BASIC
INFORMATION
Full
Country Name: KENYA
Location:
Eastern Africa, bordering the Indian
Ocean, between Somalia and Tanzania
Geographic
coordinates: 1 00 N, 38 00
E
Area
total: 582,650 sq km
land: 569,250 sq km
water: 13,400 sq km
Land
boundaries
total: 3,446 km
border countries: Ethiopia
830 km, Somalia 682 km, Sudan 232
km, Tanzania 769 km, Uganda 933 km
Coastline 536 km
Maritime
claims:
continental shelf: 200-m depth or
to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200nm
territorial sea: 12nm
Climate:
varies from tropical along coast to
arid in interior
Natural
resources:
gold, limestone, soda ash, salt barites,
rubies, fluorspar, garnets, wildlife,
hydropower
Land use arable land: 7%
permanent crops: 1%
permanent pastures: 37%
forests and woodland: 30%
other: 25% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 660 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural
hazards: Recurring drought
in northern and eastern regions; flooding
during rainy seasons
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GEOGRAPHY
Kenya
covers an area of 582,646 square kilometres.
The
land stretches from the sea level (Indian
Ocean) in the east, to 5,199 meters at the
peak of the snow-capped Mount Kenya. From
the coast, the altitude changes gradually
through the coastal belt and plains (below
152 metres above sea level), the dry intermediate
low belt to what is known as the Kenya Highlands
(over 900 metres above sea level).
The
monotony of terrain in the low belt is broken
by residual hills, masses of broken boulders
and inselbergs. Settlement is confined to
places where water can be found. Wildlife
are masters of the greater part of the low
belt. The famous Amboseli Game Reserve and
Tsavo National Parks are situated here.
The
Great Rift Valley bisects the Kenya Highlands
into east and west. Mount Kenya is on the
eastern side. The Highlands are cool and
agriculturally rich. Both large and small
holder farming is carried out in the highlands.
Major cash crops are tea, coffee, pyrethrum,
wheat and corn. Livestock farming is also
practised.
The
Lake Victoria Basin is dominated by Kano
plains which are suited for farming through
irrigation. The northern part of Kenya is
plain and arid. Pastoralism is the main
land use activity. However, a variety of
food crops do well through irrigation.
Kenya
is located approximately 8-10 hours flying
time from major European cities, and about
16-20 hours flying time from North American
cities.
HISTORY
The
East African country of Kenya rises from
a low coastal plain on the Indian Ocean
to mountains and plateaus at its center.
Most Kenyans live in the highlands, and
Nairobi, the capital, is here at an altitude
of 1,700 meters (5,500 feet). Even though
Nairobi is near the Equator, its high elevation
brings cooler air. To the west of Nairobi
the land descends to the north-south running
Great Rift Valley—the valley floor
is at its lowest near Lake Turkana in the
deserts of northern Kenya. Around Lake Turkana,
scientists have discovered some of humankind's
earliest ancestors—a fossil known
as Kenya Man was dated at 3.5 to 3.2 million
years old.
Both
free enterprise and a measure of political
debate helped make Kenya one of Africa's
most stable nations after it achieved independence
from Britain in 1963. But, more recently,
corruption has been an undermining force,
and the government—pressured for reform—moved
to a multiparty system in the late 1990s.
Barriers to progress are high population
growth, electricity shortages, and inefficiency
in key sectors.
Forty
ethnic groups, including Kikuyu farmers
and Maasai cattle herders, crowd the countryside,
still home to three-quarters of Kenya's
people. Intense competition for arable land
drives thousands to cities, where unemployment
is high.
For
more information please visit
http://www.fco.gov.uk/
or
visit
http://www.tripadvisor.com
