LAND & PEOPLE

GEOGRAPHY

Named after Mount Kenya, or Kirinyaga ("Mountain of Whiteness"), which lies almost in the center of the country, Kenya straddles the equator and covers an area of just under 225,000 sq. miles (583,000 sq. km). Bounded to the east by the Indian Ocean, it shares borders with Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda, and Tanzania. Most of the north and northeast of the country is either uninhabited or sparsely inhabited desert.

The Kenyan landscape is divided into two distinct 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 Kenya as the Central Rift. West of the Rift is a westward-sloping plateau, the lowest part of which is occupied by Lake Victoria. The highest point in the country is the snowcapped peak of Mount Kenya, at 17,000 ft (5,199 m) the second-highest mountain in Africa and one of the largest freestanding mountains in the world with a base diameter of 124 miles (200 km). The coastline extends some 333 miles (536 km) from 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 Victoria, Turkana, Baringo, Naivasha, Magadi, Jipe, Bogoria, Nakuru, and Elementeita.

CLIMATE

Kenya displays great contrasts in topography and climate: snowcapped peaks give way to deserts, palm-fringed beaches to rolling savannah plains, alpine highlands to the lunar semideserts of the northeast. Since the country lies on the equator, the climate remains stable all year. The days are sunny and hot, but the nights can be cool.

Broadly speaking, January to February is dry; March to May is wet ("long rains"); June to September is dry; October to December is wet ("short rains"). The coast is always hot with an average daytime temperature of 81–88°F (27–31°C). The average daytime temperature in Nairobi is 70–79°F (21–26°C), while the temperatures elsewhere depend on altitude. The period July to August marks the Kenyan winter.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Kenya's flora is diverse: along the coasts are forests containing palm, mangrove, teak, copal, and sandalwood trees. Forests of baobab, euphorbia, and acacia trees cover the lowlands to a height of around 3,000 ft (915 m) above sea level. Extensive tracts of savannah grassland, interspersed with groves of acacia and papyrus, characterize the terrain at heights from 3,000 to 9,000 ft (915 to 2,745 m). The principal species in the dense rain forest of the eastern and southeastern mountain slopes are camphor and bamboo. The alpine zone, above 11,600 ft (3,550 m), contains large plants of the Senecio and Lobelia genera.

Despite the tremendous losses inflicted by hunting and poaching during the twentieth century, Kenya teems with wildlife. There are eighty major animal species, ranging from the "Big Five" (elephant, buffalo, rhinoceros, lion, and leopard) down to tiny antelopes such as the dik-dik, which is slightly larger than a rabbit. At least thirty-two endemic species are endangered.

An ornithologist's paradise, Kenya is the finest country in Africa for bird-watching, boasting 1,137 species of birds and sixty IBAs (Important Bird Areas). It is common to spot more than one hundred bird species in a day.

Kenya's wildlife conservation area is 17,000 sq. miles (44,400 sq. km) or 7.6 percent of its total area. For national parks and reserves, see pages 119–21.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

Deforestation is a major problem. With one of the highest population growth rates in the world, Kenya requires ever-increasing amounts of agricultural land for crops and firewood for fuel. However, some 10 million trees have been planted over the past two decades with the help of private groups and tree nursery programs. There is soil erosion and desertification in some areas. Significant water pollution has followed the increased use of pesticides and fertilizers, and contamination of supplies means that only about 50 percent of the rural population has access to safe drinking water.

CITIES

The capital, Nairobi, from the Maasai word Nyrobi meaning "Place of Cool Waters," also known as the "Green City in the Sun" and "Safari Capital of the World," has a population of around 3.9 million people (the unofficial figure is closer to 5 million). It came into being in May 1899 as a supply depot created by the European builders of the East African railway, located at "Mile 327" from the coast, high enough above sea level to avoid the malaria mosquito. The largest city in East Africa, it is also one of the youngest, the most modern, the highest at 3,600 ft (1,700 m), and the fastest growing.

Other urban centers are Mombasa (the main port on the Indian Ocean), Kisumu on the shores of Lake Victoria, Eldoret, Thika, and Nakuru.

THE KENYAN PEOPLE

Kenya is a cultural microcosm of Africa. Groups from all over the continent have migrated there for centuries, each with its own distinctive cultural features. As a result, Kenya has more than seventy ethnic communities, speaking close to eighty different dialects; all are united under the striped green, black, and red national flag (green for the land, black for the people, and red for the blood spilled in the struggle for freedom). Unity is expressed in the national motto Harambee, which translates as "let's all pull together."

The Population

For many years Kenya enjoyed the dubious distinction of registering the highest population growth in the world. Then, at the turn of the millennium, the growth rate slowed down dramatically. The high-speed growth had stemmed from the fact that, until very recently, a man's social and economic status in Kenya was largely determined by the number of children he sired. And, since polygamy was also widely accepted, a man of consequence could boast of having fathered maybe a hundred children, often more. Kenyan tradition also dictates that, once married, a couple must name a child after each of their own parents; which means they must continue to produce children until they have two of each sex. Add to the above the fact that Kenyans universally adore children, and that most Kenyan women would not consider themselves fulfilled unless they had borne at least one child (whether married or not), and the reasons for the explosive birthrate are all too clear.

As to the sudden decline in the population growth rate, this has resulted not only from the impact of AIDS on Kenyan society, but also from the growing realization, especially among the rural population, that today's couples can neither support nor finance the education of so many children. The emergence of a Kenyan middle class has also affected the growth rate, with many professionals choosing to establish financial security before starting a family, and then...