The Overview · Kenya
Geography and the Land
Kenya's landscape runs from the Indian Ocean coast through dry plains to the cool, fertile central highlands, split in two by the Great Rift Valley and ending at Lake Victoria in the west.
Roughly four-fifths of Kenya is arid or semi-arid land, where pastoralist communities such as the Turkana, Samburu, Borana and Maasai moved herds to follow rain and grazing. The well-watered highlands around Mount Kenya and the Aberdares supported dense farming communities.
That same fertile highland soil is why British settlers wanted it so badly — geography became politics. The Lake Turkana basin, meanwhile, is one of the world's most important sites for understanding human origins.
Timeline
- ~1.5m yrs ago
'Turkana Boy', an early human, lives near Lake Turkana.
- 1984
His skeleton is discovered at Nariokotome.
- 1997
Mount Kenya becomes a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- 2019
Census counts about 47.6 million Kenyans.
Key vocabulary
- Rift Valley
- A long valley formed where the Earth's crust is pulling apart.
- Pastoralism
- A way of life based on herding livestock across wide areas of land.
Discussion prompt
How might living in the dry north feel different from living in the highlands? What might each group need from the government?
Quiz time
1. Roughly how much of Kenya is arid or semi-arid?
2. Which lake basin is famous for early human fossils?
Answer every quiz question correctly above to mark this sub-topic complete.