Named after Mount Kenya or
Kirinyaga, (meaning 'The Mountain of Whiteness'), which lies almost in the
centre of the countryand marks its highes point. Kenya straddles the equator
and covers ano area of about 600,000 square kilometres. Lying on the shores of
the Indian Ocean on the East Coast of Africa, Kenya borders Somalia, Ethiopia,
South Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania. Most of the north and northeast of the
country is either uninhabited or sparsely habited desert.
Nairobi, (taken from the Maasai
ward 'Nyrobi' meaning place of cool water), and also known as 'the Green City
in the Sun' and the 'Safari Capital of the world', has an unofficial population
of approximately 2.7 million people. It came to being in May 1899 as an
artificial settlement created by the European builders of the East African
railway, located at 'Mile 327' from the Coast. Easily the largest city in East
Africa, Nairobi is also the youngest, most modern, the highest (at 1700m) and
fast growing.
From a Green City to a country whose economy also depends on
Agriculture, deforestation plays an important factor to the environment. Kenya
has spearheaded a programme of planting over 10 million trees in the past two
decades with the help of private groups and tree nursery programmes to
replenish for the future.
Kenya was the first country in Africa to build geothermal
power sources, located in the Rift Valley at the Olkaria gorges. This power
makes a contribution of about 20% of the current electricity provision. Also
with plentiful of sunshine and vast arid land, Kenya is developing solar energy
to become an alternative energy source. Most projects are rural based and
encouraging development.
The landscape of Kenya is distinctly divided into two
halves; the eastern half slopes gently to the coral backed seashore, the
western portion rises more abruptly through a series of hills and plateaus to
the eastern Rift valley, known in Keya as the Central Rift. West of he Rift is
the westward-sloping plateau, the lowest part of which is occupied by Lake Victoria.
The highest point in the country is the snow-capped peak of Mount Kenya
(5,199m), the second heist mountain in Africa (and one of the largest
freestanding mountains in the world with a base diameter of 200 Km). The
Coastline extends some 536 km the Tanzanian border in the southeast, to the
Somali border in the northeast. The main rivers are the Athi/Galana and the
Tana. The major lakes are; Lake Victoria, Turkana, Baringo, Naivasha, Magadi,
Jipe, Bogoria, Nakuru and Elementaita.
