Transcript THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA

Presented by Stanley Wekesa Nabutola
THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA
Location:-------------- Eastern Africa
Area:
Total area:--- 582,650 sq. km
Land area:--- 569,250 sq. km
Capital city:-------------- Nairobi
Population:--------------- 38,337,071
Languages:---------------- English (official), Swahili (official),
numerous indigenous languages
Birth rate:---------------- 32.44 (per 1,000 population)(1997)
Death rate:---------------- 10.83 (per 1,000 population)
Infant Mortality rate:------------ 55.2 (deaths per 1,000 live births)
Fertility rate:--------------- 4.26 (per woman)
Life Expectancy are birth: Total population:--- 54.39 (Males:54.21,
Females:54.59)
Annual rate increase…………….2.75%
FOREST AREA IN KENYA
 Kenya has very little rainforest (mostly montane
forest) cover, and these scattered patches are being
further degraded for fuelwood and building material.
Overall forest loss in Kenya has been moderate over
the past generation—5 percent of the country's
forest cover was lost between 1990 and 2005.
Primary forest cover also fell by 5 percent over the
same period and now cover around 700,000
hectares. Deforestation rates have decreased
slightly since the end of the 1990s
 Total forest area: 3,522,000 ha
% of land area: 6.2%
WEATHER AND CLIMATE IN KENYA
 Kenya’s different topographical regions experience distinct
climates.
 Generally, the hottest time is in February and March and the
coldest in July and August.
 The coastal region is largely humid and wet. The city of Malindi,
for instance, receives an average rainfall of 1,050 mm (41 in) per
year, with average temperatures ranging from 21° to 32°C (70°
to 90°F) in January and 20° to 29°C (68° to 84°F) in July.
 The low plateau area is the driest part of the country. There, the
town of Wajir receives an average annual rainfall of 320 mm (13
in) and experiences average temperatures ranging from 19° to
37°C (66° to 99°F) in January and 19° to 34°C (66° to 93°F) in
July.
 Nairobi, in the temperate Kenya highlands,
receives an average annual rainfall of 790 mm
(31 in) and experiences average temperatures
ranging from 9° to 29°C (48° to 84°F) in
January and 7° to 26°C (45° to 79°F) in July.
 Higher elevation areas within the highlands
receive much larger amounts of rainfall. The
Lake Victoria basin in western Kenya is
generally the wettest region in the country,
particularly the highland regions to the north
and south of Kisumu, where average annual
rainfall ranges from 1,740 mm (70 in) to 1,940
mm (80 in). Average temperatures in this
region range from 14° to 34°C (57° to 93°F) in
January and 14° to 30°C (57° to 86°F) in July.
 The average annual temperatures in the main areas
are:
Mombasa (coastal): Max 30ºC, Min 22ºC
Nairobi: Max 25ºC, Min 13ºC
North Plainlands: Max 34ºC, Min 23ºC
 Rainfall occurs seasonally throughout most of Kenya.
The coast, eastern plateaus, and lake basin experience
two rainy seasons:
 the “long rains” extends roughly from March to June,
 and the “short rains” lasts from approximately
October to December.
 All parts of the country are subject to periodic
droughts, or delays in the start of the rainy seasons.
Kenya’s climate has had a profound effect on
settlement patterns, as for centuries population has
been concentrated in the wettest areas of the country.
WATER RESOUCES IN KENYA
 All Kenya’s major river drain from the central highlands,
divided by the rift into those flowing westwards into Lake
Victoria and those flowing eastwards towards the Indian
Ocean. There are five major drainage basins: Lake Victoria,
the Rift Valley, the Athi-Galana-Sabaki River (and Coastal
areas to its south), the Tana River and the northern Ewaso
Ng’iro.
 All Kenya’s major river drain from the central highlands,
divided by the rift into those flowing westwards into Lake
Victoria and those flowing eastwards towards the Indian
Ocean.
 There are five major drainage basins: Lake Victoria, the Rift
Valley, the Athi-Galana-Sabaki River (and Coastal areas to
its south), the Tana River and the northern Ewaso Ng’iro.
 Kenya only has a small part of Lake Victoria’s water
surface, but the Kenya catchment contributes a
disproportionate 33% of its surface inflow, some 470
million cubic meters a year. The rift valley contains several
basins of internal drainage, forming a chain of endorheic
lakes from Lake Natron on the Tanzanian border, through
Lakes Magadi, Naivasha, Turkana, Elementaita, Nakuru,
Bogoria and Baringo.
These lakes vary in alkalinity; from fresh water Lake
Naivasha to the intensely alkaline Lake Magadi. Lake
Turkana is notable as a major volume of (more or less)
fresh water in an otherwise arid and barren part of the
county, while a number of rivers, including the Turkwel,
Kerio, Athi-Galana, Tana and Northern and Southern
Ewaso Ng’iro, flow for long distances through dry parts of
the country.

CULTIVATED
AREA
IN
KENYA
Agricultural land holdings are classified into small (<10
ha), medium (10-60 ha) and large farms (>60 ha). Of the
total 3.6 million agricultural holdings, 3.5 million (98%) are
smallholdings and occupy 46% of the total agricultural
land area. Within the smallholder sector, small farms
under 2 ha total 2.9 million, or 83% of the total. In spite of
the small farm size (average 0.9 ha per holding),
smallholder producers dominate the agricultural sector
accounting for 75% of total agricultural output, 60% of
gross marketed output, and production of over 70% of
maize, 65% of coffee, 50% of tea, 80% of milk, 70% of
beef and related products, and 100% of pyrethrum, cotton
and other food crops (millet, sorghum, pulses, vegetables,
roots and tubers). However, households in this category
experience frequent food shortages because they are
unable to produce enough food to meet family nutritional
needs.
RANGES IN KENYA
 The Aberdare Range (formerly, the Sattima
Range, Kikuyu: Nyandarua) is a 160 km long
mountain range of upland north of Kenya's capital of
Nairobi with an average elevation is 11,000 feet
(3,350 m). It is located in west central Kenya,
northeast of Naivasha and Gilgil and just south of
the Equator. It forms a section of the eastern rim of
the Great Rift Valley running from the Kinangop
Plateau, to the Laikipia Escarpment, roughly north
to south. On the east, the range falls off steeply into
the Great Rift Valley and views of Lake Naivasha and
the distant Mau Escarpment can be seen
 The Aberdare Range has an average elevation of 12,000 -
13,000 feet above sea level and is heavily-forested. Much
of the range has been protected within the Aberdare
National Park since its creation in 1950. The range attracts
large numbers of hikers and climbers, operating out of the
main centers of Naivasha and Gilgil. The lower slopes are
farmed, while higher areas are known for their wildlife.
The Rhino Charge is an annual event run by
conservationists in Kenya to pay for fencing off the
Aberdare National Park as a means of protecting East
Africa's largest indigenous forest from destruction.
 The former name of the range survives still in Oldoinyo la
Satima ("the mountain of the young bull"); at 4,001
meters (13,120 feet), it is the highest peak in the Aberdare
Range. Mount Kenya (5,199 m, 17,057 ft), the second
highest mountain in Africa (after Kilimanjaro), lies several
kilometres east of the Aberdare Range.