One country Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

One country - Essay Example tains a very diverse landscape, including a large desert and flatlands region as well as fertile, mountainous plateau regions in which the majority of farming and other agricultural activities occur (Davison, 2001). Two main rivers, the Tana and Galana, run actively through the fertile region of Kenya and empty into the Indian Ocean to the East (Kenyaology.com, 2007). This is the likely reason why this particular region of the country, known as the Kenyan Highlands, is so fertile as it is continuously irrigated by the two rivers. Additionally, of significant assistance to Kenyan residents is the close proximity to the Indian Ocean by which a great deal of foreign trade can be delivered or exported, providing a more direct ocean-going trade route to the East rather than ground travel across a harsh African landscape (Kenyaology.com). Many people may think of Kenya and automatically envision harsh desert environments, however Figure 1 illustrates the lush fertile region known as the Ke nyan Highlands where Mount Kenya towers into the sky. Climate patterns in Kenya are quite diverse, however in most respects, they range in magnitude from harsh, dry desert-like conditions to that of regions which receive continuous rainfall. In the dryer, Northern plains region, the average temperatures are maximum 34.8 degrees and minimum 23.7 degrees, both in Celsius (Kenyaology.com). These are significantly warmer temperatures in comparison to the United States, indicating that this particular region of Kenya maintains virtually no temperate climate. In the city of Eldoret, which is one of the larger-populated cities at an elevation of 3,085 feet above sea level, the climate is much more temperate, subject to changes in seasons much like that of the Midwest region of the United States. In this area, average temperatures are a maximum of 23.6 C and 9.5 C, making this region rich for agricultural and other farming activities (Klein, 1999). In yet another region of the country,