Tanzania - Kilimanjaro National Park

Kilimanjaro National Park (1987)
United Republic of Tanzania

Tanzania 1993. Kilimanjaro National Park with head of a leopard.

Tanzania 2002. Mount Kilimanjaro.

At 5,895 m, Kilimanjaro is the highest point in Africa. This volcanic massif stands in splendid isolation above the surrounding plains, with its snowy peak looming over the savannah. The mountain is encircled by mountain forest.

Numerous mammals, many of them endangered species, live in the park.

Tanzania 1993. Kilimanjaro National Park with head of a leopard.
Tanzania 2002. Mount Kilimanjaro. Note that this stamp comes in two face values, the other being 500.

Kilimanjaro Game Reserve is a national park and game reserve in northeastern Tanzania, established in 1973. Kilimanjaro Game Reserve occupies 756 sq km (292 sq mi) of the upper slopes of Kilimanjaro, a dormant volcano, which is the highest mountain in Africa. The park incorporates all of the mountain from 1,800 m (600 ft) above sea level up to its two snow-covered summits, Mawensi, 5,149 m (16,893 ft) high, and Kibo, 5,895 m (19,341 ft) high.

Deciduous forest, inhabited by leopards, elands, and other antelope, the rare Colobus monkey, and other animals, gives way to alpine landscapes above 2,700 m (8,900 ft). At its highest elevations the park consists of barren tundra.

Tanzania 2002. Leopard.
Tanzania 1991. Eland.
Tanzania 2005. Red Colobus Monkey.

Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa, in northeastern Tanzania, near the border with Kenya. Its two peaks stand 11 km (7 mi) apart and are connected by a broad ridge. Kibo, the higher peak, rises to 5,895 m (19,341 ft) above sea level, and the summit of Mawensi is 5,149 m (16,893 ft) above sea level.

Although Kilimanjaro lies 3° south of the equator, an ice cap covers the crater of Kibo year-round; this ice cap is pierced by several small craters.

“The Snows of Kilimanjaro” (1938), one of the most famous stories of American writer Ernest Hemingway, is set in the region.

Kilimanjaro has a number of different vegetation zones on its steep slopes. Coffee and plantains are grown on the lower slopes of Kilimanjaro.

Tanzania 2005. Souvenir sheet. Tanzania Safari Circuits. Leopard and Wild Hunting Dogs.

Tanzania 2005. Souvenir sheet. Tanzania Safari Circuits.

The mountain was successfully scaled for the first time in 1889 by German geographer Hans Meyer and Austrian mountain climber Ludwig Purtscheller.

Sources and links:

Microsoft Encarta 2002.
Natural site datasheet from WCMC
Mount Kilimanjaro, (Tanzania Tourist Board)
Mount Kilimanjaro, (Tanzania High Commission, London)

Other World Heritage Sites in Tanzania (on this site). Please refer to the UNESCO-listing, Tanzania Section, for further information about the individual properties.

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