Nature

Posted by admin on May 19, 2011 in | 0 comments

Location and Topography

The geography of Kenya is diverse. Kenya has a coastline on the Indian Ocean, which contains swamps of East African mangroves. Inland are broad plains and numerous hills. Central and Western Kenya is characterized by the Great Rift Valley home to three of Africa’s highest mountains, Mount Kenya, Mount Elgon and Kilimanjaro. The Kakamega Forest in western Kenya is relic of an East African rain forest. Much larger is Mau Forest, the largest forest complex in East Africa.

Kenya lies astride the equator on the eastern coast of Africa. It is a medium-sized country by continental standards; covering an area of about 586,600km sq. Inland water bodies cover some 10,700km sq, the bulk of this in Lakes Victoria and Turkana.

Area

  • Total: 580,367 km2 (224,081 sq mi)
  • Land: 569,140 km2 (219,750 sq mi)
  • Water: 11,227 km2 (4,335 sq mi)

Land boundaries

  • Total: 3,477 km (2,161 mi)
  • Border countries: Ethiopia 861 km (535 mi), Somalia 682 km (424 mi), South Sudan 232 km (144 mi), Tanzania 769 km (478 mi), Uganda 933 km (580 mi)[1]

Coastline

  • 536 km along the Indian Ocean.

Maritime claims

  • Continental shelf: 200 m depth or to the depth of exploitation
  • Exclusive economic zone: 200 nmi (370.4 km; 230.2 mi)
  • Territorial sea: 12 nmi (22.2 km; 13.8 mi)

Climate

The climate of Kenya varies by location, from mostly cool every day, to always warm/hot. The climate along the coast is tropical. This means rainfall and temperatures are higher throughout the year. At the coastal city Mombasa, the air changes from cool to hot, almost every day. The further inside Kenya, the more arid the climate becomes. An arid climate is nearly devoid of rainfall, and temperature swings widely according to the general time of the day/night. For many areas of Kenya, the daytime temperature rises about 12 °C (53.6 °F), almost every day.

Elevation is the major factor in temperature levels, with the higher areas, on average, as 11°C (20°F) cooler, day or night. The many mile-high cities have temperature swings from roughly 50–79 °F (10–26.1 °C). Nairobi, at 1,798 m (5,899 ft) or 1.798 km (1.12 mi), ranges from 49–80 °F (9.4–26.7 °C)  and Kitale, at 1,825 m (5,988 ft) or 1.825 km (1.13 mi), ranges from 51–82 °F (10.6–27.8 °C). The overnight lows are not like the “Garden of Eden” because, at night, heavy clothes or blankets are needed, in the highlands, when the temperature drops to about 50–54 °F (10–12.2 °C) every night.

At lower altitudes, the increased temperature is like day and night, literally: like starting the morning at the highland daytime high, and then adding the heat of the day, again. Hence, the overnight low temperatures near sea level are nearly the same as the high temperatures of the elevated Kenyan highlands. However, locations along the Indian Ocean have more moderate temperatures, as a few degrees cooler in the daytime, such as at Mombasa

There are slight seasonal variations in temperature, of 4 °C or 7.20 °F, cooler in the winter months. Although Kenya is centered at the equator, it shares the seasons of the southern hemisphere: with the warmest summer months in February-March and the coolest winter months in July-August, although only a few degrees cooler. 

On the high mountains, such as Mount Kenya, Mount Elgon and Kilimanjaro, the weather can become bitterly cold for most of the year. Some snowfall has occurred on the highest mountains.