Ngorongoro is located in northern Tanzania and lies at the western edge of the Rift Zone, on the border with Kenya. The landscape is picturesque and varied, with steep cliffs of the Ngorongoro Crater walls juxtaposed with spacious valleys covered with grass and bush. The reserve surrounding the Ngorongoro Crater is huge, covering an area of some 6,500 square kilometres, and its importance to this region of Africa has been further enhanced by its official designation as an International Protected Area and Biosphere Reserve. Ngorongoro fulfils two main objectives - to conserve the natural resources of the region, and to protect the interests and traditional way of life of the local Maasai tribe, who still graze herds of cattle, sheep and goats here. The heart of the reserve is the Ngorongoro Crater, or caldera, the remains of just one of many extinct volcanoes in the area. The Ngorongoro Caldera offers the most spectacular concentration of big game in Africa; it is also one of the largest calderas in the world, with a diameter of 14.5 kilometres, a depth of 610 to 762 metres and a total area of 264 square kilometres.
