Kenya -- Geography
Area
The total
area of
Kenya is
224,960
square miles;
almost 5,200
sq. miles
of this
total takes
the form
of fresh
water, mainly
in Lake
Rudolf.
Location
Kenya
is positioned
on the equator
on Africa's
east coast.
Its northernmost
and southernmost
points are
approximately
equidistant--a
little over
40 north
and south
of the equator.
Kenya shares
borders
with five
other countries.
The perimeter
of Kenya's
international
land borders
is 3,446
km., including
borders
with Sudan
(306 km),
Ethiopia
(779 km),
Somalia
(682 km),
Tanzania
(769 km),
and Uganda
(772 km).
Kenya's
eastern
and northern
neighbors
are Somalia
and Ethiopia.
To the northwest
lies the
Sudan. Many
inhabitants
of the Sudan's
border region
are in fact
ethnically
related
to Kenya
`s peoples.
To the west
lies Uganda
and to the
south, Tanzania,
both nations
that share
with Kenya
a history
of British
colonial
rule.
Geographical
Regions
The
country
is commonly
divided
into seven
major geographic
regions,
as follows.
The
Coastal
Region extends
some 250
miles from
the southern
border where
Kenya meets
Tanzania,
to the border
with Somalia
in the north.
This region
is characterized
by a variety
of geographical
features,
a variety
that is
particularly
pronounced
as one travels
south or
north. The
southern
shoreline
consists
largely
of stretches
of coral
rock and
sand interrupted
by bays,
inlets,
and branched
creeks.
Following
the coast
is a barrier
reef that
is broken
only rarely.
Traveling
inland from
the coast,
one encounters
a narrow
plain, and
later a
low plateau
area reaching
an elevation
of about
500 feet,
and, finally,
a line of
discontinuous
ridges.
The principal
geographic
feature
of the northern
part of
the region
is the Lamu
Archipelago,
which was
formed when
a rise in
the ocean
level inundated
coastal
lands.
The
southern
coastal
hinterland
is a relatively
featureless
erosional
plain broken
in a few
places by
groups of
small hills.
The Tana
Plains are
mainly a
depositional
plain; equally
featureless
and deficient
in rainfall,
this region
extends
northward
from the
upper Coastal
Region to
the northern
plains.
The plain's
eastern
edge forms
the border
of Somalia
(into which
it actually
extends).
The western
part of
the plain
ends with
the elevated
Eastern
Plateau
Region.
The Tana
River flows
across the
plain from
the Kenyan
Highlands
into the
Indian Ocean.
The Eastern
Plateau
Region
consists
of a belt
of plains
extending
north- and
southward
to the eastern
Kenya Highlands.
Land elevations
vary mainly
between
1,000 and
3,000 feet
above sea
level.
The
Northern
Plain-lands
Region stretches
from the
border with
Uganda on
the west
to the Somalia
border on
the east.
It is made
up of a
series of
arid plains
formed by
erosion
or by great
outpourings
of lava.
The region
includes
Lake Rudolf
and the
Chalbi Desert.
West of
the lake
the lands
are quite
arid, with
an annual
rainfall
that averages
under ten
inches and
that falls
some years
to an almost
negligible
level. East
of Lake
Rudolf lies
the Chalbi
Desert;
still farther
east are
equally
arid lands
that ordinarily
support
only semi-desert
vegetation.
The
Kenya Highlands
Region was
known as
the White
Highlands
during colonial
times since
the European
population
tended to
concentrate
there. The
region consists
of two major
divisions,
lying east
and west
of the Great
Rift Valley
that runs
north-south.
These regions
are made
up of a
variety
of geographical
subdivisions
whose origins
are diverse.
The entire
area is
characterized
by significantly
higher altitude,
cooler temperatures,
and, generally
speaking,
more plentiful
precipitation
than in
other regions.
Rift
Valley Region
encompasses
Eastern
Africa's
Rift Valley
which was
formed by
an extended
series of
faulting
and differential
rock movements.
The valley
stretches
from Kenya's
Lake Rudolf
area, running
southward
through
the Kenya
Highlands
into Tanzania.
Near Lake
Rudolf,
the valley
floor tapers
down to
less than
1,500 feet
above sea
level, but
southward
it rises
steadily
to nearly
6,200 feet
in its central
section
near Lake
Naivasha.
South of
the lake,
it drops
off to about
2,000 feet
at the Kenya-Tanzania
border.
The
Western
Plateau
Region forms
part of
the extensive
basin around
Lake Victoria.
In Kenya
the region
consists
mainly of
faulted
plateaus
marked by
escarpments
that descend
gently from
the Kenya
Highlands
to the lakeshore.
The region
is divided
by the Kano
Rift Valley
into northern
and southern
sub-regions
with distinct
geographical
features.[1]
Climate
Given
that Kenya
straddles
the equator,
its terrain
is highly
diversified
with climatic
conditions
ranging
from moist
to arid.
In this
part of
Africa,
seasons
are distinguished
by duration
of rainfall
rather than
by changes
in temperature.
In the Western
Plateau
and the
Highlands,
rain falls
in a single
long season.
East of
the rift
valley,
there are
two distinct
seasons:
a period
of long
rains from
March to
May and
one of short
rains from
September
to October.
Rainfall
is most
plentiful
in the Highlands
and on the
coast which
receive
an average
of 101 cm.
The Western
Plateau
receives
over 178
cm annually.
More than
70% of the
country,
however,
is arid
or semi-arid,
receiving
less than
51 cm per
year. Rainfall
is sporadic
in the dry
areas.
Variations
in altitude
are the
major factor
in temperature
differences
in the various
parts of
the country.
The Highlands
generally
have a cool,
bracing
climate
with a mean
annual maximum
of 26.10C
(790F) and
a mean annual
minimum
of 10C (50F).
Nairobi,
at an elevation
of 1,670
meters (5,500
feet), has
a mean annual
temperature
of 19C (67F).
The nation's
highest
temperatures
are found
in the Northern
Plain, where
the mean
maximum
is 34C (93F)
and temperatures
often reach
43.3C (110F).
Temperatures
varies between
14C (57F)
and 29C
(84F) in
the Eastern
Plateau,
and between
34C (93F)
and 17.8C
(64F) and
21.1C (70F)
in the coastal
areas. The
hottest
months fall
between
January
and March;
the coldest
are June
and July.[2]
Vegetation
Kenya's
plant life
is highly
diverse,
ranging
from mangrove
forests
and coconut
palms on
the coast
to Savannah
grassland
and woods
to thick
coniferous
evergreen
forests
on the mountain
slopes.
On the western
plateaus,
low trees
grow amid
grass over
1.5 meters
high; similar
vegetation
is found
between
915 and
1,829 meters
east and
south of
Mount Kenya
and near
the headwaters
of the Tana
and Athi
rivers.
On the northern
and southern
edges of
the highlands,
flat-topped
trees are
scattered
through
meter-high
grass. [3]
Drainage
System
The area's
principal
drainage
system begins
in the Kenya
Highlands
Region.
Streams
and rivers
radiate
from this
region eastward
toward the
Indian Ocean,
westward
to Lake
Victoria,
and run
northward
to Lake
Rudolf or
disappear
the arid
terrain
of northern
Kenya. A
secondary
drainage
system is
formed by
rivers in
the southern
highlands
of Ethiopia,
which extend
into Kenya
along the
eastern
part of
their shared
boundary.
These rivers
are seasonal.
Those receiving
sufficient
rainwater
to reach
the sea
all pass
through
Somalia.
The two
largest
rivers--the
only navigable
ones--are
the Tana
and the
Galana,
which empty
into the
Indian Ocean.
The Tana
basin has
an area
of about
24,000 square
miles and
receives
much of
the flow
from the
Aberdare
Range and
Mount Kenya.
The Galana
River has
its source
in the southeastern
Kenya Highlands
and flows
together
with its
tributaries
into the
Indian Ocean
north of
Malindi.
Several
smaller
rivers begin
in the foothills
of the eastern
Kenya Highlands
in the Tana
River basin.
The Lagh
Thua and
Mkondo Wa
Kokani rivers
disappear
in the semi-arid
region east
of the highlands;
only in
times of
heavy rainfall
do their
waters cross
the area
to empty
into the
Tana River.
South of
the Galana,
the Goshi
River runs
about 130
miles, fifty
miles of
whose lower
course has
water in
the dry
season.
The
western
Kenya Highlands
are drained
by a number
of rivers
that empty
into Lake
Victoria.
The largest
of these
are the
Nzoia, about
160 miles
long, and
the Yala,
with a length
of about
110 miles.
Yala Falls
and Selby
Falls (on
a tributary
of the Nzoia)
have considerable
potential
for generating
hydroelectric
power. The
Mara River,
in the Mau
Escarpment
in the southwest
highlands,
flows southward
for about
100 miles,
enters Tanzania,
and turns
westward
to flow
for almost
another
100 miles
into Lake
Victoria.
The northern
Kenya Highlands
east of
the Rift
Valley are
drained
by small
rivers that
disappear
in the arid
land to
the north
and by the
larger,
eastward-flowing
system of
the Ewaso
Ngiro, which
has a drainage
basin of
approximately
22,000 square
miles.[4]
[1]
Kaplan,
Irving &
et.al. 1976.
Area Handbook
for Kenya,
Second Ed.,
U.S. Government
Printing
Office:
Washington,
D.C. pp.
50-64.
[2]
Kurian,
George Thomas
1992. Encyclopedia
of the Third
World, fourth
edition,
volume
III, Facts
on File:
New York,
N.Y., pp.
968-69.
[3]
Uwechue,
Raph (ed.)
1996. Africa
Today, Third
Edition,
Africa Books
Limited,
p. 854.
[4]
Kaplan,
Irving &
et.al. 1976.
Area Handbook
for Kenya,
Second Ed.,
U.S. Government
Printing
Office:
Washington,
D.C. pp.
57-58.