Kenya, Mount

Kenya, Mount, also Kirinyaga (Kikuyu, “Mountain of Whiteness”), extinct volcano, central Kenya, 5,199 m (17,057 ft) high. Mount Kenya is the second highest mountain in Africa after Kilimanjaro. Lying almost on the equator, it is permanently capped by snow and ice above 4,600 m (15,000 ft), and several glaciers descend from the massif along radial valleys. The large massif, some 153 km (95 mi) in circumference at the 2,440 m (8,000 ft) contour, supports a wide variety of plant life, from dense forest on the lower slopes to alpine flora and heathland between about 3,200 and 4,600 m (10,500 and 15,000 ft). The first European to ascend its highest summit (known as Batian) was the British geographer Sir Halford Mackinder, in 1899. The upper slopes of the mountain form part of the Mount Kenya National Park and Forest Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997.