Key facts
- Elevation
- 4,321 m (14,177 ft)
- Prominence
- 2,457 m (8,061 ft)
- Isolation
- 339 km (211 mi)
- Listing
- Mountains of Africa 16th, Ultra
- Topo map s
- Mount Elgon Map and Guide
- Formed by
- Volcanism along the Gregory Rift
- Rock age
- Miocene origin
- Mountain type
- Shield volcano
- Last eruption
- Unknown
- First ascent
- 1911 by Kmunke and Stigler
- Easiest route
- Scramble
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- shield volcano
- Part of
- Great Rift Valley
- Country
- Kenya
- Located in
- Bungoma District
- Elevation
- 4321
- Image
- Mount elgon topo.jpg
- Significant event
- first ascent
Show 6 more facts
- topographic prominence
- 2458
- Commons category
- Mount Elgon
- topographic isolation
- 339
- time period
- Miocene
- described by source
- Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition
- heritage designation
- Tentative World Heritage Site
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
~4 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Mount Elgon is an extinct shield volcano on the border of Uganda and Kenya, north of Kisumu, east of Mbale and west of Kitale. The mountain's highest point, named "Wagagai", is located entirely within Uganda. Although there is no verifiable evidence of its earliest volcanic activity, geologists estimate that Mount Elgon is at least 24 million years old, making it the oldest known extinct volcano in East Africa. The mountain's name originates from its Maasai name, “Ol Doinyo Ilgoon” (Breast Mountain).
Physical features
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Mount Elgon” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.