What country is close to Kenya?
What country is close to Kenya? Kenya is a well-known East African nation known for its beautiful scenery and extensive animal reserves. Historically significant ports along the Indian Ocean coast have allowed products from Asian and Arabian traders to reach the continent for many ages. Along that coast, which is home to some of Africa’s best beaches, are mostly Muslim Swahili cities like Mombasa, a historic hub that has made significant contributions to the nation’s musical and culinary traditions. The inland highlands are populated and well-known for their diverse range of animal species, which includes lions, elephants, cheetahs, rhinoceroses, and hippopotamuses, as well as their tea plantations, which were a major source of income during the British colonial era. Kenya’s northern regions are mostly semi desert and desert, with the country’s western provinces, which are characterised by lakes and rivers, being forested. Many tourists from Europe and North America are drawn to Kenya by its expansive topography and diverse wildlife, which plays a significant role in the country’s economy.
Nairobi City ,Kenya’s Capital
Nairobi is the capital of Kenya. Like many other African cities, it is a huge city characterised by contrasts, with contemporary skyscrapers towering over expansive slums in the distance, many of which are home to refugees escaping civil wars in nearby countries. While some older, affluent neighbourhoods are well-served by utilities and other amenities and feature a mixed ethnic population, the hastily assembled shacks and tents that surround the city are often organised into tribes or even local communities; in fact, in certain cases, entire rural villages have relocated to the more promising city.
Given the country’s experiences during the independence struggle, Kenya has a rich tradition of oral and written literature, including many fables that speak to the virtues of determination and perseverance values that are significant and universally shared. Kenya also has a long history of musical and artistic expression. One of the Kikuyu people’s most well-known writers abroad, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, touches on these issues in his observations about a single folk figure.
Outsiders are familiar with Kenya’s diverse population, partly due to the British colonial government’s willingness to facilitate research. To mention a few, the lifestyles of the Maasai, Luhya, Luo, Kalenjin, and Kikuyu people have been chronicled for generations by anthropologists and other social scientists. Numerous European and Asian immigrants have increased the ethnic variety of the nation. Kenyans are aware of the value of national unity and passionately uphold their unique customs and traditions. Since Kenya’s independence, the government has emphasised the phrase “Harambee” (Swahili for “pulling together”).
Kenya and it’s Neighbours
Kenya is bounded by South Sudan and Ethiopia to the north, Somalia and the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the south, Lake Victoria and Uganda to the west, and the Equator to the horizontal. It is also divided vertically by longitude 38° E.
Relief
Kenya is split in half by the 38th meridian, which creates a dramatic difference. The western portion rises more abruptly through a series of hills and plateaus to the Eastern Rift Valley, also known as the Central Rift in Kenya, while the eastern half gradually declines to the seashore supported by coral. A plateau that slopes westward and has Lake Victoria at its lowest point lies to the west of the Rift. Kenya is classified into the following geographic regions under this fundamental framework: the coast, the semiarid and arid regions of the north and south, the Lake Victoria basin, the Rift Valley and its surrounding highlands, the eastern plateau forelands, and the Rift Valley.
Part of the Lake Victoria basin is a plateau that rises eastward from the lakeshore to the Rift highlands; the lower part of this plateau, which forms the lake basin proper, is itself between 3,000 and 4,000 feet (900 and 1,200 metres) above sea level; the rolling grassland of this plateau is nearly split in half by the Kano Plain, into which an arm of the lake known as Winam Gulf (Kavirondo Gulf) extends eastward for 50 miles (80 km); the floor of the Kano Plain merges north and south into highlands that are marked by several extinct volcanoes, among them Mount Elgon, which rises to 14,178 feet (4,321 metres) at the Ugandan border on the far north of the basin.
The Highlands areas
The highland area is divided into two pieces by the Rift Valley: the Aberdare Range to the east and the Mau Escarpment to the west. The valley varies in width from 30 to 80 miles (50 to 130 km). Its floor rises to about 7,000 feet (2,100 metres) at Lake Naivasha in the north, around 1,500 feet (450 metres), at Lake Turkana (Lake Rudolf), and then declines to 2,000 feet (600 metres) to the Tanzanian border in the south. There are a series of small lakes on the Rift bottom, spaced between by dormant volcanoes. The greatest of these is Lake Naivasha; the others are Lakes Magadi, lake Nakuru, Lake Bogoria, and Lake Baringo.
To the west of the river, the varied highland region stretches from the Uasin Gishu Plateau northward to the thick lava block of the Mau Escarpment–Mount Tinderet combination. The Aberdare Range rises to 3,000 metres, or approximately 10,000 feet, east of the Rift. From the Ngong Hills and the uplands bordering Tanzania north to the Laikipia Escarpment, the eastern highlands stretch out. The highest peak in the nation, Mount Kenya, at 17,058 feet (5,199 metres), is connected to them further east by the Nyeri saddle. The two highlands have varied terrain, with plains, deep valleys, and mountains. European settlers concentrated in this area, which was significant for Kenya’s historical and economic development.
The plateau
Situated to the east of the Rift highlands, the eastern plateau forelands are a large plateau made up of old rocks that gently slope down to the coastal plain. The hills of Taita, Kasigau, Machakos, and Kitui are the most notable among the region’s numerous hills and stunning raised formations. The areas surrounding these hills, which have a more pleasant environment, have historically had high rates of starvation. The arid and semiarid regions in the north and northeast are a part of a larger territory that stretches from the border with Uganda via Lake Rudolf to the plateau area that separates the highlands of Kenya and Ethiopia.(Although less dry, the region south of Lake Magadi shares same traits.) The Chalbi Desert to the east of Lake Rudolf is the only location that truly qualifies as a desert, despite the lack of trees and grass.
Water availability places significant restrictions on the mobility of people and cattle. The coastal plain proper is a narrow strip that is only about 10 miles (16 km) wide in the south and broadens to about 100 miles (160 km) in the Tana River lowlands to the north. It stretches for around 250 miles (400 km) along the Indian Ocean. It combines with the Somali lowlands further northeast. Among the best natural harbours in East Africa is Mombasa’s, which is among the best.
