé's wooden shingles, metal sheet in the south, all with seismic design in Chile.
• Roofing in ArmeniaArmenian roofing: stone churches with conical tuff domes and tuff-shingle roofs, and corbelled timber glkhatun roofs in old houses.
• Roofing in AustraliaAustralian roofing: Aboriginal bark and stone-walled shelters, colonial bark and shingles, then corrugated iron, tiles and coated steel under the NCC.
• Roofing in AustriaAustrian roofing: clay and concrete tiles, Alpine wooden shingles and sheet metal for heavy snow, regulated by nine state building codes and ÖNORM B 3419.
• Roofing in AzerbaijanAzerbaijani roofing: windy Absheron flat roofs with asphalt coverings, corbelled karadam lantern roofs, and modern concrete.
• Roofing in BahrainBahraini roofing: timber-and-plaster merchant houses of the Muharraq pearling towns with flat roofs on imported poles, and modern concrete.
• Roofing in BangladeshAbout three-quarters of Bangladeshi homes have corrugated tin (CI sheet) roofs; the curved thatched hut roof of the delta inspired the bangla roof.
• Roofing in BarbadosBarbadian roofing: the movable timber chattel house with its steep hip or gable roof, corrugated iron and concrete, under a 1993 national building code.
• Roofing in BelarusBelarusian roofing: thatched gable roofs on log village houses, preserved at the Strochitsy open-air museum, Mir Castle's towers, and Soviet-era asbestos-cement sheet.
• Roofing in BelgiumBelgian roofing: ceramic tiles in the lowlands, Ardennes slate in the south, reed thatch in Flanders, and a historic role in zinc and fibre-cement.
• Roofing in BelizeBelizean roofing: Maya pole-and-thatch houses of bay leaf and cohune palm, Garifuna thatch, and timber and metal roofs shaped by hurricanes.
• Roofing in BeninMost Beninese homes are roofed with metal sheet (tôle); heritage roofs include the straw and metal roofs of the Abomey palaces and the takienta of the north.
• Roofing in BhutanBhutan's traditional roofs are low-pitched pine-shingle roofs held by stones over open lofts; most dzongs now have iron roofs, and sloping roofs are law.
• Roofing in BoliviaBolivian roofing: Andean grass thatch and clay tile, tiled Jesuit churches of Chiquitos, and metal sheet (calamina) on about half of homes (2015 survey).
• Roofing in Bosnia and HerzegovinaHow Bosnia and Herzegovina roofs its buildings: steep timber roofs on Ottoman-era houses, shingle and stone-slab tower roofs, and domed mosques.
• Roofing in BotswanaBotswana's Tswana houses have conical thatched roofs on clay-plastered walls with verandahs; modern homes use iron sheet, asbestos and concrete tiles.
• Roofing in BrazilBrazilian roofing: Indigenous thatch, Portuguese colonial telha, fibre-cement and concrete laje; 81.9% of homes had tile or sheet roofs in 2019 (PNAD).
• Roofing in BruneiRoofing in Brunei, from the palm-leaf and timber roofs of the Kampong Ayer stilt village to the glass-mosaic dome of the Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque.
• Roofing in BulgariaBulgarian roofing: low-pitched tiled roofs with deep eaves on Revival-period houses, heavy stone-slab (tikli) roofs in the Rhodopes and Balkan villages.
• Roofing in Burkina FasoBurkina Faso combines Sahelian earth roofs and Kassena painted houses with metal sheet, plus influential low-tech roofs such as Gando and Nubian vaults.
• Roofing in BurundiBurundi's traditional roof is the domed straw thatch of the round rugo house, built on a frame of bent poles; recent national roofing data are scarce.
• Roofing in Cabo VerdeCabo Verde is roofed overwhelmingly with flat concrete slabs; its traditional funco round house with palm thatch survives only in a few villages.
• Roofing in CambodiaRoofing in Cambodia, from the corbelled stone and brick temples of Angkor to timber pagodas and a housing stock now roofed mostly with metal sheet and clay tile.
• Roofing in CameroonCameroon's roofs range from Musgum earthen domes and Bamileke conical thatch to Baka leaf huts; corrugated iron has replaced many older forms.
• Roofing in CanadaCanadian roofing: Inuit snow and sod houses, bark longhouses, cedar plank houses and Norse turf; today asphalt shingles and metal under the National Building Code.
• Roofing in ChadChad's roofs range from flat earth roofs of Kotoko walled towns and thatched round huts in the south to nomads' tents; iron and concrete are spreading fast.
• Roofing in ChileChilean roofing: Andean thatch, Mapuche ruka, Chiloé's shingled churches, Valparaíso's zinc; metal and fibre-cement sheets cover 68% of homes (2024).
• Roofing in ChinaChinese roofing from the earliest known composite tiled roofs (c. 2400-2200 BCE) through ranked imperial tile roofs to concrete and steel today.
• Roofing in ColombiaColombian roofing: Amazonian palm-thatched malocas, colonial clay tile in Cartagena, bahareque coffee-region houses, and fibre-cement 'eternit' and zinc today.
• Roofing in ComorosRoofing in the Comoros is poorly documented; the islands' historic Swahili stone medinas, inscribed by UNESCO in 2026, are the best-recorded buildings.
• Roofing in Costa RicaCosta Rican roofing: metal sheet on lightweight frames dominates under a seismic code first written after the 1972-73 earthquakes and revised in 2025.
• Roofing in Côte d'IvoireCôte d'Ivoire roofs are overwhelmingly metal sheet (tôle) over concrete-block houses; its earthen Sudanese-style mosques are its main heritage roofs.
• Roofing in CroatiaHow Croatia roofs its buildings: stone-slab roofs and dry-stone bunje on the Dalmatian coast, clay tile inland, and the all-stone vault of Šibenik Cathedral.
• Roofing in CubaCuban roofing: the palm-thatched Taíno bohío, colonial tile, and today a near even split between concrete roofs and light sheet roofs, repeatedly tested by hurricanes.
• Roofing in CyprusHow Cyprus roofs its buildings: Neolithic flat roofs, earth-on-reed roofs in the lowlands, pitched tiled roofs in the Troodos mountains, and modern concrete.
• Roofing in CzechiaCzech roofing: steep clay beaver-tail (bobrovka) roofs, Moravian-Silesian slate, Baroque village gables and slate roofs in Prague.
• Roofing in DenmarkDanish roofing: reed thatch, Læsø seaweed roofs, red clay tiles and copper spires, and today a stock dominated by fibre-cement, tile and flat built-up roofs.
• Roofing in DjiboutiDjibouti's traditional shelters are portable Afar and Somali huts of branches and woven mats; towns use stone, coral and masonry with white-painted walls.
• Roofing in DominicaDominican (Commonwealth) roofing: Hurricane Maria in 2017 damaged 98% of roofs, prompting stronger housing standards with thicker rafters and purlins.
• Roofing in East AfricaOverview of roofing in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Ethiopia: grass thatch traditions largely replaced by corrugated iron sheets (mabati).
• Roofing in EcuadorEcuadorian roofing: colonial tile over earthen walls in Quito and Cuenca, cane-and-mud quincha houses on the coast, and metal and fibre-cement today.
• Roofing in EgyptEgypt's roofs run from stone-slab temple roofs and some of the oldest standing mud-brick vaults to Nubian domes, Siwa salt-mud houses and today's concrete.
• Roofing in El SalvadorSalvadoran roofing: Joya de Cerén's ash-buried thatch of about 600 CE, bahareque and tile houses, and metal and concrete roofs in a quake-prone land.
• Roofing in Equatorial GuineaEquatorial Guinea combines Spanish colonial buildings in Malabo and Bata with Fang villages centred on the abaá, a communal 'house of the word'.
• Roofing in EritreaEritrea's roofs range from flat soil-roofed hidmo stone houses and agudo round huts to the modernist concrete of Asmara, a World Heritage city since 2017.
• Roofing in EstoniaEstonian roofing: the tall thatched roof of the barn-dwelling (rehielamu), of reed or rye straw, over chimneyless log farmhouses, and modern steel and membrane roofs.
• Roofing in EswatiniEswatini homes are overwhelmingly roofed with corrugated metal sheet; grass thatch survives on a small share of homes, including round thatched huts.
• Roofing in EthiopiaEthiopia's roofs range from Lalibela's rock-hewn churches and Tigray's soil-roofed hidmo to thatched tukuls; corrugated iron now rivals thatch.
• Roofing in FijiFijian roofing: steep thatched bure and vale on raised bases, now almost entirely metal sheet, tested by Cyclone Winston in 2016.
• Roofing in FinlandFinnish roofing: birch-bark pole roofs, tarred shingles on wooden churches, Iron Age tar-making, and today's steel sheet roofs built for snow and frost.
• Roofing in FranceFrench roofing: interlocking and flat clay tiles, southern canal tiles, slate, Paris zinc and mountain lauzes, governed by NF DTU rules and ten-year liability.
• Roofing in GabonGabon's cheapest village houses are mud under palm fronds; brick and cinder-block houses take corrugated metal roofs, and Baka camps use leaf domes.
• Roofing in GeorgiaGeorgian roofing: corbelled timber darbazi roofs, conical church domes on tall drums, and the stone tower houses of Svaneti.
• Roofing in GermanyGerman roofing: Biberschwanz and interlocking clay tiles, concrete tiles, Mosel slate, northern reed thatch, green roofs and a regulated roofers' craft.
• Roofing in GhanaGhana's roofs are overwhelmingly metal sheet today, replacing palm and grass thatch; the 2021 census also records asbestos, concrete and earth roofs.
• Roofing in GreeceHow Greece roofs its buildings: the birthplace of the European clay tile, with Minoan flat roofs, Byzantine domes, Cycladic terraces and stone roofs in Epirus.
• Roofing in GreenlandGreenlandic roofing: Inuit winter houses of stone, turf and whalebone, Norse stone-and-turf farms, imported Danish timber houses and today's prefabricated buildings.
• Roofing in GrenadaGrenadian roofing: timber and concrete houses with metal-sheet hip roofs under an OECS-based code; Hurricane Beryl in 2024 destroyed or damaged most buildings on Carriacou.
• Roofing in GuatemalaGuatemalan roofing: Maya thatch and stone vaults, colonial tile in Antigua, and today metal sheet on 68.1% of homes (2018 census).
• Roofing in GuineaGuinea is mostly roofed with metal sheet, but nearly a quarter of homes kept thatch in 2013; Fouta Djallon is known for heavy conical thatched roofs.
• Roofing in Guinea-BissauGuinea-Bissau's homes are mostly roofed with zinc or metal sheet, but about a fifth are still thatched with straw, one of the highest shares in the region.
• Roofing in GuyanaGuyanese roofing: timber houses raised above floods with shingle or metal roofs, palm thatch inland, and St George's, a giant wooden cathedral.
• Roofing in HaitiHaitian roofing: Taíno thatch, timber gingerbread houses of 1885-1925, then heavy concrete slabs whose failures in the 2010 earthquake reshaped rebuilding.
• Roofing in HondurasHonduran roofing: Maya stone and thatch at Copán, Garifuna thatched houses on the Caribbean coast, colonial tile, and modern metal sheet.
• Roofing in Hong KongHong Kong roofing: tiled roofs of walled villages and early tenements, replaced by flat concrete roofs on dense high-rises designed for typhoon winds.
• Roofing in HungaryHungarian roofing: straw and reed thatch on purlin-and-rafter roofs, shingles in the hills, Palóc villages like Hollókő, and Zsolnay glazed ceramic roofs.
• Roofing in IcelandIcelandic roofing: a thousand years of turf over driftwood frames, then painted corrugated iron and concrete, built for wind, rain, freeze-thaw and earthquakes.
• Roofing in IndiaIndian roofing runs from rock-cut chaitya vaults and Mughal domes to Mangalore tiles; today concrete slabs, tiles, metal sheets and thatch cover most homes.
• Roofing in IndonesiaRoofing in Indonesia, from horned, saddle and towering vernacular roofs of ijuk, bamboo and thatch to clay tile, now on about 56% of houses.
• Roofing in IranIranian roofing: mud-brick and brick vaults and domes, windcatchers and ice houses on the plateau, pitched roofs on the wet Caspian coast.
• Roofing in IraqIraqi roofing: reed mudhif halls of the southern marshes, Mesopotamian mud brick, the Sasanian vault of Taq Kasra and modern flat concrete roofs.
• Roofing in IrelandIrish roofing: a thatch tradition replaced by slate and later concrete tile and fibre-cement slate, all built to resist Atlantic wind and rain.
• Roofing in IsraelIsraeli roofing: flat concrete roofs crowned with solar water heaters, mandatory since 1980, and the Modernist flat roofs of the White City.
• Roofing in ItalyHow Italy roofs its buildings: coppi and Roman-style tile roofs, stone slabs in the Alps and Puglia, flat terraces in the south, and many landmark domes.
• Roofing in JamaicaJamaican roofing: Taíno thatch, Georgian timber and zinc, and modern concrete; a 2018 Building Act adopted the International Building Code.
• Roofing in JapanJapanese roofing: kayabuki thatch, cypress-bark and shingle temple roofs and kawara clay tile, now joined by lighter metal and slate for earthquakes.
• Roofing in JordanJordanian roofing: basalt slab roofs on corbels and arches at Umm el-Jimal, the rock-cut city of Petra, and modern flat concrete roofs.
• Roofing in KazakhstanKazakh roofing runs from the felt-domed yurt and its shangyrak crown, a national emblem, to Timurid brick domes and Soviet-era flat-roofed apartment blocks.
• Roofing in KenyaKenya is roofed mainly in iron sheets (mabati): 80% of households in the 2019 census, replacing grass, papyrus, dung and palm-leaf makuti roofs.
• Roofing in KiribatiKiribati roofing: pandanus-thatched maneaba meeting houses and homes on coral atolls; thatch still covers over half of household roofs.
• Roofing in KosovoRoofing in Kosovo: thick-walled stone kulla tower houses of the Dukagjini region and domed medieval Serbian Orthodox monasteries such as Visoki Dečani.
• Roofing in KuwaitKuwaiti roofing: courtyard houses of sea stone and mud roofed with East African mangrove poles, windcatchers, and modern concrete landmarks.
• Roofing in KyrgyzstanKyrgyzstan's emblematic roof is the felt yurt with its tunduk crown, shown on the national flag; most houses are earth or brick with timber roofs.
• Roofing in LaosRoofing in Laos, known for the sweeping tiered temple roofs of Luang Prabang, with bamboo and timber stilt houses and colonial brick buildings.
• Roofing in LatviaLatvian roofing: steep gabled thatched roofs of rye straw and reed on farmsteads, a gable form echoed in Riga's Art Nouveau, and a small revival of thatch.
• Roofing in LebanonLebanese roofing: the pyramidal red Marseille-tile roof of the 19th-century central hall house, and the flat concrete roofs that replaced it.
• Roofing in LesothoMost Lesotho homes have corrugated metal roofs, while thatched round houses (mokhoro) still make up over a quarter of households in survey data.
• Roofing in LiberiaLiberia's homes are mainly roofed with zinc (corrugated metal sheet), which has steadily replaced the thatch of rural villages.
• Roofing in LibyaLibya's best-documented traditional roofs are in Ghadames, where mud-brick houses with palm-trunk structure carry rooftop terraces reserved for women.
• Roofing in LiechtensteinLiechtenstein roofing: pitched roofs on old timber farmhouses of the Rhine valley and modern Alpine houses, regulated by the 2008 Building Act.
• Roofing in LithuaniaLithuanian roofing: thatched farmsteads of five ethnographic regions, wooden fishermen's houses of the Curonian Spit, and modern steel and membrane roofs.
• Roofing in LuxembourgLuxembourg roofing: slate from the Ardennes uplands, mined at Haut-Martelange until 1986, on houses, castles and churches across the Grand Duchy.
• Roofing in MadagascarMadagascar roofs are mostly grass or palm thatch and metal sheet; the highlands add steep tiled brick houses and royal timber houses with roof horns.
• Roofing in MalawiMalawi is split between iron-sheet and grass-thatch roofs: in recent survey data metal sheet covers just over half of households and thatch most of the rest.
• Roofing in MalaysiaRoofing in Malaysia, from steep atap-thatched Malay houses with long, five-ridged and limas roofs to modern tile and metal under the Uniform Building By-Laws 1984.
• Roofing in MaliMali is a heartland of flat earth roofs on timber, from Djenné and Timbuktu to Dogon villages; metal sheet and concrete now dominate new building.
• Roofing in MaltaHow Malta roofs its buildings: flat limestone-slab roofs sealed with lime and crushed-pottery deffun, corbelled giren huts, and modern concrete roofs.
• Roofing in MauritaniaMauritania's caravan towns of Chinguetti and Ouadane are built of dry stone with flat roofs timbered in palm wood; nomadic tents were long the main shelter.
• Roofing in MauritiusMauritius moved from thatch and iron-on-timber roofs to concrete after cyclones Alix and Carol destroyed nearly 40% of its housing in 1960.
• Roofing in MexicoMexican roofing: Maya corbel vaults, palm thatch and colonial tile and brick vaults; today 78.6% of homes have concrete slab roofs (2020 census).
• Roofing in MicronesiaRoofing in the Federated States of Micronesia: thatched faluw and houses, Nan Madol’s basalt city, and today mostly metal or concrete roofs.
• Roofing in MoldovaMoldovan roofing: four- and two-pitched roofs of reed over wattle-and-clay village houses, carved wooden gable 'spears', and Soviet-era asbestos-cement sheet.
• Roofing in MonacoMonaco roofing: terracotta tiles on older buildings, a dense high-rise skyline, and government promotion of green and solar roofs.
• Roofing in MongoliaMongolian roofing centres on the felt-covered ger with its crown ring and radiating poles, alongside concrete and panel buildings in Ulaanbaatar.
• Roofing in MontenegroHow Montenegro roofs its buildings: karst stone houses with curved clay tiles, earlier straw, slate or stone slabs, and the Venetian towns of Kotor Bay.
• Roofing in MoroccoMorocco combines flat earth roofs of kasbahs and ksour, cedar ceilings, green-tiled pitched roofs on mosques, and flat roofs required in new districts from 1914.
• Roofing in MozambiqueMozambique's roofs range from the palm-leaf macuti houses and stone town of Mozambique Island to today's corrugated iron and fibre-cement sheet.
• Roofing in MyanmarRoofing in Myanmar (Burma), from the brick vaults of Bagan and teak monasteries crowned by tiered pyatthat to dhani palm thatch and corrugated metal sheet.
• Roofing in NamibiaMost Namibian homes are roofed with corrugated iron, but grass thatch still covered about a quarter of households in the 2011 census sample.
• Roofing in NauruNauru roofing: a phosphate-era housing stock of metal roofs on concrete or board walls, with roof gutters feeding household water tanks.
• Roofing in NepalNepal is known for the tiered, tile-roofed Newar pagodas of the Kathmandu Valley; its houses use thatch, tile, slate, iron sheet and concrete.
• Roofing in New ZealandNew Zealand roofing: Māori lashed timber and thatch, colonial raupō, shakes and iron, then profiled steel, tiles and post-leaky-building rules.
• Roofing in NicaraguaNicaraguan roofing: colonial tile and the vaulted León Cathedral, Caribbean-coast thatch and timber, and metal sheet in a hurricane- and quake-prone country.
• Roofing in NigerIn Niger, flat earth roofs remain among the most common, alongside metal sheet and straw; Agadez is a landmark of Saharan mud-brick building.
• Roofing in NigeriaNigerian roofing runs from Hausa earth domes and Yoruba and Igbo thatch to today's near-universal metal sheet, locally called 'zinc', and concrete slabs.
• Roofing in North AfricaOverview of roofing in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt: flat roof terraces, earth kasbahs, domes and vaults, cedar ceilings and concrete today.
• Roofing in North KoreaNorth Korean roofing shares the Korean giwa tile and choga thatch tradition; modern Pyongyang mixes concrete flat roofs with monumental tiled roofs.
• Roofing in North MacedoniaRoofing in North Macedonia: Byzantine domed churches of Ohrid, Ottoman mosque domes in Skopje, and a building code shaped by the 1963 Skopje earthquake.
• Roofing in NorwayNorwegian roofing: birch-bark and turf roofs, tarred stave-church shingles, phyllite slate and today's tile, steel and membranes, built for snow, rain and wind.
• Roofing in OmanOmani roofing: mud-brick forts and villages with flat roofs on palm-log or teak beams, painted ceilings, sarooj, and modern concrete.
• Roofing in PakistanPakistani roofs are mostly flat: concrete slabs in cities, and roofs on steel girders, timber or bamboo in villages, in a country of high earthquake risk.
• Roofing in PalauPalauan roofing: the steep, decorated bai meeting house thatched with pandanus or nipa palm, and modern metal and concrete roofs.
• Roofing in PalestinePalestinian roofing from Neolithic Jericho to the lead-covered timber roof of the Church of the Nativity and modern flat concrete roofs.
• Roofing in PanamaPanamanian roofing: colonial tile in the Casco Antiguo, palm and straw thatch in Indigenous comarcas, and metal sheet and concrete in modern homes.
• Roofing in Papua New GuineaPNG roofing: steep thatch of palm leaf, pandanus or grass on lashed frames, towering Sepik spirit houses, and a shift to metal sheet.
• Roofing in ParaguayParaguayan roofing: Guaraní straw roofs replaced by fired clay tile in the Jesuit missions of the 17th-18th centuries, a tradition still visible today.
• Roofing in PeruPeruvian roofing: Inca ichu thatch, Uros reed houses, Lima's quincha and earth roofs; today concrete covers 42.8% and metal or fibre-cement 39.2% (2017).
• Roofing in PolandPolish roofing: shingled wooden churches, Zakopane-style highland roofs, clay tile, asbestos sheets to remove by 2032, and a market led by metal roofing.
• Roofing in Poland and Eastern EuropeOverview of roofing in Poland and Eastern Europe: wooden shingle heritage, clay and concrete tile, metal sheet tiles and legacy asbestos-cement sheets.
• Roofing in PortugalHow Portugal roofs its buildings: low-pitched clay tile roofs almost everywhere, schist and slate in the interior, and flat terraces in the Algarve.
• Roofing in Puerto RicoPuerto Rican roofing: concrete slabs and zinc sheet over a Taíno and Spanish past; after Hurricane Maria in 2017 nearly 60,000 homes received temporary blue roofs.
• Roofing in QatarQatari roofing: layered flat roofs of danshil mangrove poles, bamboo or palm mats and clay on coral and limestone walls; GSAS for new buildings.
• Roofing in RomaniaRomanian roofing: fir-shingle church spires of Maramureș, reed thatch in the Danube Delta, Saxon tiled roofs with Sibiu's 'eyes', and seismic and snow codes.
• Roofing in RussiaRussian roofing: timber tent roofs, onion domes clad in aspen shingles, painted sheet iron, Soviet asbestos slate and flat panel-block roofs, and today's metal tile.
• Roofing in RwandaRwanda's roofs are iron sheets and locally made clay tiles; grass-thatched nyakatsi houses were removed nationwide in a 2009-2011 government campaign.
• Roofing in Saint Kitts and NevisKittitian and Nevisian roofing: timber and concrete houses with hip roofs and metal sheet, regulated through the OECS Building Code adapted for the federation.
• Roofing in Saint LuciaSaint Lucian roofing: steep hip and gable roofs on timber houses, corrugated metal sheet, and building regulation based on the OECS model code.
• Roofing in Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesVincentian roofing: metal-sheet hip roofs on timber and concrete houses under the OECS code; Hurricane Beryl in 2024 damaged about 90% of homes on Union Island.
• Roofing in SamoaSamoan roofing: the open-sided fale with a domed thatched roof lashed with sennit, now largely roofed with corrugated iron.
• Roofing in San MarinoRoofing in San Marino, a hilltop microstate on Mount Titano whose stone fortifications and historic centre are a UNESCO World Heritage site.
• Roofing in São Tomé and PríncipeSão Tomé and Príncipe's built heritage is dominated by about 200 colonial cocoa and coffee roças; six were inscribed as World Heritage in 2026.
• Roofing in Saudi ArabiaSaudi roofing: Najdi mud-brick flat roofs on tamarisk beams, coral-stone tower houses of Jeddah, rock-cut Hegra and today’s insulated concrete roofs.
• Roofing in ScandinaviaOverview of roofing in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland: turf and timber traditions, clay and concrete tiles, sheet metal and designs for snow.
• Roofing in SenegalSenegal mixes metal sheet, concrete slabs and thatch more evenly than its neighbours; Dakar is mostly concrete, while Casamance has thatched impluvium houses.
• Roofing in SerbiaHow Serbia roofs its buildings: domed medieval churches, high-hipped log houses with straw or shingle roofs, tiled bondruk houses and modern tile and metal.
• Roofing in SeychellesSeychelles Creole houses have high-pitched roofs, first of pandanus thatch and, after 1902 in Victoria, corrugated iron, over timber frames and verandahs.
• Roofing in Sierra LeoneMost Sierra Leone homes have corrugated metal ('zinc') roofs; thatch survives in rural areas and Freetown's timber Krio board houses are a threatened heritage.
• Roofing in SingaporeRoofing in Singapore, from attap and zinc kampong roofs to the flat concrete roofs of HDB blocks, now widely fitted with solar panels and greenery.
• Roofing in SlovakiaSlovak roofing: hand-split spruce and larch shingles on log villages such as Vlkolínec, Carpathian wooden churches, and the STN 73 1901 roof standard.
• Roofing in SloveniaHow Slovenia roofs its buildings, from straw- and shingle-roofed kozolec hayracks and Alpine herders' huts to modern tiled and metal roofs.
• Roofing in SomaliaSomalia's roofs range from the nomadic aqal, a dome of saplings and woven mats, to medieval stone and coral-stone towns such as Mogadishu's Hamar Weyne.
• Roofing in South AfricaSouth African homes are mostly roofed in corrugated metal and tile, with a regulated thatching trade (SANS 10407) and shelter evidence back to Border Cave.
• Roofing in South KoreaSouth Korean roofing: giwa clay tiles and choga rice-straw thatch, replaced from the 1970s by slate and concrete, with flat roofs on today's apartment towers.
• Roofing in South SudanIn South Sudan most households live in round tukul huts with conical grass-thatch roofs; metal sheet covered only about 3% of homes in a 2010 survey sample.
• Roofing in Southeast AsiaOverview of roofing in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia: steep tropical roofs, clay tile, thatch and widespread metal sheet.
• Roofing in Southern AfricaOverview of Southern African roofing: thatched rondavels and Cape Dutch homes, widespread corrugated iron, and concrete and clay tiles in suburbs.
• Roofing in SpainHow Spain roofs its buildings: curved clay teja árabe across the centre and south, natural slate in the rainy north-west, and flat azoteas in dry areas.
• Roofing in Sri LankaMost Sri Lankan homes have asbestos-cement sheet or clay tile roofs; older roofs range from the bronze-tiled Lovamahapaya to Kandyan tiled image houses.
• Roofing in SudanSudan's roofs range from Nubian mud-brick vaults and flat clay roofs to thatched round huts; thatch, local earth roofs and metal sheet dominate today.
• Roofing in SurinameSurinamese roofing: Paramaribo's UNESCO-listed timber houses with steep roofs, mostly of corrugated iron, rebuilt after the fires of 1821 and 1832.
• Roofing in SwedenSwedish roofing: turf and birch bark, tarred pine shingles on churches, Stockholm tar, and today's concrete tiles, steel sheet and felt, designed for snow.
• Roofing in SwitzerlandSwiss roofing: deep-eaved chalet roofs, tiled farmhouses, stone-slab roofs in Ticino, Valais and Graubünden, and Basel's extensive green roofs.
• Roofing in SyriaSyrian roofing: mud beehive domes of the north, basalt slab roofs of the Hauran, red-tiled central hall houses and modern flat concrete.
• Roofing in TaiwanTaiwanese roofing: Indigenous stone-slab and thatch houses, Hokkien swallowtail-ridge temples, then concrete roofs topped by countless steel rooftop additions.
• Roofing in TajikistanTajikistan's distinctive roof is the flat earth roof of the Pamiri house (chid), carried on five pillars and lit by a stepped skylight, the chorkhona.
• Roofing in TanzaniaTanzania is roofed mostly in iron sheets (85% of households in 2022), with grass or leaf thatch at 12%; its coast has medieval coral-stone domes and vaults.
• Roofing in ThailandRoofing in Thailand, from tiered temple roofs with chofa finials and naga bargeboards to regional stilt houses with tall gables, clay or wooden tiles and thatch.
• Roofing in the Arctic and GreenlandOverview of roofing in Greenland and the Arctic: turf and timber traditions, metal and membrane roofs today, designed for snow, wind, cold and ice.
• Roofing in the BahamasBahamian roofing: timber and shingle traditions under an early mandatory Caribbean building code, tested by Category 5 Hurricane Dorian in 2019.
• Roofing in the CaribbeanOverview of Caribbean roofing: steep hip roofs, corrugated metal and concrete slabs, shaped above all by hurricane winds.
• Roofing in the Central African RepublicMost Central African Republic homes are sun-dried brick under wild-grass or palm-frond thatch; cement-block houses with metal-sheet roofs mark wealth.
• Roofing in the Democratic Republic of the CongoMost DRC households still live under thatch or palm leaf, with metal sheet on under a third (2017-18); Mangbetu royal halls were vast timber vaults.
• Roofing in the Dominican RepublicDominican roofing: from the Taíno bohío to zinc and concrete; the 2022 census found 50.9% of homes with concrete roofs and 47.5% with zinc sheet.
• Roofing in the GambiaIn the Gambia about four in five homes are roofed with corrugated metal sheet, about one in ten with thatch, and a few with concrete.
• Roofing in the MaldivesThe coral stone mosques of the Maldives record a shift from coconut-palm thatch on timber roofs to clay tiles and then metal sheet.
• Roofing in the Marshall IslandsMarshallese roofing: pandanus-thatched roofs on four posts with a rat-proof loft, largely replaced by galvanised and aluminium sheet.
• Roofing in the Middle East and GulfOverview of roofing in the Middle East and Gulf: flat masonry and concrete roofs, domes and windcatchers, with heat, sun and rare heavy rain as drivers.
• Roofing in the NetherlandsDutch roofing: ceramic pantiles and interlocking tiles, a thriving reed-thatch trade with strict fire rules, and flat roofs turning green and blue.
• Roofing in the Netherlands and BelgiumOverview of Low Countries roofing: ceramic pantiles and flat tiles, a living reed-thatch tradition and many flat roofs with membranes and greenery.
• Roofing in the Pacific IslandsOverview of Pacific Islands roofing: thatched timber buildings lashed with sennit, largely replaced by corrugated metal, built for cyclones.
• Roofing in the PhilippinesRoofing in the Philippines runs from nipa and cogon thatch on stilt houses to colonial clay tile, and today about 86% of homes use galvanised iron or aluminium sheet.
• Roofing in the Republic of the CongoIn the Republic of the Congo, village houses are mostly mud brick with thatched or metal roofs, while urban houses in Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire are concrete.
• Roofing in the Solomon IslandsSolomon Islands roofing: sago-palm leaf thatch on timber frames, now mostly corrugated iron, with thatch still common in villages.
• Roofing in the United Arab EmiratesUAE roofing: palm-frond arish houses, coral and mud-brick houses with windtowers, and modern concrete roofs under Estidama and Dubai green codes.
• Roofing in the United KingdomUK roofing: Welsh, Scottish and Cornish slate, clay and concrete tiles, stone slates and thatch, built for a wet, windy maritime climate.
• Roofing in the United StatesUS roofing: from Pueblo earth roofs and bark longhouses to colonial shingles and slate; today asphalt shingles on houses and membranes on flat roofs, under ICC codes.
• Roofing in Timor-LesteRoofing in Timor-Leste, from tall thatched sacred houses (uma lulik) to a housing stock where 81% of roofs were modern materials such as metal sheet by 2015.
• Roofing in TogoTogo's roofs are now mostly metal sheet, replacing the thatch still common in 2010; the Batammariba tower-houses of Koutammakou are its roofing landmark.
• Roofing in TongaTongan roofing: lashed fale structures survive mainly in churches and halls; nearly all homes now have metal roofs, tested by Cyclone Gita.
• Roofing in Trinidad and TobagoTrinidad and Tobago roofing: steep-gabled Victorian gingerbread houses with dormers, colonial slate and timber roofs, and modern sheet and concrete roofs.
• Roofing in TunisiaTunisia's roofs include early Islamic domes at Kairouan, fortified flat terraces on Djerba, and Matmata's pit houses, which have no roof at all.
• Roofing in TurkeyTurkish roofing from Neolithic roof-entry houses at Çatalhöyük to Ottoman lead domes, clay tile, flat earth roofs and modern concrete.
• Roofing in TurkmenistanTurkmenistan's roofing heritage centres on the brick domes of Merv and Kunya-Urgench; the 1948 Ashgabat earthquake reshaped modern construction.
• Roofing in TuvaluTuvalu roofing: atoll houses and maneapa meeting halls once thatched, now overwhelmingly corrugated iron with gutters feeding rainwater tanks.
• Roofing in UgandaUganda's roofs are mostly iron sheets (72% of households in 2014) but thatch still covered a quarter of homes; the Kasubi royal tombs are a great thatched dome.
• Roofing in UkraineUkrainian roofing: four-sloped straw and reed thatch on whitewashed khatas, shingle-clad wooden tserkvas in the Carpathians, Soviet shifer and post-war repair.
• Roofing in UruguayUruguayan roofing: Portuguese-Spanish colonial tile in Colonia del Sacramento, and modern concrete, metal sheet and tile in a temperate, low-seismicity land.
• Roofing in UzbekistanUzbekistan's Silk Road cities are known for brick domes and tiled cupolas; houses were mud-brick with painted timber ceilings; Tashkent was rebuilt after 1966.
• Roofing in VanuatuVanuatu roofing: natangura sago-palm thatch and nakamal meeting houses alongside corrugated iron, both battered by Cyclone Pam in 2015.
• Roofing in Vatican CityRoofing in Vatican City, the 44-hectare papal state whose skyline is dominated by the double-shelled masonry dome of St Peter's Basilica.
• Roofing in VenezuelaVenezuelan roofing: Yanomami palm-thatched shabonos, earthen colonial Coro with Dutch Caribbean influence, and modern concrete and metal sheet.
• Roofing in VietnamRoofing in Vietnam, from Dong Son-era stilt houses and handmade yin-yang clay tiles to the glazed double roofs of Hue and modern concrete tube houses.
• Roofing in West AfricaOverview of West African roofing: Sahelian earth roofs and coastal thatch traditions, now mostly corrugated metal and concrete slabs.
• Roofing in YemenYemeni roofing: flat-roofed earth tower houses of Sana’a and Shibam, kept watertight by constant re-mudding, now threatened by floods and war.
• Roofing in ZambiaZambian roofs are mainly metal sheet and grass thatch; national surveys also record asbestos, cement-fibre sheet, mud tiles and 'harvey tiles'.
• Roofing in ZimbabweZimbabwe's roofs run from Great Zimbabwe's daga huts and thatch to modern asbestos-cement and iron sheet, which cover most homes in recent surveys.
• Roofs of the Troodos Painted ChurchesSteep timber roofs with flat hooked tiles that cover the Byzantine painted churches of the Troodos mountains in Cyprus, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
• Royal Palaces of AbomeyEarth-walled palaces of the Dahomey kings in Abomey, Benin, roofed with straw and sheet metal and decorated with painted bas-reliefs.
• Ruka (Mapuche House)Traditional Mapuche house of Chile and Argentina: a timber frame thatched with straw or reeds, with one east-facing door and a central hearth.
• Rumah GadangThe traditional Minangkabau house of West Sumatra, Indonesia, known for its curved, horn-like gonjong roof peaks thatched with palm fibre.
• Sahelian Earthen RoofsFlat or slightly domed roofs of timber and mud used across the Sudano-Sahelian belt of West Africa, from Mali to northern Nigeria.
• Samoan FaleOpen-sided Samoan house with a domed roof on timber posts, traditionally thatched with sugarcane leaves and lashed with coconut-fibre sennit.
• Schindel (Alpine and Central European Wood Shingles)Hand-split wooden roof and wall shingles traditional in the Alps and Central Europe, made from spruce, pine or larch and still used on heritage buildings.
• Seychellois Creole HouseTimber house of the Seychelles with a high-pitched roof, first of pandanus thatch and later corrugated iron, a large verandah and raised stone foundations.
• ShabonoRing-shaped communal dwelling of the Yanomami of Venezuela and Brazil: a continuous palm-thatched lean-to roof around an open central plaza.
• Shibam Tower HousesThe mud-brick tower houses of Shibam, Yemen, up to 11 storeys high, whose walls and roofs depend on constant re-mudding.
• Shifer (Asbestos-Cement Slate)Shifer is the common Russian and Ukrainian name for corrugated asbestos-cement roofing sheet, the standard rural roof of the Soviet Union and its successor states.
• Siheyuan RoofRidged, tiled roofs of the siheyuan courtyard houses of Beijing and northern China, with curved eaves and a south-facing main hall.
• Spanish Mediterranean Terracotta RoofLow-pitched roof of curved terracotta tiles laid in alternating channels and caps, typical of Spain and the Mediterranean and of Spanish colonial architecture.
• St Stephen's Cathedral RoofThe steep glazed-tile roof of St Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, about 230,000 tiles forming eagles and coats of arms, rebuilt on steel after a 1945 fire.
• Stave Church RoofsSteep, tiered timber roofs of Norway's medieval stave churches, such as Urnes (UNESCO) and Borgund, built to shed heavy rain and snow.
• Stone Roofs of GjirokastërThe flat dressed-stone roofs of Gjirokastër, Albania, an Ottoman-era hill town known as the "City of Stone" and a UNESCO World Heritage site.
• Stone Roofs of ZagoriRoofs of limestone or sandstone slabs, held by their own weight, on the stone villages of Zagori in Epirus, Greece, a UNESCO cultural landscape.
• Swahili Coral-Stone HouseThe Swahili coral-stone house of the East African coast has lime-bonded coral walls and heavy coral roofs on mangrove-pole joists that limit rooms to about 3 m wide.
• Swallowtail RoofA swallowtail roof has a main ridge whose ends sweep up and split like a swallow's tail, typical of Hokkien temples and mansions in Fujian and Taiwan.
• TandrotranoMalagasy 'roof horns': gable timbers crossed above the ridge of highland houses, whose length once signalled the rank of a noble family.
• Thai Temple RoofThe tiered, steep roof of Thai Buddhist halls and palaces, with overlapping tiers, naga bargeboards (lamyong), hang hong finials and the bird-beak chofa.
• TongkonanAncestral house of the Toraja of South Sulawesi, Indonesia, raised on piles under a huge boat-shaped saddleback roof of layered bamboo.
• Torvtak (Scandinavian Turf Roof)Traditional Norwegian and Scandinavian roof of birch bark covered with layers of turf, still used on cabins and heritage buildings.
• Traditional Thai House (Ruean Thai)The raised timber or bamboo house of Thailand, with a steep gable roof and long eaves, built in distinct central, northern, northeastern and southern forms.
• Trulli of AlberobelloDry-stone limestone houses in Puglia, Italy, capped by conical corbelled roofs of stone slabs; a UNESCO World Heritage property.
• TukulRound hut of mud, poles and grass with a conical thatched roof, typical of South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea.
• Tunduk and Shangyrak (Yurt Crown)The tunduk (Kyrgyz) or shangyrak (Kazakh) is the wooden crown ring at the top of a Central Asian yurt roof, and a national symbol of both countries.
• Uma LulikThe sacred clan house of Timor-Leste, a raised timber house with a tall, steep roof of thatch or palm leaves, rebuilt widely since independence.
• Uros Totora Reed HousesHouses of totora reed built by the Uros on floating reed islands in Lake Titicaca, Peru, with walls and roofs of woven reed mats.
• Viga-and-Latilla RoofFlat earth roof of the American Southwest built on round log beams (vigas) and small poles (latillas), used since Ancestral Puebloan times.
• WharenuiThe Māori meeting house at the heart of a marae in New Zealand; its gabled roof structure represents the body of an ancestor.
• Wooden Churches of Southern MałopolskaSix medieval log churches in southern Poland with tall, steep shingled roofs; inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2003.
• Wooden Tserkva Roofs of the CarpathiansShingle-clad tiered domes and pyramidal roofs of the Orthodox and Greek Catholic log churches (tserkvas) of the Carpathians in Poland, Ukraine and Slovakia.
• Zulu Beehive HutHemispherical Zulu dwelling (indlu) of bent sapling arches covered in two layers of grass thatch, tied down by ropes gathered at an apex top-knot.