Kenya, Mount

Extinct volcano from which Kenya takes its name, height 5,199 m/17,057 ft. It is situated almost exactly on the Equator. The first European to climb it was Halford Mackinder in 1899.

Mount Kenya is called Kilinyaga by the Kikuyu and Doenyo Egere by the Masai. It is a huge truncated pyramid, about 50 km/31 mi in diameter at the base, supporting a precipitous rocky pinnacle, divided from its summit by a deep cleft, thus creating two perpetually snow-capped peaks. The well-watered lower slopes to the east and south are densely settled and intensively cultivated, but the northern side is much drier.