This article describes the geography of Kenya. From http://www. ...

Location

Eastern Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean, between Somalia and Tanzania

Geographic coordinates

1°00′ N 38°00′ E (http://kvaleberg.com/extensions/mapsources/index.php?params=1_00_N_38_00_E_type:country)

Map references

Africa

Area

• Total: 582,650 km²
• Land: 569,250 km²
• Water: 13,400 km²

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: 200 nm
• Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate

Varies from tropical along coast to arid in interior

Terrain

Low plains rise to central highlands bisected by Great Rift Valley; fertile plateau in west

Elevation extremes

• Lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
• Highest point: Mount Kenya 5,199 m

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 km² (1993 est.)

Natural hazards

Recurring drought in northern and eastern regions; flooding during rainy seasons

Environment--current issues

Water pollution from urban and industrial wastes; degradation of water quality from increased use of pesticides and fertilizers; deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; poaching

Environment--international agreements

• Party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
• Signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography--note

The Kenyan Highlands comprise one of the most successful agricultural production regions in Africa; glaciers on Mt. Kenya; unique physiography supports abundant and varied wildlife of scientific and economic value

Africa is the worlds second-largest continent in both area and population, after Asia. ... Africa is the worlds second-largest continent in both area and population, after Asia. ... Square kilometre (US spelling: Square kilometer), symbol km², is an SI unit of surface area. ... The metre (American spelling: meter), symbol: m, is the basic unit of distance (or of length, in the parlance of the physical sciences) in the International System of Units. ... A nautical mile is a unit of distance, or length, as physical scientists like to call it. ... The tropics are the geographic region of the Earth centered on the equator and limited in latitude by the two tropics: the Tropic of Cancer in the north and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere. ... Northern section of the Great Rift Valley. ... Mount Kenya is the highest mountain in Kenya, and the second-highest in Africa (after Mount Kilimanjaro). ... General Name, Symbol, Number Gold, Au, 79 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11 (IB), 6, d Density, Hardness 19300 kg/m3, 2. ... Limey shale overlaid by limestone. ... Sodium carbonate or soda ash, Na2CO3, is a sodium salt of carbonic acid. ... Ruby is a red gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum in which the color is caused mainly by chromium. ... Octahedral fluorite crystals from New Mexico, USA Fluorite (also called fluor-spar or Blue John) is a mineral composed of calcium fluoride, CaF2. ... The Garnet group of minerals show crystals with a habit of dodecahedrons and trapezohedrons. ... Various species of deer are commonly seen wildlife across the Americas and Eurasia. ... Energy in water can be harnessed and used,Water sucks!!!!!in the form of motive energy or temperature differences. ... Biodiversity or biological diversity is the diversity of and in living nature. ... UNFCCC logo. ... Ship stranded by the retreat of the Aral Sea Desertification is the degradation of land in arid, semi arid and dry sub-humid areas into desert, resulting from various factors including climatic variations and human activities. ... The American bison numbered as few as 750 in 1890 due to extreme overhunting. ... Admiralty law (usually referred to as simply admiralty and also referred to as maritime law) is a distinct body of law which governs maritime questions and offenses. ... Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping Wastes and Other Matter (London Convention) note - abbreviated as Marine Dumping opened for signature - 29 December 1972 entered into force - 30 August 1975 objective - to control pollution of the sea by dumping and to encourage regional agreements supplementary to the Convention... opened for signature - 29 April 1958 entered into force - 20 March 1966 objective - to solve through international cooperation the problems involved in the conservation of living resources of the high seas, considering that because of the development of modern technology some of these resources are in danger of being overexploited... The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) bans all nuclear explosions in all environments, for military or civilian purposes and was opened for signature in New York on 24 September 1996, when it was signed by 71 States, including the five nuclear weapon states at the time (which did not... Ships can pollute the waterways and oceans in many ways. ... A subtropical wetland in Florida, USA, with an endangered American Crocodile. ... The crew of the oceanographic research vessel Princesse Alice, of Albert Grimaldi (later Prince Albert I of Monaco) pose while flensing a catch Whaling is the hunting and killing of whales. ...

See also

• Kenya
• List of national parks of Kenya