![Kilimanjaro from space 2016](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Kilimanjaro_from_space_2016.jpg)
Mount Kilimanjaro () is a
dormant volcano
A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...
in
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
. It has three
volcanic cone
Volcanic cones are among the simplest volcanic landforms. They are built by ejecta from a volcanic vent, piling up around the vent in the shape of a cone with a central crater. Volcanic cones are of different types, depending upon the nature and ...
s: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest
mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and about above its plateau base. It is the
highest volcano in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
and the
Eastern Hemisphere
The Eastern Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth which is east of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and west of the antimeridian (which crosses the Pacific Ocean and relatively little land from pole to pol ...
.
Kilimanjaro is the
fourth most topographically prominent peak on Earth. It is part of
Kilimanjaro National Park
Kilimanjaro National Park is a Tanzanian national park, located south of the equator and in Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania. The park is located near the region of Moshi. The park includes the whole of Mount Kilimanjaro above the tree line and th ...
and is a major hiking and climbing destination. Because of its
shrinking glaciers and ice fields, which are projected to disappear between 2025 and 2035, it has been the subject of many scientific studies.
Toponymy
The origin of the name Kilimanjaro is not known, but a number of theories exist. European explorers had adopted the name by 1860 and reported that Kilimanjaro was the mountain's
Kiswahili
Swahili, also known by its local name , is the native language of the Swahili people, who are found primarily in Tanzania, Kenya and Mozambique (along the East African coast and adjacent litoral islands). It is a Bantu language, though Swahili ...
name.
The 1907 edition of ''The Nuttall Encyclopædia'' also records the name of the mountain as Kilima-Njaro.
Johann Ludwig Krapf wrote in 1860 that Swahilis along the coast called the mountain Kilimanjaro. Although he did not offer any support,
he claimed that Kilimanjaro meant either mountain of greatness or mountain of caravans. Under the latter meaning, ''kilima'' meant mountain and ''jaro'' meant caravans.
Jim Thompson claimed in 1885, again without support,
that the term Kilima-Njaro "has generally been understood to mean" the mountain (''kilima'') of greatness (''njaro''). He also suggested "though not improbably it may mean" the white mountain.
''Njaro'' is an ancient Kiswahili word for shining. Similarly, Krapf wrote that a chief of the
Wakamba people, whom he visited in 1849, "had been to Jagga and had seen the ''Kima jajeu'', mountain of whiteness, the name given by the Wakamba to Kilimanjaro...." More correctly in the
Kikamba language
Kamba, or Kikamba, is a Bantu language spoken by millions of Kamba people, primarily in Kenya, as well as thousands of people in Uganda, Tanzania, and elsewhere. In Kenya, Kamba is generally spoken in four counties: Machakos, Kitui, Makueni, ...
this would be ''kiima kyeu'', and this possible derivation has been popular with several investigators.
Others have assumed that ''kilima'' is Kiswahili for mountain. The problem with this assumption is that ''kilima'' actually means hill and is, therefore, the
diminutive
A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A (abbreviated ) is a word-formati ...
of ''mlima'', the proper Kiswahili word for mountain. However, "
is ... possible ... that an early European visitor, whose knowledge of
iswahiliwas not extensive, changed ''mlima'' to ''kilima'' by analogy with the two
Wachagga names: ''Kibo'' and ''Kimawenzi''."
A different approach is to assume that the kileman part of Kilimanjaro comes from the Kichagga ''kileme'', which means that which defeats, or ''kilelema'', which means that which has become difficult or impossible. The jaro part would "then be derived from ''njaare'', a bird; or, according to other informants, a leopard; or, possibly from ''jyaro'', a caravan". Considering that the name Kilimanjaro has never been current among the
Wachagga people, it is possible that the name was derived from Wachagga saying that the mountain was unclimbable, ''kilemanjaare'' or ''kilemajyaro'', and porters misinterpreting this as being the name of the mountain.
In the 1880s, the mountain became a part of
German East Africa and was called Kilima-Ndscharo in German following the Kiswahili name components. On 6 October 1889,
Hans Meyer reached the highest summit on the crater ridge of Kibo. He named it Kaiser-Wilhelm-Spitze (
Kaiser Wilhelm peak). That name was used until Tanzania was formed in 1964, when the summit was renamed Uhuru Peak, meaning freedom peak in Kiswahili.
Geology and geography
Kilimanjaro is a large dormant
stratovolcano
A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and per ...
composed of three distinct volcanic cones: Kibo, the highest; Mawenzi at ; and Shira, the lowest at .
Mawenzi and Shira are
extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
, while Kibo is
dormant and could erupt again.
Uhuru Peak is the highest summit on Kibo's crater rim. The
Tanzania National Parks Authority
The Tanzania National Parks Authority commonly known as TANAPA is responsible for the management of Tanzania's national parks. TANAPA is a parastatal corporation and all its income is reinvested into the organization. It is governed by a number of ...
, a Tanzanian government agency,
and the
lists the height of Uhuru Peak as , based on a
British survey in 1952.
The height has since been measured as in 1999, in 2008, and in 2014.
A map of the Kibo cone on Mount Kilimanjaro was published by the British government's
Directorate of Overseas Surveys
The Ordnance Survey International or Ordnance Survey Overseas Directorate its predecessors built an archive of air photography, map and survey records for the United Kingdom from 1946 to 1999. The Ordnance Survey International Collection (formerly ...
(DOS) in 1964 based on aerial photography conducted in 1962 as the "Subset of Kilimanjaro, East Africa (Tanganyika) Series Y742, Sheet 56/2, D.O.S. 422 1964, Edition 1, Scale 1:50,000". Tourist mapping was first published by the
Ordnance Survey
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in England in 1989 based on the original DOS mapping at a scale of 1:100,000, with contour intervals, as DOS 522.
West Col Productions produced a map with tourist information in 1990, at a scale of 1:75,000, with contour intervals; it included inset maps of Kibo and Mawenzi on 1:20,000 and 1:30,000 scales respectively and with contour intervals.
In recent years, numerous other maps have become available, of various qualities.
[
]
Volcanology
The volcanic interior of Kilimanjaro is poorly known because there has not been any significant erosion to expose the igneous
Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or ...
strata that comprise the volcano's structure.
Eruptive activity at the Shira centre commenced about 2.5 million years ago, with the last important phase occurring about 1.9 million years ago, just before the northern part of the edifice collapsed. Shira is topped by a broad plateau
In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...
at , which may be a filled caldera
A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...
. The remnant caldera rim has been degraded deeply by erosion. Before the caldera formed and erosion began, Shira might have been between high. It is mostly composed of basic lavas, with some pyroclastics
Pyroclastic rocks (derived from the el, πῦρ, links=no, meaning fire; and , meaning broken) are clastic rocks composed of rock fragments produced and ejected by explosive volcanic eruptions. The individual rock fragments are known as pyroc ...
. The formation of the caldera was accompanied by lava emanating from ring fractures, but there was no large scale explosive activity. Two cones formed subsequently, the phonolitic
Phonolite is an uncommon extrusive rock, of intermediate chemical composition between felsic and mafic, with texture ranging from aphanitic (fine-grained) to porphyritic (mixed fine- and coarse-grained). Phonolite is a variation of the igneous ...
one at the northwest end of the ridge and the doleritic Platzkegel in the caldera centre.
Both Mawenzi and Kibo began erupting about 1 million years ago. They are separated by the Saddle Plateau at elevation.
The youngest dated rocks at Mawenzi are about 448,000 years old. Mawenzi forms a horseshoe-shaped ridge with pinnacles
A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was main ...
and ridges opening to the northeast, with a tower-like shape resulting from deep erosion and a mafic
A mafic mineral or rock is a silicate mineral or igneous rock rich in magnesium and iron. Most mafic minerals are dark in color, and common rock-forming mafic minerals include olivine, pyroxene, amphibole, and biotite. Common mafic rocks incl ...
dike swarm
A dike swarm (American spelling) or dyke swarm (British spelling) is a large geological structure consisting of a major group of parallel, linear, or radially oriented magmatic dikes intruded within continental crust or central volcanoes ...
. Several large cirque
A (; from the Latin word ') is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from Scottish Gaelic , meaning a pot or cauldron) and (; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landform ...
s cut into the ring. The largest of these sits on top of the Great Barranco gorge. Also notable are the East and West Barrancos on the northeastern side of the mountain. Most of the eastern side of the mountain has been removed by erosion. Mawenzi has a subsidiary peak, Neumann Tower, .
Kibo is the largest cone on the mountain and is more than wide at the Saddle Plateau altitude. The last activity here, dated to 150,000–200,000 years ago, created the current Kibo summit crater. Kibo still has gas-emitting fumarole
A fumarole (or fumerole) is a vent in the surface of the Earth or other rocky planet from which hot volcanic gases and vapors are emitted, without any accompanying liquids or solids. Fumaroles are characteristic of the late stages of volcani ...
s in its crater. Kibo is capped by an almost symmetrical cone with escarpment
An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations.
The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''esca ...
s rising on the south side. These escarpments define a caldera caused by the collapse of the summit.
Within this caldera is the Inner Cone and within the crater of the Inner Cone is the Reusch Crater, which the Tanganyika government in 1954 named after Gustav Otto Richard Reusch, upon his climbing the mountain for the 25th time (out of 65 attempts during his lifetime). The Ash Pit, deep, lies within the Reusch Crater. About 100,000 years ago, part of Kibo's crater rim collapsed, creating the area known as the Western Breach and the Great Barranco.
An almost continuous layer of lava buries most older geological features, with the exception of exposed strata within the Great West Notch and the Kibo Barranco. The former exposes intrusions of syenite. Kibo has five main lava formations:
* Phonotephrite
Phonotephrite or phono-tephrite is a strongly alkaline volcanic rock with a composition between phonolite and tephrite. This unusual igneous rock contains 7 to 12% alkali content and 45 to 53% silica content (see TAS diagram). It can be describ ...
s and tephriphonolite Tephriphonolite or tephri-phonolite is a mafic to intermediate extrusive igneous rock in composition between phonotephrite and phonolite. It contains 9 to 14% alkali content and 48 to 57% silica content (see TAS diagram). Tephriphonolite is rou ...
s of the Lava Tower group, on a dyke cropping out at , dated to 482,000 years ago.
* Tephriphonolite to phonolite lavas "characterized by rhomb mega-phenocrysts of sodic feldspars" of the Rhomb Porphyry group, dated to 460,000–360,000 years ago.
* Aphyric phonolite lavas, "commonly underlain by basal obsidian horizons", of the Lent group, dated to 359,000–337,000 years ago
* Porphyritic tephriphonolite to phonolite lavas of the Caldera Rim group, dated to 274,000–170,000 years ago
* Phonolite lava flows with aegirine
Aegirine is a member of the clino pyroxene group of inosilicate minerals. Aegirine is the sodium endmember of the aegirine-augite series. Aegirine has the chemical formula Na Fe Si2 O6 in which the iron is present as Fe3+. In the aegirine-augit ...
phenocryst
300px, feldspathic phenocrysts. This granite, from the Switzerland">Swiss side of the Mont Blanc massif, has large white plagioclase phenocrysts, triclinic minerals that give trapezoid shapes when cut through). 1 euro coins, 1 euro coin (diameter ...
s, of the Inner Crater group, which represents the last volcanic activity on Kibo
Kibo has more than 250 parasitic cone
A parasitic cone (also adventive cone or satellite cone) is the cone-shaped accumulation of volcanic material not part of the central vent of a volcano. It forms from eruptions from fractures on the flank of the volcano. These fractures occur ...
s on its northwest and southeast flanks that were formed between 150,000 and 200,000 years ago and erupted picrobasalt
Picrite basalt or picrobasalt is a variety of high-magnesium olivine basalt that is very rich in the mineral olivine. It is dark with yellow-green olivine phenocrysts (20-50%) and black to dark brown pyroxene, mostly augite.
The olivine-rich p ...
s, trachybasalt
Trachybasalt is a volcanic rock with a composition between trachyte and basalt. It resembles basalt but has a high content of alkali metal oxides. Minerals in trachybasalt include alkali feldspar, calcic plagioclase, olivine, clinopyroxene and li ...
s, ankaramites, and basanites. They reach as far as Lake Chala
Lake Chala, also known as Lake Challa, is a crater lake that straddles the border between Kenya and Tanzania. The lake formed approximately 250,000 years ago. The lake is east of Mount Kilimanjaro, north of Taveta, Kenya, and east of Rombo Dis ...
and Taveta in the southeast and the Lengurumani Plain in the northwest. Most of these cones are well preserved, with the exception of the Saddle Plateau cones that were heavily affected by glacial action. Despite their mostly small size, lava from the cones has obscured large portions of the mountain. The Saddle Plateau cones are mostly cinder cones with terminal effusion of lava, while the Upper Rombo Zone cones mostly generated lava flows. All Saddle Plateau cones predate the last glaciation.
According to reports gathered in the 19th century from the Maasai Maasai may refer to:
* Maasai people
*Maasai language
* Maasai mythology
* MAASAI (band)
See also
* Masai (disambiguation)
* Massai
Massai (also known as: Masai, Massey, Massi, Mah–sii, Massa, Wasse, Wassil or by the nickname "Big Foot" Mas ...
, Lake Chala on Kibo's eastern flank was the site of a village that was destroyed by an eruption.
Glaciers
Kibo's diminishing ice cap exists because Kilimanjaro is a little-dissected, massive mountain that rises above the snow line. The cap is divergent and at the edges splits into individual glaciers. The central portion of the ice cap is interrupted by the presence of the Kibo crater. The summit glaciers and ice fields do not display significant horizontal movements because their low thickness precludes major deformation.
Geological evidence shows five successive glacial episodes during the Quaternary
The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...
period, namely First (500,000 BP), Second (greater than 360,000 years ago to 240,000 BP), Third (150,000 to 120,000 BP), Fourth (also known as "Main") (20,000 to 17,000 BP), and Little (16,000 to 14,000 BP). The Third may have been the most extensive, and the Little appears to be statistically indistinguishable from the Fourth.
A continuous ice cap covering approximately down to an elevation of covered Kilimanjaro during the Last Glacial Maximum
The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), also referred to as the Late Glacial Maximum, was the most recent time during the Last Glacial Period that ice sheets were at their greatest extent.
Ice sheets covered much of Northern North America, Northern Eur ...
in the Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...
epoch (the Main glacial episode), extending across the summits of Kibo and Mawenzi. Because of the exceptionally prolonged dry conditions during the subsequent Younger Dryas
The Younger Dryas (c. 12,900 to 11,700 years BP) was a return to glacial conditions which temporarily reversed the gradual climatic warming after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, c. 27,000 to 20,000 years BP). The Younger Dryas was the last stag ...
stadial
Stadials and interstadials are phases dividing the Quaternary period, or the last 2.6 million years. Stadials are periods of colder climate while interstadials are periods of warmer climate.
Each Quaternary climate phase is associated with a Ma ...
, the ice fields on Kilimanjaro may have become extinct around 11,500 years BP. Ice cores taken from Kilimanjaro's Northern Ice Field (NIF) indicates that the glaciers there have a basal age of about 11,700 years, although an analysis of ice taken in 2011 from exposed vertical cliffs in the NIF supports an age extending only to 800 years BP. Higher precipitation rates at the beginning of the Holocene
The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togethe ...
epoch (11,500 years BP) allowed the ice cap to reform. The glaciers survived a widespread drought during a three century period beginning around 4,000 years BP.
In the late 1880s, the summit of Kibo was completely covered by an ice cap about in extent with outlet glaciers cascading down the western and southern slopes, and except for the inner cone, the entire caldera was buried. Glacier ice also flowed through the Western Breach. The slope glaciers retreated rapidly between 1912 and 1953, in response to a sudden shift in climate at the end of the 19th century that made them "drastically out of equilibrium", and more slowly thereafter. Their continuing demise indicates they are still out of equilibrium in response to a constant change in climate over the past century.
In contrast to the persistent slope glaciers, the glaciers on Kilimanjaro's crater plateau have appeared and disappeared repeatedly during the Holocene epoch, with each cycle lasting a few hundred years. It appears that decreasing specific humidity instead of temperature changes has caused the shrinkage of the slope glaciers since the late 19th century. No clear warming trend at the elevation of those glaciers occurred between 1948 and 2005. Although air temperatures at that elevation are always below freezing, solar radiation causes melting on vertical faces. Vertical ice margin walls are a unique characteristic of the summit glaciers and a major place of the shrinkage of the glaciers. They manifest stratifications, calving, and other ice features. "There is no pathway for the plateau glaciers other than to continuously retreat once their vertical margins are exposed to solar radiation." The Kilimanjaro glaciers have been used for deriving ice core records, including two from the southern icefield. Based on this data, this icefield formed between 1,250 and 1,450 years BP.
Almost 85 percent of the ice cover on Kilimanjaro disappeared between October 1912 and June 2011, with coverage decreasing from to . Between 1912 and 1953, there was about a 1.1 percent average annual loss of ice coverage. The average annual loss for 1953 to 1989 was 1.4 percent, while the loss rate for 1989 to 2007 was 2.5 percent. Of the ice cover still present in 2000, almost 40 percent had disappeared by 2011. Ice climber Will Gadd noticed differences between his 2014 and 2020 climbs. The glaciers are thinning in addition to losing areal coverage, and do not have active accumulation zones; retreat occurs on all glacier surfaces. Loss of glacier mass is caused by both melting and sublimation. While the current shrinking and thinning of Kilimanjaro's ice fields appears to be unique within its almost twelve millennium history, it is contemporaneous with widespread glacier retreat
The retreat of glaciers since 1850 affects the availability of fresh water for irrigation and domestic use, mountain recreation, animals and plants that depend on glacier-melt, and, in the longer term, the level of the oceans. Deglaciation occur ...
in mid-to-low latitudes across the globe. In 2013, it was estimated that, at the current rate of global warming, most of the ice on Kilimanjaro will disappear by 2040 and "it is highly unlikely that any ice body will remain after 2060".
A complete disappearance of the ice would be of only "negligible importance" to the water budget of the area around the mountain. The forests of Kilimanjaro, far below the ice fields, "are heessential water reservoirs for the local and regional populations".
Drainage
Kilimanjaro is drained by a network of rivers and streams, especially on the wetter and more heavily eroded southern side and especially above . Below that altitude, increased evaporation and human water usage reduces the water flows. The Lumi
Lumi may refer to:
Computing
* Lumi (software), chemical analysis software
* Lumi masking, a technique used by video compression software
* LUMI, a supercomputer located in Finland
Music
* ''Lumi'' (album), a 1987 album by Edward Vesala
...
and Pangani
Pangani Town is a historic Swahili settlement located on the south eastern shore of Tanga Region, Tanzania. The town lies south of the city of Tanga, at the mouth of the Pangani River. It is the headquarters of the Pangani District. Admini ...
rivers drain Kilimanjaro on the eastern and southern sides, respectively.
IUGS geological heritage site
In respect of it being 'the highest stratovolcano of the East African Rift that maintains a glacier on its summit', the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) included 'The Pleistocene Kilimanjaro volcano' in its assemblage of 100 'geological heritage sites' around the world in a listing published in October 2022. The organisation defines an IUGS Geological Heritage Site as 'a key place with geological elements and/or processes of international scientific relevance, used as a reference, and/or with a substantial contribution to the development of geological sciences through history.'
Human history
African culture
Kilimanjaro is attested to in numerous stories by the peoples who live in East Africa. The Chagga
The Chaga or Chagga (Swahili language: WaChaga) are Bantu-speaking indigenous Africans and the third-largest ethnic group in Tanzania. They traditionally live on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro and eastern Mount Meru in both Kilimanjaro Regi ...
, who traditionally lived on the southern and eastern slopes of the mountain, tell how a man named Tone once provoked a god, Ruwa, to bring famine upon the land. The people became angry at Tone, forcing him to flee. Nobody wanted to protect him but a solitary dweller who had stones that turned miraculously into cattle. The dweller bid that Tone never open the stable of the cattle. When Tone did not heed the warning and the cattle escaped, Tone followed them, but the fleeing cattle threw up hills to run on, including Mawenzi and Kibo. Tone finally collapsed on Kibo, ending the pursuit.
Another Chagga legend tells of ivory-filled graves of elephants on the mountain, and of a cow named Rayli that produces miraculous fat from her tail glands. If a man tries to steal such a gland but is too slow in his moves, Rayli will blast a powerful snort and blow the thief down onto the plain.
Early records
The mountain may have been known to non-Africans since antiquity. Sailors' reports recorded by Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...
mention a "moon mountain" and a spring lake of the Nile, which may indicate Kilimanjaro, although available historical information does not allow differentiation among others in East Africa like Mount Kenya, the mountains of Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
, the Virunga Mountains, the Rwenzori Mountains
The Ruwenzori, also spelled Rwenzori and Rwenjura, are a range of mountains in eastern equatorial Africa, located on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The highest peak of the Ruwenzori reaches , and the range ...
, and Kilimanjaro. Before Ptolemy, Aeschylus
Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...
and Herodotus
Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...
referred to "Egypt nurtured by the snows" and to a spring between two mountains, respectively. One of these mentions two tall mountains in the coastal regions with a valley with traces of fire between. Martín Fernández de Enciso
Martín Fernández de Enciso ( 1470 – 1528) was a Spanish lawyer, colonial official and geographer. He was intrumental in the colonization of the Isthmus of Darien, one of Spain's earliest attempts to occupy the mainland of the Americas. His ...
, a Spanish traveller to Mombasa
Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...
who obtained information about the interior from native caravans, said in his ''Summa de Geografía'' (1519) that west of Mombasa "stands the Ethiopian Mount Olympus, which is exceedingly high, and beyond it are the Mountains of the Moon, in which are the sources of the Nile".
European exploration
The German missionaries Johannes Rebmann
Johannes Rebmann (January 16, 1820 – October 4, 1876) was a German missionary, linguist, and explorer credited with feats including being the first European, along with his colleague Johann Ludwig Krapf, to enter Africa from the Indian Ocean coa ...
of Mombasa and Johann Krapf were the first Europeans known to have attempted to reach the mountain. According to English geographer Halford Mackinder
Sir Halford John Mackinder (15 February 1861 – 6 March 1947) was an English geographer, academic and politician, who is regarded as one of the founding fathers of both geopolitics and geostrategy. He was the first Principal of University Ex ...
and English explorer Harry Johnston
Sir Henry Hamilton Johnston (12 June 1858 – 31 July 1927), known as Harry Johnston, was a British explorer, botanist, artist, colonial administrator, and linguist who travelled widely in Africa and spoke many African languages. He publishe ...
, Rebmann in 1848 was the first European to report the existence of Kilimanjaro. Hans Meyer has claimed that Rebmann first arrived in Africa in 1846 and quotes Rebmann's diary entry of 11 May 1848 as saying,
In August 1861, the Prussian officer Baron Karl Klaus von der Decken
Baron Karl Klaus (Carl Claus) von der Decken (born 8 August 1833 in Kotzen, Brandenburg, Germany; died 2 October 1865 near Bardera, Somalia) was a German explorer of eastern Africa and the first European to attempt to climb Mount Kilimanjaro ...
accompanied by English geologist Richard Thornton made an attempt to climb Kibo but "got no farther than owing to the inclemency of the weather".[ In December 1862, von der Decken tried a second time together with ]Otto Kersten
Otto Kersten (23 December 1839 in Altenburg – 22 November 1900 in Altenburg) was a German chemist and geographer.
He studied chemistry and natural sciences at the University of Leipzig, and after graduation, worked as an assistant at the vo ...
, reaching a height of .
In August 1871, missionary Charles New became the "first European to reach the equatorial snows" on Kilimanjaro at an elevation of slightly more than .[ In June 1887, the Hungarian Count Sámuel Teleki and the Austrian Lieutenant ]Ludwig von Höhnel
Ludwig Ritter von Höhnel (6 August 1857, Preßburg – 23 March 1942, Vienna) was an Austrian naval officer and explorer. He was trained at the naval academy in Fiume, then part of the Austrian empire. His brother was the naturalist Franz Xaver ...
made an attempt to climb the mountain. Approaching from the saddle between Mawenzi and Kibo, Höhnel stopped at , but Teleki continued until he reached the snow at . Later in 1887, the German geology professor Hans Meyer reached the lower edge of the ice cap on Kibo, where he was forced to turn back because he lacked the equipment needed to progress across the ice. The following year, Meyer planned another attempt with Oscar Baumann
Oscar Baumann (25 June 1864 in Vienna – 12 October 1899 in Vienna) was an Austrian explorer, cartographer and ethnographer.
He attended classes on natural history and geography at the University of Vienna, and in 1885 was part of an Austr ...
, a cartographer
Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...
, but the mission was aborted after the pair were held hostage and ransomed during the Abushiri Revolt
The Abushiri revolt, also known as the slave trader revolt (german: Sklavenhändlerrevolte), was an insurrection in 1888–1889 by the Arab and Swahili population of the areas of the coast of East Africa that were granted, under protest, to G ...
. In the autumn of 1888, the American naturalist Abbott and the German explorer Otto Ehrenfried Ehlers
Otto Ehrenfried Ehlers (31 January 1855 – 3 October 1895) was a German traveller who is known for his account of a long trip through inland Southeast Asia, documented in his 1894 book ''Im Sattel durch Indochina'', and recently republished by Wh ...
approached the summit from the northwest. While Abbott turned back earlier, Ehlers at first claimed to have reached the summit rim, but after severe criticism of the claim, withdrew it.[
In 1889, Meyer returned to Kilimanjaro with the Austrian mountaineer ]Ludwig Purtscheller
Ludwig Purtscheller (6 October 1849 – 3 March 1900) was an Austrian mountaineer and teacher.
Purtscheller pioneered climbing without a mountain guide, who in the 19th century did all the route finding and lead climbing. By the end of his life ...
for a third attempt. This attempt was based on the establishment of several campsites with food supplies so that multiple attempts at the top could be made without having to descend too far. Meyer and Purtscheller pushed to near the crater rim on 3 October but turned back exhausted from hacking footsteps in the icy slope. Three days later, they reached the highest summit, on the southern rim of the crater. They were the first to confirm that Kibo has a crater. After descending to the saddle between Kibo and Mawenzi, Meyer and Purtscheller attempted to climb the more technically challenging Mawenzi but could only reach the top of Klute Peak, a subsidiary peak, before retreating due to illness. On 18 October, they reascended Kibo to enter and study the crater, cresting the rim at Hans Meyers Notch. In total, Meyer and Purtscheller spent 16 days above during their expedition. They were accompanied in their high camps by Mwini Amani of Pangani
Pangani Town is a historic Swahili settlement located on the south eastern shore of Tanga Region, Tanzania. The town lies south of the city of Tanga, at the mouth of the Pangani River. It is the headquarters of the Pangani District. Admini ...
, who cooked and supplied the sites with water and firewood.[
The first ascent of the highest summit of Mawenzi was made on 29 July 1912, by the German climbers Eduard Hans Oehler and Fritz Klute, who named it Hans Meyer Peak. Oehler and Klute went on to make the third-ever ascent of Kibo, via the Drygalski Glacier, and descended via the Western Breach.]
In 1989, the organizing committee of the 100-year celebration of the first ascent decided to award posthumous certificates to the African porter-guides who had accompanied Meyer and Purtscheller. One person in pictures or documents of the 1889 expedition was thought to match a living inhabitant of Marangu
Marangu is a town located in Kilimanjaro Region. it is divided into Marangu East and Marangu west each with its own village, its one of the famous places in Tanzania recognized as one of the main gate for climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. it is also ...
, Yohani Kinyala Lauwo. Lauwo did not know his own age, nor remember Meyer or Purtscheller. He did recall joining a Kilimanjaro expedition involving a Dutch doctor who lived near the mountain, and that he did not wear shoes during the climb. Lauwo claimed that he had climbed the mountain three times before the beginning of World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The committee concluded that he had been a member of Meyer's team and therefore must have been born around 1871. Lauwo died on 10 May 1996, 107 years after the first ascent. It is sometimes suggested that he was a co-first-ascendant of Kilimanjaro.
Fauna and flora
Animals
Large animals are rare on Kilimanjaro and are more frequent in the forests and lower parts of the mountain. Elephants and Cape buffaloes are among the animals that can be potentially hazardous to trekkers. Bushbuck
The Cape bushbuck (''Tragelaphus sylvaticus'') is a common and a widespread species of antelope in sub-Saharan Africa.Wronski T, Moodley Y. (2009)Bushbuck, harnessed antelope or both? ''Gnusletter'', 28(1):18-19. Bushbuck are found in a wide ra ...
s, chameleons, dik-dik
A dik-dik is the name for any of four species of small antelope in the genus ''Madoqua'' that live in the bushlands of eastern and southern Africa.
Dik-diks stand about at the shoulder, are long, weigh and can live for up to 10 years. Dik- ...
s, duikers
A duiker is a small to medium-sized brown antelope native to sub-Saharan Africa, found in heavily wooded areas. The 22 extant species, including three sometimes considered to be subspecies of the other species, form the subfamily Cephalophinae ...
, mongoose
A mongoose is a small terrestrial carnivorous mammal belonging to the family Herpestidae. This family is currently split into two subfamilies, the Herpestinae and the Mungotinae. The Herpestinae comprises 23 living species that are native to so ...
s, sunbird
Sunbirds and spiderhunters make up the family Nectariniidae of passerine birds. They are small, slender passerines from the Old World, usually with downward-curved bills. Many are brightly coloured, often with iridescent feathers, particularly ...
s, and warthogs
''Phacochoerus'' is a genus in the family Suidae, commonly known as warthogs (pronounced ''wart-hog''). They are pigs who live in open and semi-open habitats, even in quite arid regions, in sub-Saharan Africa. The two species were formerly co ...
have also been reported. Zebra
Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. zeb ...
s, leopards
The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus ''Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...
and hyenas have been observed sporadically on the Shira plateau. Specific species associated with the mountain include the Kilimanjaro shrew and the chameleon '' Kinyongia tavetana''.
Vegetation
Natural forests cover about on Kilimanjaro. In the foothill area, maize
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
, beans, sunflower
The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a large annual forb of the genus ''Helianthus'' grown as a crop for its edible oily seeds. Apart from cooking oil production, it is also used as livestock forage (as a meal or a silage plant), as ...
s and, on the western side, wheat are cultivated. There are remnants of the former savanna
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland- grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...
vegetation with ''Acacia
''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...
'', ''Combretum
''Combretum'', the bushwillows or combretums, make up the type genus of the family Combretaceae. The genus comprises about 272 species of trees and shrubs, most of which are native to tropical and southern Africa, about 5 to Madagascar, but th ...
'', ''Terminalia
Terminalia may refer to:
* Terminalia (festival), a Roman festival to the god of boundaries Terminus
* ''Terminalia'' (plant), a tree genus
* Terminalia (insect anatomy), the terminal region of the abdomen in insects
* ''Polyscias terminalia'', a ...
'' and ''Grewia
''Grewia'' is a large flowering plant genus in the mallow family Malvaceae, in the expanded sense as proposed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. Formerly, Grewia was placed in either the family Tiliaceae or the Sparrmanniaceae. However, these ...
''. Between and , coffee appears as part of the "Chagga
The Chaga or Chagga (Swahili language: WaChaga) are Bantu-speaking indigenous Africans and the third-largest ethnic group in Tanzania. They traditionally live on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro and eastern Mount Meru in both Kilimanjaro Regi ...
home gardens" agroforestry. Native vegetation at this altitude range ('' Strombosia'', '' Newtonia'', and ''Entandrophragma
''Entandrophragma'' is a genus of eleven known species of deciduous trees in the family Meliaceae.
Description
''Entandrophragma'' is restricted to tropical Africa.Entandrophragma C. DC. in Bull. Herb. Boissier 2:582 t.21 (1894)
At least some ...
'') is limited to inaccessible valleys and gorges and is different from vegetation at higher altitudes. On the southern slope, montane forest
Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...
s first contain ''Ocotea usambarensis
''Ocotea usambarensis'' is a species of ''Ocotea'' (family Lauraceae), native to eastern Africa in Kenya, Tanga Region of Tanzania, and locally in Uganda, where it occurs at 1600–2600 m altitude in high rainfall montane cloud forest. Common ...
'' as well as fern
A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except t ...
s and epiphytes; farther up in cloud forests ''Podocarpus latifolius
''Podocarpus latifolius'' (broad-leaved yellowwood or real yellowwood, af, Opregte-geelhout, nso, Mogôbagôba, xh, Umcheya, zu, Umkhoba) is a large evergreen tree up to 35 m high and 3 m trunk diameter, in the conifer family Podoc ...
'', ''Hagenia abyssinica
''Hagenia'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plant with the sole species ''Hagenia abyssinica'', native to the high-elevation Afromontane regions of central and eastern Africa. It also has a disjunct distribution in the high mountains of East ...
'' and '' Erica excelsa'' grow, as well as fog-dependent mosses. On the drier northern slopes olive
The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...
, '' Croton''-''Calodendrum
''Calodendrum'' is a genus of medium-sized evergreen trees comprising two species from Africa. ''Calodendrum capense'', the Cape chestnut, is a well known tree that is widely cultivated, while ''Calodendrum eickii'' is a rare forest tree from Tan ...
'', '' Cassipourea'', and ''Juniperus
Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arcti ...
'' form forests in order of increasing altitude. Between and lie ''Erica
Erica or ERICA may refer to:
* Erica (given name)
* ''Erica'' (plant), a flowering plant genus
* Erica (chatbot), a service of Bank of America
* ''Erica'' (video game), a 2019 FMV video game
* ''Erica'' (spider), a jumping spider genus
* E ...
'' bush and heathlands, followed by ''Helichrysum
The genus ''Helichrysum'' consists of an estimated 600 species of flowering plants in the sunflower family (Asteraceae). The type species is '' Helichrysum orientale''. They often go by the names everlasting, immortelle, and strawflower. The nam ...
'', until . Neophytes have been observed, including ''Poa annua
''Poa annua'', or annual meadow grass (known in America more commonly as annual bluegrass or simply poa), is a widespread low-growing turfgrass in temperate climates. Notwithstanding the reference to annual plant in its name, perennial bio-types ...
''.
Records from the Maundi crater at indicate that the vegetation of Kilimanjaro has varied over time. Forest vegetation retreated during the Last Glacial Maximum and the ericaceous vegetation belt lowered by between 42,000 and 30,000 years ago because of the drier and colder conditions.
The Tussock Grassland is an area on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro that contains many unique species of vegetation, such as the water holding cabbage
''Dendrosenecio'' is a genus of flowering plants in the sunflower family. It is a segregate of ''Senecio'', in which it formed the subgenus ''Dendrosenecio''. Its members, the giant groundsels, are native to the higher altitude zones of ten m ...
.
Climate
The climate of Kilimanjaro is influenced by the height of the mountain, which allows the simultaneous influence of the equatorial trade wind
The trade winds or easterlies are the permanent east-to-west prevailing winds that flow in the Earth's equatorial region. The trade winds blow mainly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisph ...
s and the high altitude anti-trades
The westerlies, anti-trades, or prevailing westerlies, are prevailing winds from the west toward the east in the middle latitudes between 30 and 60 degrees latitude. They originate from the high-pressure areas in the horse latitudes and trend to ...
, and by the isolated position of the mountain. Kilimanjaro has daily upslope and nightly downslope winds, a regimen stronger on the southern than the northern side of the mountain. The flatter southern flanks are more extended and affect the atmosphere more strongly.
Kilimanjaro has two distinct rainy seasons, one from March to May and another around November. The northern slopes receive much less rainfall than the southern ones. The lower southern slope receives annually, rising to at altitude and peaking "partly over" in the forest belt at . In the alpine zone, annual precipitation decreases to .
The average temperature in the summit area is approximately . Nighttime surface temperatures on the Northern Ice Field (NIF) fall on average to , with an average daytime high of . During nights of extreme radiational cooling, the NIF can cool to as low as .
Snowfall can occur at any time of year but is mostly associated with northern Tanzania's two rainy seasons. Precipitation in the summit area occurs principally as snow and graupel of per year and ablates within days or years.
Climatic zones
* Bushland / Lower Slope:, 800 m – 1,800 m (2,600 ft – 5,900 ft);
* Rainforest: 1,800 m – 2,800 m (5,900 ft – 9,200 ft);
* Heather / Moorland: 2,800 m – 4,000 m (9,200 ft – 13,100 ft);
* Alpine Desert: 4,000 m – 5,000 m (13,100 ft– 16,400 ft);
* Arctic: 5,000 m – 5,895 m (16,400 ft – 19,300 ft).
Tourism industry
Kilimanjaro National Park
Kilimanjaro National Park is a Tanzanian national park, located south of the equator and in Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania. The park is located near the region of Moshi. The park includes the whole of Mount Kilimanjaro above the tree line and th ...
generated US$51 million in revenue in 2013, the second-most of any Tanzanian national park. The Tanzania National Parks Authority reported that the park recorded 57,456 tourists during the 2011–12 budget year, of whom 16,425 hiked the mountain; the park's General Management Plan specifies an annual capacity of 28,470. The mountain hikers generated irregular and seasonal jobs for about 11,000 guides, porters, and cooks in 2007. Concerns have been raised about their poor working conditions and inadequate wages of these workers.
Due to Kilimanjaro National Park's popularity as a destination, the Tanzanian government have invested in road infrastructure to improve accessibility. In Tanzania, Kilimanjaro International Airport
Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) is an international airport located in Hai District, Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania. The airport serves the cities of Arusha and Moshi. The airport handled 802,731 passengers in 2014 and mainly serves re ...
also serves as an important transportation hub.
There are seven official trekking routes by which to ascend and descend Kilimanjaro: Lemosho, Lemosho Western-Breach, Machame, Marangu, Mweka, Rongai, Shira, and Umbwe. The Machame route can be completed in six or seven days, Lemosho in six to eight, and the Northern Circuit routes in seven or more days. The Lemosho Route can also be continued via the Western-Breach, summitting via the western side of the mountain. The Western-Breach is more secluded and avoids the 6-hour midnight ascent to the summit (like other routes). The Rongai is the easiest of the camping routes. The Marangu is also relatively easy, if frequently busy; accommodation is in shared huts. The Lemosho Western-Breach Route commences on the western side of Kilimanjaro at Lemosho and continues to the summit via the Western-Breach Route.
Climbing records
The oldest person to climb Mount Kilimanjaro is Anne Lorimor, aged 89 years and 37 days, who reached Uhuru Peak at 3:14 p.m. local time on 18 July 2019. The oldest man to summit is American Fred Dishelhorst, who reached the top on 19 July 2017 at the age of 88 years old. The second oldest man to summit the mountain is the American Robert Wheeler, who was 85 years and 201 days when he summited on 2 October 2014. Maxwell J. Ojerholm of Massachusetts, USA, reached Uhuru Peak, the true summit, unassisted, at the age of ten years, on July 4, 2009, taking the difficult Machame Route. Colin M. Barker of Missouri, USA, later completed the same route at the age of ten years on December 22, 2020. Theodore Margaroli from London, age 10, reached the summit unassisted by the Western Breach, the hardest but most scenic route, in 2019. Despite an age-limit of 10 years for a climbing permit, Keats Boyd from Los Angeles reached the summit on 21 January 2008 at the age of 7. This record was equaled by Montannah Kenney from Texas in March 2018.
The fastest ascent and the fastest round trip have been recorded by the Swiss-Ecuadorian mountain guide Karl Egloff
Karl Egloff (born March 16, 1981, Ecuador) is a Swiss-Ecuadorian athlete, mountaineer, cyclist and mountain guide, best known for his speed ascents of high mountains, including the Seven Summits.
He was well known in his native Ecuador for a rec ...
. On 13 August 2014, after guiding a party to the summit the previous days, he ran from Umbwe Gate to the top in 4 hours and 56 minutes and returned to the Mweka Gate at {{convert, 1630, m, ft in a total time of 6 hours, 42 minutes and 24 seconds.[Route: Kilimanjaro](_blank)
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181209124202/https://fastestknowntime.com/route/kilimanjaro-tanzania , date=9 December 2018 at fastestknowntime.com Previous records, using the same route, were held by Spanish mountain runner Kílian Jornet (ascent in 5:23:50, round trip 7:14 on 29 September 2010) and by Tanzanian guide Simon Mtuy (an unsupported round trip in 9:21 on 22 February 2006).[{{cite web , url=http://www.climbkilimanjaroguide.com/kilimanjaro-facts/#kilimanjaro-records , title=Amazing Kilimanjaro Records , publisher=Climb Kilimanjaro Guide , work=Mount Kilimanjaro Facts , access-date=16 July 2015 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150717020932/http://www.climbkilimanjaroguide.com/kilimanjaro-facts/#kilimanjaro-records , archive-date=17 July 2015 , url-status=dead , df=dmy-all ]
The female round trip record is held by Fernanda Maciel from Brazil in a time of 10 hours and 6 minutes.[ Her ascent time of 7:08 was broken on 23 February 2018 by the Danish ultramarathon runner Kristina Schou Madsen with a time of 6:52:54 from Mweka Gate.][
Several climbs by disabled people have drawn attention. Wheelchair user Bernard Goosen from South Africa scaled Kilimanjaro in six days in 2007. In 2012, ]Kyle Maynard
Kyle Maynard (born March 24, 1986) is an American speaker, author and mixed martial arts athlete, known for becoming the first quadruple amputee to ascend Mount Kilimanjaro without the aid of prosthetics. He is also founder of the No Excuses Cros ...
who has no forearms or lower legs, crawled unassisted to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.[
In 2020, a team featuring two double above-knee amputees, ]Hari Budha Magar
Hari Budha Magar is a Nepalese double above-knee amputee and record-breaking mountaineer. In 2017, he became the first double above-knee amputee (DAK) to summit a mountain taller than 6,000m (Mera Peak, 6,476m).
Early life
Magar was born in ...
and Justin Oliver Davis, summited Kilimanjaro. It took them six days to cover the {{convert, 56, km, adj=on distance to the summit.
Safety
Though the climb is not technically as challenging as the Himalayas
The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...
or Andes
The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...
, the high elevation, low temperature, and occasional high winds can make Kilimanjaro a difficult trek. Acclimatization is required, and even experienced and physically fit trekkers may suffer some degree of altitude sickness
Altitude sickness, the mildest form being acute mountain sickness (AMS), is the harmful effect of high altitude, caused by rapid exposure to low amounts of oxygen at high elevation. People can respond to high altitude in different ways. Sympt ...
.[{{Cite journal , author1=Muza, SR , author2=Fulco, CS , author3=Cymerman, A , title=Altitude Acclimatization Guide , journal=US Army Research Inst. Of Environmental Medicine Thermal and Mountain Medicine Division Technical Report , issue=USARIEM-TN-04-05 , year=2004 , url=http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/xmlui/handle/123456789/7616 , access-date=2015-07-16 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160214202657/http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/xmlui/handle/123456789/7616 , archive-date=2016-02-14 , url-status=usurped ] A study of people attempting to reach the summit of Kilimanjaro in July and August 2005 found that 61.3 percent succeeded and 77 percent experienced acute mountain sickness (AMS).[{{cite journal , url=http://www.nickkalson.com/Papers/Kili_WEM.pdf , last1=Davies , first1=Andrew J. , last2=Kalson , first2=Nicholas S. , last3=Stokes , first3=Suzy , last4=Earl , first4=Mark D. , last5=Whitehead , first5=Adam G. , last6=Frost , first6=Hannah , last7=Tyrell-Marsh , first7=Ian , last8=Naylor , first8=Jon , title=Determinants of Summiting Success and Acute Mountain Sickness on Mt Kilimanjaro (5895 m) , journal=Wilderness & Environmental Medicine , volume=20 , issue=4 , pages=311–7 , year=2009 , issn=1080-6032 , doi=10.1580/1080-6032-020.004.0311 , pmid=20030437 , s2cid=13322264 , access-date=2015-07-28 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208062905/http://www.nickkalson.com/Papers/Kili_WEM.pdf , archive-date=2015-12-08 , url-status=live ] A retrospective study of 917 persons who attempted to reach the summit via the Lemosho or Machame routes found that 70.4 percent experienced AMS, defined in this study to be headache, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, or loss of appetite.
Kilimanjaro's summit is well above the altitude at which life-threatening high altitude pulmonary edema
High-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) is a life-threatening form of non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema that occurs in otherwise healthy people at altitudes typically above . However, cases have also been reported between in more vulnerable subjects.
...
(HAPE) or high altitude cerebral edema
High-altitude cerebral edema (HACE) is a medical condition in which the brain swells with fluid because of the physiological effects of traveling to a high altitude. It generally appears in patients who have acute mountain sickness and involves dis ...
(HACE), the most severe forms of AMS, can occur.[{{Cite journal , author1=Cymerman, A , author2=Rock, PB , title=Medical Problems in High Mountain Environments. A Handbook for Medical Officers , publisher=US Army Research Inst. of Environmental Medicine Thermal and Mountain Medicine Division Technical Report , volume=USARIEM-TN94-2 , url=http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/xmlui/handle/123456789/7976 , access-date=5 March 2009 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207062927/http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/xmlui/handle/123456789/7976 , archive-date=2012-02-07 , url-status=usurped ] These health risks are increased substantially by excessively fast climbing schedules motivated by high daily national park fees, busy holiday travel schedules, and the lack of permanent shelter on most routes. The six-day Machame route, which involves one day of "climbing high" to Lava Tower (15,190 ft) and "sleeping low" at Barranco Camp (13,044 ft), may delay the onset of AMS but does not ultimately prevent its occurrence.
Falls on steep portions of the mountain and rock slides have killed trekkers. For this reason, the route via the Arrow Glacier was closed for several years, reopening in December 2007. The improper disposal of human waste on the mountain environment has created a health hazard, necessitating the boiling of all water.
According to the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre in Moshi, 25 people died from January 1996 to October 2003 while climbing the mountain. Seventeen were female and eight were male, ranging in age from 29 to 74. Fourteen died from advanced high altitude illness, including one with HACE
High-altitude cerebral edema (HACE) is a medical condition in which the brain swells with fluid because of the physiological effects of traveling to a high altitude. It generally appears in patients who have acute mountain sickness and involves dis ...
, five with HAPE
High-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) is a life-threatening form of non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema that occurs in otherwise healthy people at altitudes typically above . However, cases have also been reported between in more vulnerable subjects.
...
, and six with both HACE and HAPE. The remaining eleven deaths resulted from "trauma (3), myocardial infarction
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may ...
(4), pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...
(2), cardio-pulmonary failure of other underlying cause (1), and acute appendicitis
Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these typical symptoms. Severe complications of a rup ...
(1). The overall mortality rate was an 13.6 per 100,000 climbers."
File:Kili warning signs px1000.jpg, Caution signs at the Machamé trailhead.
File:UhuruPeak.jpg, Sign at Uhuru peak, indicating to trekkers that they have reached the top.
File:Hans Meyer memorial.jpg, Memorial recognizing the German Hans Meyer as the first European to "conquer" Kilimanjaro
File:Uhuru Peak Mt. Kilimanjaro 1.JPG, Kilimanjaro's summit, Uhuru peak
Special events
* According to the Tanzania National Parks Authority, the first wedding performed on the mountain below the summit took place on 21 September 2014, when an American couple exchanged vows at Shira 2 Camp. In 2011, a couple exchanged their vows at the summit.
* On 26 September 2014, a new world record for the highest-ever cricket match was set when a group of international cricketers played on a flat crater on the mountain at an elevation of {{convert, 5730, m.[{{cite web , date=26 September 2014 , title=Cricketers play on Kilimanjaro to set new world record , url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-29375679 , newspaper=BBC News , access-date=29 September 2014 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140929044440/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-29375679 , archive-date=29 September 2014 , url-status=live , df=dmy-all ]
See also
* Balletto Glacier
* Barranco Glacier
* Credner Glacier
Credner Glacier is on Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, on the northwest slope of the peak and is a remnant of an icecap which once crowned the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. The glacier is situated at an elevation of between . Credner Glacier is one of ...
* Furtwängler Glacier
Furtwangler Glacier is located near the summit
A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous.
The ter ...
* Great Penck Glacier
Great Penck Glacier was on Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, on the west slope of the peak. Extending from the Northern Ice Field, the glacier once flowed , to an elevation of . Between the years 1962 and 1975, Great Penck Glacier separated from the ...
* List of volcanoes in Tanzania
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
* Little Penck Glacier
Little Penck Glacier is on Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, on the west slope of the peak. Once extending from the Northern Ice Field, the glacier detached from the icefield by 1992. A sizeable but stagnant ice body remains near the 1912 historical ...
* Rebmann Glacier
The Rebmann Glacier is an active glacier located near the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. It is a small remnant of an enormous ice cap which once crowned Kilimanjaro. This ice cap has retreated significantly over the past century; between ...
* Sacred mountains
Sacred mountains are central to certain religions, and are usually the subjects of many legends. For many, the most symbolic aspect of a mountain is the peak because it is believed that it is closest to heaven or other religious realms. Many rel ...
* Southeast Africa
Southeast Africa or Southeastern Africa is an African region that is intermediate between East Africa and Southern Africa. It comprises the countries Botswana, Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania ...
References
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[
{{cite web , url = http://www.ntz.info/gen/b00769.html , title = The Meaning of Kilimanjaro , author = Hutchinson, J. A. , year = 1965 , work = Department of Language and Linguistics , publisher = University College , location = Dar Es Salaam , access-date = 2007-04-25 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071006111206/http://www.ntz.info/gen/b00769.html , archive-date = 2007-10-06 , url-status = live
]
External links
{{Sister project links , commons= Kilimanjaro , wikt=no , q=no, b=no , n=no , s=no , v=no , species=no , d=Q7296 , display=Mount Kilimanjaro , voy=Mount Kilimanjaro
* {{cite gvp, name=Kilimanjaro, vn=222150, access-date=2021-06-24
Mount Kilimanjaro National Park
NASA Earth Explorer page
Weather forecast for Mount Kilimanjaro (19,565 feet)
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110215100701/http://www.kilimanjaro.cc/glacial-recession.htm , date=15 February 2011
Mount Kilimanjaro live webcam
Aerial photographs of Mount Kilimanjaro, 1937–38
Kilimanjaro
{{Seven Summits
{{Volcanic Seven Summits
{{Seven Third Summits, state=collapsed
{{Authority control
Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and a ...
Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and a ...
Geography of Kilimanjaro Region
Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and a ...
Moshi, Tanzania
Seven Summits
Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and a ...
Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and a ...
Volcanoes of the Great Rift Valley
Important Bird Areas of Tanzania
Pleistocene stratovolcanoes
First 100 IUGS Geological Heritage Sites