CDS (II) 2023 General Knowledge · Question 29 of 120

Correct — B, Mount Kilimanjaro. Kilimanjaro rises to 5,895 metres (19,341 feet) in north-eastern Tanzania and is the highest mountain in Africa; it is also the highest free-standing mountain in the world, meaning it is not part of a range but a single massif standing above the surrounding plain. It is a large dormant stratovolcano with three volcanic cones — Kibo, which carries the summit and is dormant, Mawenzi at 5,149 metres and Shira at 4,005 metres, both extinct. The gap between it and its rivals is not narrow. Mount Kenya, the continent's second highest, reaches 5,199 metres, nearly 700 metres lower; Mount Elgon on the Uganda-Kenya border stops at 4,321 metres; and the Atlas ranges of north-west Africa top out at Toubkal, about 4,167 metres. So the answer holds by a wide margin however the summits are measured.

• (a)Atlas Mountain — The Atlas is a fold mountain system of north-west Africa — Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia — not a single peak, and its highest summit, Toubkal, is about 4,167 metres. That is more than 1,700 metres below Kilimanjaro.
• (c)Mount Kenya — The strongest distractor, because Mount Kenya genuinely is Africa's second highest at 5,199 metres and, like Kilimanjaro, is an eroded volcano near the equator with glaciers on it. Second is not first: it falls about 696 metres short.
• (d)Mount Elgon — Mount Elgon, an extinct volcano straddling the Uganda-Kenya border, reaches about 4,321 metres. It is famous for having one of the largest volcanic calderas in the world, not for its height.

The high ground of East Africa is volcanic and sits along the East African Rift, where the continental crust is being pulled apart. Kilimanjaro, Mount Kenya, Mount Meru and Mount Elgon are all volcanoes built up beside that rift system, which is why isolated giants rise straight out of plains rather than forming a continuous chain. North-west Africa is a different story: the Atlas is a fold mountain system raised where the African and Eurasian plates converge, geologically continuous with the mountain belt of southern Europe.

Nothing here needs to be reasoned out; it is a recall item, and the sensible preparation is to hold the top summit of each continent along with the runner-up that examiners use as bait. The bait here is Mount Kenya, and the useful anchor is that Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya are first and second on the same continent, roughly 700 metres apart. A second trap is category rather than height: the Atlas is a range, not a mountain, so an option that names it as a single peak is already suspect. Because these are physical facts rather than administrative ones, the position has not moved since the 2023 paper — the elevation figure of 5,895 metres remains the accepted one.

• Mount Kilimanjaro is 5,895 m (19,341 ft) high, in Tanzania, and is the highest mountain in Africa.
• It is also described as the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world — a massif rising from a plain rather than part of a range.
• It is a dormant stratovolcano with three cones: Kibo (the summit, dormant), Mawenzi (5,149 m, extinct) and Shira (4,005 m, extinct).
• Mount Kenya, at 5,199 m, is Africa's second highest; Mount Elgon reaches about 4,321 m on the Uganda-Kenya border.
• The Atlas is a fold mountain system of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia; its highest point, Toubkal, is about 4,167 m.

• Choosing Mount Kenya because it is also a glaciated equatorial volcano; it is the continent's second highest, not its highest.
• Treating the Atlas as a single peak. It is a range, and even its highest summit is far below Kilimanjaro.
• Confusing Mount Elgon with Mount Meru or Mount Kenya; Elgon is the caldera mountain on the Uganda-Kenya border.

As a straight recall one-liner on the highest mountain of a continent or a country, or inside a match-the-peak-to-the-country list.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Mount Kilimanjaro is located in which one of the following countries?

  • (a)Kenya
  • (b)Uganda
  • (c)Tanzania
  • (d)Ethiopia

  Answer(c) Tanzania — Kilimanjaro stands in north-eastern Tanzania, close to the Kenyan border, and its summit lies wholly within Tanzania.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which one of the following is the second highest mountain in Africa?

  • (a)Mount Elgon
  • (b)Mount Kenya
  • (c)Mount Meru
  • (d)Toubkal

  Answer(b) Mount Kenya — at about 5,199 m it stands second only to Kilimanjaro's 5,895 m; Elgon, Meru and Toubkal are all well below both.