EAST AFRICAN MOUNTAINS

mountain region structurally related to the great East African Rift System, which extends from the Red Sea in the north to the Zambezi River in the south. The region contains both continuous ranges and isolated peaks rising from the surrounding plateaus in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Congo (Kinshasa), Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. The highest peaks rise from the surrounding plateaus to elevations above 16,000 feet (4,900 m) and, despite their proximity to the Equator, are ice-capped. Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, reaches 19,340 feet (5,895 m) along Tanzania's northern border with Kenya. Other major East African mountains and ranges include Mount Kenya, the Aberdare Range, the Mau Escarpment, Mount Elgon, Mount Meru, the Ruwenzori Range, and the Virunga Mountains; all but the Ruwenzori Range are of volcanic origin. The Virunga Mountains, separating the basins of the Nile and the Congo rivers, is the only East African range to form a continental drainage divide. Soils range from the unaltered rock of the high peaks to the well-developed fertile soils at lower elevations. In a region of predominantly dry climate, the mountains are conspicuous as high-precipitation areas. Precipitation decreases above a cloud ceiling at about 10,000 feet (3,000 m). The altitudinal succession of vegetation is well developed on Mount Kenya, where plant life changes successively with increased elevation from surrounding savanna to cultivated land, to montane forest, to heather, and finally to an alpine zone. Elephant, rhinoceros, buffalo, antelope, bush pigs, and various monkeys and hyrax are among the main inhabitants of the montane forest, and leopard and antelope occur on the moorland and alpine zones. Human habitation is mainly confined to the lower slopes. Minerals (notably copper), hydroelectric power, and forestry are the major resources. The mountains are an important tourist attraction, with a number of parks and game reserves. Mountains and lakes of East Africa. mountain region of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Congo (Kinshasa), Rwanda, and Burundi. The mountains are intimately related to the East African Rift System, the fractures of which extend discontinuously between the Zambezi River valley and the Red Sea and are flanked in many areas by highlands. Of the major mountains, all but onethe Ruwenzori (Rwenzori) Rangeare of volcanic origin. Rising magnificently from the surrounding plateaus to elevations of over 16,000 feet (4,900 metres), the highest peaks, despite their proximity to the equator, are ice-capped. Mount Kenya, the Aberdare Range, and the Mau Escarpment are located wholly within Kenya to the north of Nairobi; Mount Elgon lies astride the Uganda-Kenya border; Kilimanjaro extends along Tanzania's northern boundary with Kenya; and Mount Meru is in northern Tanzania. The Ruwenzori Range stretches between Lakes Edward and Albert on the Uganda-Congo border, and, farther south, the Virunga Mountains extend along the contiguous borders of Uganda, Rwanda, and Congo. Additional reading A classic study focused on the East African mountains, including some coverage of Ethiopia, is Ren Jeannel, Hautes montagnes d'Afrique (1950). Leslie Brown, East African Mountains and Lakes (1971); and Guy Yeoman, Africa's Mountains of the Moon: A Journey to the Ultimate Sources of the Nile (1989), are also useful. William C. Mahaney (ed.), Quaternary and Environmental Research on East African Mountains (1989), results from more than 20 years of serious scientific research. Stefan Hastenrath, The Glaciers of Equatorial East Africa (1984), a specialized study of the mountains' glaciers, has a valuable bibliography. David Keith Jones, Faces of Kenya (1977), includes chapters on the mountains. Malcolm J. Coe, The Ecology of the Alpine Zone of Mount Kenya (1967), describes the main plant communities and finds them to be more closely related to the mountain's physiography than to altitude. Dian Fossey, Gorillas in the Mist (1983), studies the gorillas that inhabit the slopes of the Virunga Mountains. Samuel John Kenneth Baker Study and exploration In 1848 the snow-covered summit of Kilimanjaro was observed by the German missionary Johannes Rebmann, and the following year Johann L. Krapf obtained a view of the snows of Mount Kenya. In 1888 the Welsh explorer Henry Morton Stanley glimpsed the Ruwenzori through a break in their cloud cover and equated them with the Mountains of the Moon of Ptolemy. A number of expeditions on Kilimanjaro preceded that of 1889, in which the German geographer Hans Meyer conquered the summit of Kibo. Partial ascents of Mount Kenya were made before the British geographer Halford John Mackinder reached the summit of Batian in 1899. The Ruwenzori awaited the expedition of Luigi, Duke d'Abruzzi, in 1906 for the conquest of their major peaks, and in 190708 Adolf Friedrich, Duke of Mecklenburg, made a comprehensive survey of the Virunga Mountains. The southern side of Elgon was visited in 1883 and the caldera was traversed in 1890; in 1911 Wagagai was climbed. In 1932 a Belgian scientific mission explored the western slopes of the Ruwenzori, climbing several peaks. Since 1931, aerial photography has assisted in the production of excellent maps of the major mountains and their glaciers. Under the stimulus of the International Geophysical Year of 195758, glaciological expeditions were mounted on the Ruwenzori, Mount Kenya, and Kilimanjaro. Kilimanjaro, Kenya, and Ruwenzori are names of African origin; the first two are of somewhat uncertain meaning, and Ruwenzori may come from Nyoro words meaning place of rain. Elgonyi was the Masai name for Elgon, but the Gisu name Masaba remains current in the Bantu languages. The names Kibo and Mawensi are of African derivation, and the highest peaks of Mount Kenya were named for Masai chiefs. With one exception, Ensonga, the major mountains and peaks of the Ruwenzori have European names, while Virunga nomenclature is African. Samuel John Kenneth Baker The economy Mining, forestry, and agriculture Copper ore was formerly mined at Kilembe, Uganda, on the southeastern flank of the Ruwenzori. Other mineral resources include tin deposits also southeast of the Ruwenzori, tungsten deposits in the Virunga Mountains in Uganda, and diatomite in the Aberdare Range. The closed forests are mainly under forest reserve and are classed as presently productive of timber. The most important output of sawn wood has come from the more accessible mountains of Kenya and Tanzania, where cedar, podo (or yellowwood), and camphorwood are among the principal timbers; the quantities produced, however, are small. Land cleared for cultivation in the lower part of the forests forms rich agricultural zones in which a considerable variety of cropsincluding coffee, tea, wheat, pyrethrum (a chrysanthemum used in the production of insecticides), bananas, millet, root crops, and vegetablesmay be grown. Cattle are raised on the northern slopes of Mounts Kenya and Elgon and on Kilimanjaro. The narrow agricultural belt could be widened, and there has been a tendency for the extension of cultivation into lower altitudes by the use of irrigation. Tourism The mountains are an important tourist attraction. Kilimanjaro National Park covers the mountain from 6,000 feet to the summit, and other parks include Mount Kenya above 10,200 feet, the moorland zone of the Aberdares, and a sector of the Kenya portion of Mount Elgon. In the Uganda section of the Virunga Mountains, the Kigezi Gorilla Game Reserve is situated on the northern slopes of Mounts Muhavura and Mgahinga (Gahinga). In the Rwanda and Congo (Kinshasa) portions of the Virunga Mountains, gorillas are protected, respectively, in the Volcanoes National Park and the Virunga National Park. The people Population is confined to the lower slopes, with the upper limit of settlement at about 7,000 feet. Bananas and millet are common subsistence crops, and coffee is an important cash crop. On the southern and eastern slopes of Kilimanjaro the Chaga (Chagga) have long used an effective system of irrigation based on the ridge-and-valley relief of the mountain. High population densities among the Chaga are matched by those among the Kikuyu and related groups on the slopes of the Aberdare Range and around the southern and eastern margins of Mount Kenya. The Gisu have densely settled the western slopes of Mount Elgon below the forest zone. Population density is high on either side of the northern nose of the Ruwenzori; the Konjo hillmen live mainly on the eastern flank of the range. The Pygmy Twa occupy the forests of the Virunga Mountains, the lower slopes of which are cultivated by the far more numerous Hutu.