Magadi, Kenya
Encyclopedia
Great Rift Valley
The Great Rift Valley is a name given in the late 19th century by British explorer John Walter Gregory to the continuous geographic trench, approximately in length, that runs from northern Syria in Southwest Asia to central Mozambique in South East Africa...
at Lake Magadi
Lake Magadi
Lake Magadi is the southernmost lake in the Kenya Rift Valley, lying in a catchment of faulted volcanic rocks, north of Tanzania's Lake Natron. During the dry season, it is 80% covered by soda and is well known for its wading birds, including flamingos....
, located southwest of Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
, in southern Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
. Magadi is northeast of Lake Natron
Lake Natron
Lake Natron is a salt lake located in northern Tanzania, close to the Kenyan border, in the eastern branch of Africa's Great Rift Valley. The lake is fed by the Ewaso Ng'iro River but also by mineral-rich hot springs and is quite shallow, less than three meters deep, and varies in width depending...
in Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
.
The general population of Magadi, Kenya is 980 people, and the elevation of Magadi, Kenya is 595 meters (1955 feet) in altitude.
Magadi township lies on Lake Magadi
Lake Magadi
Lake Magadi is the southernmost lake in the Kenya Rift Valley, lying in a catchment of faulted volcanic rocks, north of Tanzania's Lake Natron. During the dry season, it is 80% covered by soda and is well known for its wading birds, including flamingos....
's east shore, and is home to the Magadi Soda Company
Magadi Soda Company
The Madagi Soda Company manufactures soda ash at the Kenyan town of Magadi, which is in southwestern Kenya. It is the largest manufacturer of soda ash in Africa. The company was founded in 1911 and mines trona from Lake Magadi, in the Rift Valley. Lake Magadi has one of the purest surface deposits...
, now owned by Tata India
Tata Group
Tata Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Tata Group is one of the largest companies in India by market capitalization and revenue. It has interests in communications and information technology, engineering, materials, services, energy,...
. This factory produces soda ash, which has a range of industrial uses. Magadi is the central town of Magadi division of the Kajiado District
Kajiado District
Kajiado District is an administrative district in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya. It has a population of 406,054 and an area of 21,903 km². The district borders Nairobi city and extends to the Kenya-Tanzania border further south. The district capital is Kajiado.The district is divided into seven...
Magadi has gained organized access to the Internet, and computer usage, through the United Nations Development Programme
United Nations Development Programme
The United Nations Development Programme is the United Nations' global development network. It advocates for change and connects countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. UNDP operates in 177 countries, working with nations on their own solutions to...
-Kenya for solar-powered laptop computers, begun in July 2002: by the end of 2003, about 10,000 residents (48%) had visited the five E-Centers for Internet computer access, developed by the UN project.
Magadi was a filming location for Fernando Meirelles
Fernando Meirelles
Fernando Ferreira Meirelles is a Brazilian film director, producer and screenwriter.He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director in 2004 for his work in the Brazilian film City of God, released in 2002 in Brazil and in 2003 in the U.S. by Miramax Films...
's film The Constant Gardener
The Constant Gardener (film)
The Constant Gardener is a 2005 drama film directed by Fernando Meirelles. The screenplay by Jeffrey Caine is based on the John le Carré novel of the same name. It tells the story of Justin Quayle, a man who seeks to find the motivating forces behind his wife's murder.The film stars Ralph Fiennes,...
, which is based on the book of the same name
The Constant Gardener
The Constant Gardener is a 2001 novel by John le Carré. It tells the story of Justin Quayle, a British diplomat whose activist wife is murdered...
by John le Carré
John le Carré
David John Moore Cornwell , who writes under the name John le Carré, is an author of espionage novels. During the 1950s and the 1960s, Cornwell worked for MI5 and MI6, and began writing novels under the pseudonym "John le Carré"...
, although in the film, the shots are supposed to be at Lake Turkana
Lake Turkana
Lake Turkana , formerly known as Lake Rudolf, is a lake in the Great Rift Valley in Kenya, with its far northern end crossing into Ethiopia. It is the world's largest permanent desert lake and the world's largest alkaline lake...
, which are actually at Lake Magadi
Lake Magadi
Lake Magadi is the southernmost lake in the Kenya Rift Valley, lying in a catchment of faulted volcanic rocks, north of Tanzania's Lake Natron. During the dry season, it is 80% covered by soda and is well known for its wading birds, including flamingos....
.
External links
- Photo of Great Rift Valley: showing vegetation and desert [full web page from PBase.com].