Eastern Africa on the Indian Ocean coast between the Jubaland province of Somalia and Tanzania
Geographic coordinates:
Area
Total:
Land:
Water:
Land boundaries
Total:
Border countries: Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda
Coastline
536 km along the Indian Ocean.
Maritime claims
Territorial sea:
Exclusive economic zone: and
Continental shelf: 200 m depth or to the depth of exploitation
Geology
Much of the western two-thirds of the country consists of the Pliocene–Pleistocene volcanics deposited on Precambrian basement rocks. The southeast corner of the country is underlain by sediments of the Karoo System of Permian to Late Triassic age and a strip of Jurassic age sediments along the coast in the Mombasa area. The Anza trough is a NW–SE trending Jurassic rift extending from the Indian Ocean coast to the Sudan northwest of Lake Turkana. The Anza Rift resulted from the break–up of Gondwana.
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 cities, Mombasa, Lamu and Malindi, 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, almost every day. Elevation is the major factor in temperature levels, with the higher areas, on average, as 11 °C cooler, day or night. The many cities over a kilometre in elevation have temperature swings from roughly. Nairobi, at, ranges from, and Kitale, at, ranges from. At night, heavy clothes or blankets are needed, in the highlands, when the temperature drops to about 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, cooler in the winter months. Although Kenya is centred at the equator, it shares the seasons of the southern hemisphere: with the warmest summer months in December–March and the coolest winter months in June–August, again with differences in temperature varying by location within the country. 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 occurs on the highest mountains.
Terrain
Kenya's terrain is composed of low plains that rise into central highlands that are, in turn, bisected by the Great Rift Valley. There is also a fertile plateau in the west of the country.
The three main rivers are the Galana and the Tana and The Nzoia River which is a Kenyan river, rising from Mount Elgon. It flows south and then west, eventually flowing into Lake Victoria near the town of Port Victoria. However, the Ewaso Ng'iro is an important river, supplying water from Mt. Kenya to the eastern and north-eastern part of Kenya.
Natural resources
Natural resources that are found in Kenya include: limestone, soda ash, salt, gemstones, fluorspar, zinc, diatomite, oil, gas, gypsum, wildlife and hydropower.
Land use
9.8% of the land is arable; permanent crops occupy 0.9% of the land, permanent pasture occupy 37.4% of the land; forest occupies 6.1% of the land. Other uses make up the rest of Kenya's land. This is as of 2011. 1,032 km2 of Kenyan land was irrigated in 2003.
Natural hazards include recurring drought and flooding during the rainy seasons. There is limited volcanic activity in the country. Barrier Volcano last erupted in 1921. Several others have been historically active.
Westernmost point – unnamed land west of Port Victoria, Busia County
* Note: Kalukwakerith Mountain is in the disputed Ilemi Triangle region. If this area is excluded then Kenya does not have a northernmost point, the northern border being a straight line.
