Kenya is a sovereign state in East Africa that is officially known as the Republic of Kenya with Nairobi as the Capital and largest city. The country lies on the equator bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south-east and Tanzania, another East African country to the south, Uganda lies on the west while South Sudan is located in the north western part of Kenya, Ethiopia to the north and Somalia to the north-east.
Moda Casa Africa a modelling agency in Africa has highlighted some of those interesting, informative, fascinating and sometimes not too well-known facts about Kenya.
1. The True Meaning of Kenya
It is believed that the word Kenya originates from the Kikuyu , Embu and Kamba names for Mount Kenya, “Kirinyaga “, “Kirinyaa ” and “ Kiinyaa“.
There’s another story that traced the name to the Hebrews where it means ‘animal horn’.
In Russia, they also have the name where it means ‘innocent’ or ‘harmless’. In ancient English, just like you have in Russia, the name means innocence. Another version associates it with a colonial mistake of pronunciation, the story goes that when the British landed in Kenya, they found the Kikuyu already calling the present day Mount Kenya, ‘Kirinyaga’ but because the Brits found it difficult to pronounce kirinyaga, they put it down as Kenia, which was later adopted as the name of the whole British protectorate. Prehistoric volcanic eruptions of Mount Kenya (which is now extinct) may have led to the association of that name with divinity and creation among the indigenous Kikuyu-related ethnic groups inhabiting the agricultural land surrounding Mount Kenya.
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| Mount Kenya |
There’s another version that associates the name with the Kamba word, ‘kiinyaa’ which, like Kirinyaga, was used to refer to Mount Kenya. Controversy over the actual meaning of the word Kenya notwithstanding, it is clear that the mountain’s name became widely accepted Pars pro toto as the name of the country, we also know that it’ named after Mount Kenya, the second highest mountain in Africa.
2. Geography and Climate of Kenya
Kenya is the world’s forty-seventh largest country at 580,367 km (224,081 sq mi), just after Madagascar, roughly the same size with Texas. The country lies between latitudes 5°N and 5°S, and longitudes 34° and 42°E. From the coast on the Indian Ocean, the low plains rise to central highlands. The Highlands of Kenya consists of one of the most successful agricultural production regions in Africa and its highlands are the site of the highest point in Kenya, the second highest peak in Africa Mount Kenya which reaches 5,199 m (17,057 ft) is found there, also Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895 m or 19,341 ft), the highest mountain in Tanzania, the highest mountain in Africa, and the highest free-standing mountain in the world at 5,895 metres or 19,341 feet above sea level can also be seen from there.
Kenya’s climate varies from place to place, it is usually cool at night and early in the morning inland at higher elevations.
The rainy season “long rains” occurs from March/April to May/ June while the “short rains” season occurs from October to November/December. It is usually very hot in February and March.
3. Income Generation (Coffee, Tourism)
For the so many Kenyans, coffee is considered an export product, not something for local consumption.
Most Kenyans prefer tea and beer despite the fact that coffee is the biggest income generator, this is followed by Tourism.
4. Kenya’s Water resources
There are five major drainage basins in Kenya, namely: Lake Victoria, the Athi Galana-Sabaki River (and Coastal areas to its south), the Rift Valley, the Tana River and the northern Ewaso Ng’iro.
Although Kenya has only a small part of Lake Victoria’s water surface, its catchment contributes a disproportionate 33% of its surface inflow which amounts to some 470 million cubic meters a year.
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