ケニアの自然環境，マサイ族およびナイロビ 地理教育との関連において

Abstract

An East African country with an area of 580, 000km2 and a population of 23 million, Kenya supplies a large amount of information even in geographic education. The natural environments of Highland Kenya, especially of climates, are often referred to “savannah”, but it should be restricted to those of vegetation. Its luxuriant fauna is well known, but seldom is dealt with as a topic in geographic education on secondary level. But the fauna there should be paid more attention because of its peculiarity depicting the local reality very well. Never is it a simple tourist attraction of no use in geographic education. The Masai, or Maasai, is well known and very often treated as an ethnic group maintaining their own rich cultural traits significantly different from others. It is true that many of them retain Masai rituals and daily life to a great extent, but at the same time, modernization is infiltrating in various aspects. A large number of Masai people now live in towns and cities without practicing a semi-nomadic life at all. Whether or not this kind of peculiar life should be treated in geographic education is a problem to be further discussed. If it is discussed as a topic out of many representative Black African cultures, it would be understandable. However, if it is singled out as if it typifies the Black African culture, much commentary ought to be added. Kenya has developed a metropolis at the altitude of 1, 700m above sea level. Good climate there has attracted European settlers first and a large number of African people have been drawn in as labor force, ousting many Masais living in a place what is now known as Nairobi. With more than 1.5 million people, the city is still expanding both in population and area. Central Nairobi boasts many highrise architectures in an atmosphere of any modern city. Vast residential areas are characterized by a very low density of structures, and of population, by Japanese standards, but African sections are compact and often of squatter type, making a sharp contrast. A problem is the recent rapid influx of refugees pouring into the latter. In this respect, Nairobi can be treated as a good example of a multi-ethnic third world city.