INFORMATION ON KENYAN GEOGRAGHY

Kenyan Geography

Kenya is among countries that enjoy a very good climatic and weather pattern in the world. Unlike other countries in the continent Kenya enjoys high rainfall in most parts and cool temperatures and this in turn helps the citizens to carry out various agricultural practises for subsistence and commercial purposes. The country enjoys moderate climate all year round hence tourists are able to visit the country any time of the year. Summer is the best season to travel to the country due to the cool climate experienced in most parts of the country like Mombasa where most of the tourist visit.

Kenyan Geography comprises of rivers, mountains, hills, valleys, escarpments and wetlands that are very important in preserving biodiversity of species in the country. Some of the major mountains include Mt Kenya, Mt Elgon, Mt Kilimanjaro and Mt Aberdare. These features are very important because they act as water towers that supply the water to for domestic and agricultural purposes to all parts of the country. Some of the factors that are affecting their environmental functions include climate change, global warming and fires damage large pieces of the forest ecosystem.

Kenyan Geography also comprises of forests that are home to a wide range of wild animals that attract many tourists from the all over the world. Most of these forests are located along mountains such as Mau Forest, Mount Kenya and Mt Elgon. Degradation of these areas due to encroachment of this area has significantly reduced areas covered by the forests. However the government and other environmental organisations have launched environmental projects that aim at preserving these areas through relocation of people living in the forests as well as fencing the forests so as to keep away human settlements back into the forest.

Rift Valley

Rift Valley is another major component of Kenyan geography. It runs from Northern parts of Lake Turkana to Tanzania around Mt Kilimanjaro and Lake Natron. There are a total of five lakes and hills along this feature that contribute in one way or another to the economy of the country. For Example around Lake Naivasha there are many flower farms that produce flowers for local and international markets. Most parts in the Rift Valley experience high rainfall and fertile soils that enable the resident to plant a wide range of crops for domestic and commercial purposes. The dominant type of soils exhibit volcanic soil characteristics that include high organic matter and major plant nutrient as well as good water holding capacity.

Weather Patterns

Kenyan Geography: Climate of Kenya is very unique as compared to other countries in the continent. The weather patterns experienced enables both outdoor and indoor activities that promote tourism and other recreation activities. The weather patterns are determined by geographical location such as altitude and proximity to natural features such as mountains and lakes. The higher you go the cooler it becomes hence areas in the highland experience cool temperatures as compared to the lowlands. The amount of precipitation received also varies, more rainfall is received in the highlands and this explains the large number of agricultural activities carried out in this region.

Kenya Coast Region 

Kenyan Geography: Along the coast, the climate is generally tropical whereby rainfall and high temperatures are received at all time of the year. In Nairobi the average temperature ranges between 10 and 26.1 degrees Celsius. This is explained by the high altitude of the region which is much more than that at the coast. It is estimated that the altitude of the county is around 1798 metres above the sea level on average. In other high altitude areas such as Kitale temperatures drop up to 10 degrees Celsius during the cold season and 27.8 degrees Celsius during the hot season.

Areas along the equator such as Nanyuki experience higher temperatures and moderately low rainfall as compared to the other regions farm away from the equator. The temperatures are very high during the day and very low at night. In the highlands, temperatures drop up to below 10 degrees Celsius especially during the cold months of June and July.

Kenyan Climate

Kenyan Climate and Kenya geography is very vulnerable to climate change and global warming hence government and other environmental global organisations need to ensure that the natural resources are well protected to avoid degradation of the environment which may in turn affect the gross domestic product of the economy.