Geography

 

Kenya covers 224,960 square miles (slightly smaller than Texas) and sits upon the equator, on the eastern coast of the African continent. Its coastal region is on the southeast, and to the east lays Somalia. Ethiopia is to the north, the Sudan to the northwest, and Uganda directly to the west. The southwestern border of the country is marked by Lake Victoria, and southward lays Tanzania. Kenya's geography is marvelously varied. While much of northeastern Kenya is a flat, bush-covered plain, the remainder of the country encompasses pristine beaches, scenic highlands and lake regions, the Great Rift Valley, and the magnificent Mount Kenya.

For a full century, Kenya has drawn great people, from Ernest Hemingway to Teddy Roosevelt, and few people visit here only once. The Great Rift Valley, an expanding fault line, stretches from the Red Sea to Mozambique, and is visible from the moon. When the rift began about 30 million years ago, it created a basin that filled with rain, creating a series of lakes from Magadi in the south to Baringo in the north. Volcanic activity accompanied this shift, creating Kilimanjaro, Mt. Kenya, Longonot, the Ngong and Chyulu Hills. The most fertile land, usurped from Africans, were called the White Highlands, and are still home to cattle ranches, coffee and tea plantations.