Location and TopographyKenya lies astride the equator on the
eastern coast of Africa. It is a medium-sized country by
continental standards; covering an area of about 586,600km sq.
Inland water bodies cover some 10,700km sq, the bulk of this in
Lakes Victoria and Turkana. Kenya is bordered by Somalia and the
Indian Ocean to the east, Ethiopia to the north, Sudan to the
northwest, Uganda to the west and Tanzania to the south. The
coastline, about 550km long, faces the Indian Ocean. Kenya has
tremendous topographical diversity, including glaciated
mountains with snow-capped peaks, the Rift Valley with its
scarps and volcanoes, ancient granitic hills, flat desert
landscapes and coral reefs and islets. However, the basic
configuration is simple. Coastal plains give way to and inland
plateau that rises gradually to the central highlands, which are
the result of the relatively recent volcanic activity associated
with the formation of the rift valley. To the west the land
drops again to the Nyanza plateau that surro