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Earth from Space 2001 Calendar

This image shows the area of a gorilla habitat in central Africa. The image is centered on the Virunga volcano chain along the borders of Rwanda, Zaire, and Uganda. The area around these volcanoes is home to an endangered species of mountain gorillas, of which only about 650 remain. The large volcano toward the bottom of the image is Mt. Karisimbi, which reaches an elevation of 4500 m (14,800 ft) and is the largest of the eight volcanoes that make up the Virunga chain. The most recent lava flows in the area have been dated at around 10,000 years, indicating that the volcanoes are very young. The image was obtained by SIR-C/X-SAR on the Space Shuttle Endeavour on April 12, 1994 and shows an area about 58 km (48 mi) on a side.