Nairobi is the capital of Kenya. Situated in the highlands at 1600 m altitude, the town was founded as a stopping point on the railway between the port of Mombasa and Kisumu on Lake Victoria. It was the British provincial capital from 1899, and continued its status as capital when Kenya became free in 1963. The city grew rapidly and is today a centre in the region with about 3 million inhabitants. That places it among the largest cities in Africa.
The name of the city comes from Masai Uaso Nyirobi, the place of sweet waters. The city, also called the Green City in the Sun, still has a lot of green parks such as Uhuru Park, highly popular among Nairobi's inhabitants, or the Arboretum, which contains over 300 species of indigenous trees.
Nairobi National Park allows people to see African animals even if they are are unable to make it to a safari. There is also a Giraffe Center nearby that managed to save the Rothschild giraffe from extinction. The giraffes can be found in the suburb of Langata, which is not too far from Karen Blixen's African farm.