Geography of Kenya

East Africa map of Kenya showing bordering countries and main cities.

Here's a fun game to test your skill. See if you can locate each country as the banner with the country name crosses your screen.

A topographical map of Kenya.

Elevation Extremes

The Indian Ocean is the lowest point on Kenya at sea level. The highest point, Mount Kenya, is 5,199 meters above sea level.

Topographical Regions

Kenya can be divided into seven main topographical regions as follows:

1. Temborari, or the coastal strip.

2. The Nyika and Tana Plains being thorn scrub bush lands where the Tana Plains contain the Lorian Swamp.

3. The eastern plateau which includes the Amboseli, Serengeti and the Aruba Plains, as well as the Chyulu Range and Taita Hills.

4. Accounting for a vast 60% of the land area are the northern plains. They are a series of arid plains which includes Kenya,s only true desert, the Chalbi Desert.

5. The Kenya Highlands or White Highlands, which includes Mt. Kenya, Mt. Niandarawa, Mt Elgon and the Aberdare Range.

6. The Rift Valley with the basin consisting of a series of now extinct volcanoes and the lakes of Naivasha, Elmenteita, Nakuri, Hannington or Bogoria and Magadi.

7. The western plateau which descends into Lake Victoria.

A map of Kenya's lakes and towns.

The main rivers are the Tana and Galana or Athi. Equally significant to the geography of Kenya, is the Ewaso Ng'iro that supplies water from Mt. Kenya to the northern part of Kenya.

Kenya's major cities are Nairobi, the capital city, Mombasa, Kisumu, and Nakuru.

Terrain and Forests

Kenya has low plains that rise into highlands in the central region. These are then bisected by the Great Rift Valley in both the central and western areas.

Mount Kenya, Mount Elgon and Kilimanjaro are three of Africa's highest mountains located in Kenya or its vicinity.

Western Kenya is home to the Kakamega Forest, while East Africa is where we find the larger Mau Forest, which is the largest forest complex in East Africa.

Beautiful Mount Kenya.