Overview
Kenya is a country on the eastern coast of Africa, right on the equator. It is a land of striking landscapes, ranging from snowcapped Mount Kenya to rich farmlands, barren deserts and tropical beaches. 
 

Location
Kenya is located astride the Equator on the East Coast of Africa. It borders Somalia, Ethiopia and Sudan in the north, Uganda in the west, Tanzania in the south, and the Indian Ocean in the East. It covers an area of 583,000 sq, km (225,000 sq. miles). Kenya’s capital city is Nairobi with a population of approximately 3.4 million people. The other major towns are Mombasa the main port on the Indian Ocean with an estimated population of 1.4 million and Kisumu on Lake Victoria with an estimated population of 400,000 people.
 

Physical Geography

Ancient rocks form the backbone of Africa, including the western part of Kenya. The Rift Valley, a great gash in the Earth's crust, cuts across the country. East of the Rift, the central highlands slope down to grassy plains, dry thornbush country, and the ocean.

The most outstanding facts about Kenya's geographical position is that Kenya is one of the few countries in the world where the equator passes through. Whats even more amazing is that Mount Kenya is the only snow capped mountain, rising to a height of 5199m, to be found along the equator.

There are two types of season in Kenya, wet and dry. Rains are important, because water is often scarce in Kenya. The absence or presence of water is a major influence on the lives of the people. Most people live in the south and west, where there is enough rainfall. The climate varies across the country depending on altitude. 
 

The Great Rift
Some 25 million years ago two continents, Africa and Eurasia, moving on their respective tectonic plates, collided and recoiled - shattering the earth's crust and creating the land feature known as the Great Rift Valley. The valley extends over 6,500 km from the Dead Sea in the north to Beira in the south and varies in width from thirty to ninety kilometres and in depth from a few hundred to several thousand metres, far below sea level. 

In Kenya the valley is deepest in the hundred and sixty kilometres that run north from Nairobi. Most of the lakes in the Rift, such as Lake Nakuru are shallow and having no outlet to the sea, are high in mineral content as the evaporation of water leaves salts behind. 

Because the earth's crust is weakest where the valley is deepest, impressive volcanoes are associated with the Rift Valley including Mt Kilimanjaro (Tanzania), Mt. Kenya, and Mt. Meru (Tanzania). There are also Calderas such as the crater of Menengai near Nakuru where the whole mountain collapsed inward following volcanic action.
 

Human Geography
Our ancestors lived there more than a million years ago, scientists say. Today, Kenya is a meeting place of many cultures. It is also famous for its wildlife, which includes the greatest assortment of large mammals left anywhere on Earth.
Kenya is a fairly large country. Its population is growing rapidly. Most Kenyans are country people - small-scale, independent farmers and ranchers. Only about 25% of the people live in urban areas, one of the lowest percentages in the world. Kenya's capital, Nairobi, is a modern city in the central part of the country.

For thousands of years, ships have sailed to the coast of Kenya from Arabia and southern Asia. Today, telecommunications and airlines link Kenya with the rest of the world. A network of roads and railway lines connects Kenya with its neighbours Tanzania, Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia. The countries of eastern Africa, however, are separated from North Africa by the Sahara Desert, and from West Africa by the rainforests of the Congo basin. To the South, however, there are roads and rails that can take travellers all the way to the southern tip of the continent.

International Hosting
Kenya and in particular Nairobi,hosts several world organisations like the United Nations (UNEP, UNDP, Habitat) etc. and several High Commisions and Embassies from around the world. It is also the economic hub of the East and Central Africa region.