There is a mountain in Africa. Located near the equator. The middle-aged snow on the top of the mountain does not melt. What mountain is it?

Mount Kilimanjaro (the highest peak in Africa)

Kilimanjaro means "Mountain of Light" in Swahili in Africa.

Kilimanjaro is located in the northeast of Tanzania, which is the watershed between Tanzania and Kenya. It is located about 160 km east of the Great Rift Valley, near the Kenyan border. This is a volcanic group that extends about 80 kilometers from east to west. It consists of three main volcanoes. Kilimanjaro has two main peaks, one is Kibo and the other is Ma Wenji. After Tanzania's independence, Kibo Peak has been renamed "Uhuru Peak". There is a saddle ridge with a length of 10 km between the two peaks. Its young main peak, Uhuru Peak, is 5895 meters above sea level, the highest peak in Africa, with an area of 756 square kilometers, located at 3 degrees south latitude, only over 300 kilometers away from the equator.

Kilimanjaro is called "the roof of Africa", and many geographers like to call it "the king of Africa". The vegetation of Kilimanjaro Mountain has obvious vertical changes due to different heights and slope directions. There is less precipitation in the foothills and a large savanna. Zebra and Long Neck said they were taking a leisurely walk. The southern part is windward waves, with an altitude of about 1000 meters, belonging to the tropical rain forest belt. With the increase of height, the temperature gradually decreases to 1000 ~ 2000m, which belongs to subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest belt. 2000 ~ 3000 meters is a temperate forest belt; Above 3000 meters, it gradually transitions into alpine grassland belt, desert belt and ice and snow belt. Leeward north slope, dry climate, tropical rain forest almost no longer exists; The grassland is more than 2700 meters above sea level, and the grassland in different terrain parts rises to 4200 ~ 5 100 meters, and then there is alpine desert or alpine ice. At present, most of the southern slope of the foothills below 1800 meters above sea level has been reclaimed as cultivated land for planting bananas, coffee, grain and vegetables. In order to protect the heat drive, plant resources and develop tourism, it has been designated as Kilimanjaro National Park and listed in the World Natural Heritage List by UNESCO.

Its formation is related to the activity of rift valley. More than 654.38+million years ago, the crust here broke and there was strong volcanic activity along the fault line. Kilimanjaro is covered with a lot of lava. The mountain peaks over 5000 meters are covered with permanent glaciers, and the thickness is as high as 80 meters, forming a "snow peak wonder" near the equator in the south latitude! Due to the influence of global climate change or volcanic activity, the alpine glaciers in Kilimanjaro are shrinking. According to research, according to the current rate of retreat, it may melt completely in one or two hundred years.

Kilimanjaro is an isolated mountain, rising from the ground in the vast East African prairie, towering into the clouds and imposing. Kilimanjaro Kibo has a crater with a diameter of 2400 meters and a depth of 200 meters. The walls of the crater are flawless, and huge icicles stand at the bottom, covered with snow and ice, just like a huge jade basin. As far away as 200 kilometers, you can see its snow crown hanging in the blue sky and shining in the equatorial sun. Its outline is very clear: the slowly rising slope leads to a long and flat top, which is a real giant crater-a basin-like volcanic peak. On a hot day, from a distance, the blue mountain base is pleasing to the eye, while the top of the snowy mountain seems to hover in the air. Fog that often extends below the snow line deepens this illusion. The temperature at the foot of the mountain is sometimes as high as 59℃, while the temperature at the top of the mountain is often MINUS 34℃, so it is called "equatorial snow peak". Kilimanjaro has been a mysterious and fascinating mountain for centuries-no one really believes that there is such a snow-covered mountain near the equator. Kilimanjaro is extremely sacred in Tanzanian hearts. Many tribes hold traditional sacrificial activities at the foot of the mountain every year to worship the mountain gods and pray for peace. However, many people didn't believe this equatorial wonder until they saw it. Ptolemy, an ancient Greek, marked the volcano on a map drawn more than 2000 years ago, but it was once erased by Europeans who didn't know the truth and made a joke.

It is famous for Hemingway's novels and Gregory Parker's movies. Actually, Kilimanjaro was still in Kenya at the end of 19. Later, because of the birthday of King William of Germany, Queen Victoria of England gave it to Germany as a birthday present (Kenya was a British colony at that time) and incorporated it into the then German colony Tanzania.