(in Swahili, “mountain of the god of cold”; according to another version, “sparkling mountain”), a volcanic massif in East Africa, in Tanzania, reaching an elevation of 5,895 m, the highest point on the continent. It was formed from the merger of three now extinct volcanoes: Kibo (5,895 m), Mawensi (5,355 m), and Shira (4,006 m). Kibo’s crater, up to 2.5 km wide and up to 180 m deep, has an inner cone with a relative height of about 580 m and a crater more than 800 m wide. Kilimanjaro is composed mainly of trachybasalts and phonolites. On the humid southern and southwestern slopes, at an elevation of about 3,100 m, annual precipitation ranges from 1,000 to 3,000 mm. From the foothills to 1,000 m, the slopes are covered with savannas, and coffee and banana plantations, growing on the site of cut forests, are found to 1,800 m. Tropical rain forests with epiphytes and ferns extend to 3,100 m, tropical alpine vegetation (paramos) is found to 4,200 m, and xerophytic pulvinate grasses grow to 4,800 m. Above 4,800 m are lava fields, and on the crests, glacial relief forms predominate, with glaciers descending as far as 4,300 m on the western slopes.