One of several mountains arising from the East African Rift, Kilimanjaro was formed from volcanic activity over 2 million years ago.

[27] About 100,000 years ago, part of Kibo's crater rim collapsed, creating the area known as the Western Breach and the Great Barranco.

[28] An almost continuous layer of lava buries most older geological features, except exposed strata within the Great West Notch and the Kibo Barranco.

[20] According to reports gathered in the 19th century from the Maasai, Lake Chala on Kibo's eastern flank was the site of a village that was destroyed by an eruption.

[23]: 5  The summit glaciers and ice fields do not display significant horizontal movements because their low thickness precludes major deformation.

[14][24] Because of the exceptionally prolonged dry conditions during the subsequent Younger Dryas stadial, the ice fields on Kilimanjaro may have become extinct around 11,500 years BP.

[30][34] In the late 1880s, the summit of Kibo was completely covered by an ice cap about 20 km2 (7.7 sq mi) in extent with outlet glaciers cascading down the western and southern slopes, and except for the inner cone, the entire caldera was buried.

[14][24] The slope glaciers retreated rapidly between 1912 and 1953, in response to a sudden shift in climate at the end of the 19th century that made them "drastically out of equilibrium", and more slowly thereafter.

[30] While the current shrinking and thinning of Kilimanjaro's ice fields appear to be unique within its almost twelve-millennium history, it is contemporaneous with widespread glacier retreat in mid-to-low latitudes across the globe.

[43] In respect of it being 'the highest stratovolcano of the East African Rift that maintains a glacier on its summit', the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) included 'The Pleistocene Kilimanjaro volcano' in its assemblage of 100 'geological heritage sites' around the world in a listing published in October 2022.

[45] Another Chagga legend tells of ivory-filled graves of elephants on the mountain, and of a cow named Rayli that produces miraculous fat from her tail glands.

Immediately I understood how to interpret the marvelous tales Dr. Krapf and I had heard at the coast, of a vast mountain of gold and silver in the far interior, the approach to which was guarded by evil spirits.

[47]: 6 In August 1861, the Prussian officer Baron Karl Klaus von der Decken accompanied by English geologist Richard Thornton[51] attempted to climb Kibo but "got no farther than 2,500 m (8,200 ft) owing to the inclemency of the weather".

[47]: 11  In June 1887, the Hungarian Count Sámuel Teleki and the Austrian Lieutenant Ludwig von Höhnel made an attempt to climb the mountain.

[55]: 81  The following year, Meyer planned another attempt with Oscar Baumann, a cartographer, but the mission was aborted after the pair were held hostage and ransomed during the Abushiri Revolt.

[55]: 82  Meyer and Purtscheller pushed to near the crater rim on 3 October but turned back exhausted from hacking footsteps in the icy slope.

After her porters abandoned the expedition upon discovering the skeletons of previous climbers, Benham continued alone and reached the edge of Kibo Crater, later named Gilman’s Point.

Adverse weather conditions, including heavy snow and fog, made navigation difficult, leading her to turn back.

[57] "We will light a candle on top of Mount Kilimanjaro which will shine beyond our borders, giving hope where there is despair, love where there is hate, and dignity where before there was only humiliation."

In 1989, the organizing committee of the 100-year celebration of the first ascent decided to award posthumous certificates to the African porter-guides who had accompanied Meyer and Purtscheller.

[citation needed] Since 1973, Mount Kilimanjaro has been designated as a national park, prohibiting human activities within its boundaries to preserve its ecosystem.

[72]: 287–291 [73]: 259 [75] Due to Kilimanjaro National Park's popularity as a destination, the Tanzanian government has invested in road infrastructure to improve accessibility.

[83] Unlike the traditional routes to Uhuru Peak on Kibo, which are open to the general public, climbing Mawenzi requires a special permit from the Tanzania National Parks Authority.

[84] The oldest person to climb Mount Kilimanjaro is Anne Lorimor, aged 89 years and 37 days, who reached Uhuru Peak at 3:14 p.m. local time on 18 July 2019.

[88] Maxwell J. Ojerholm of Massachusetts, USA, reached Uhuru Peak, the true summit, unassisted, at the age of ten years, on July 4, 2009, taking the difficult Machame Route.

[88] On February 9, 2015, Red Bull athlete Valerii Rozov performed the first wing-suit BASE jump from the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.

[98] In 2020, a team featuring two double above-knee amputees, Hari Budha Magar and Justin Oliver Davis, summited Kilimanjaro.

The remaining eleven deaths resulted from "trauma (3), myocardial infarction (4), pneumonia (2), cardio-pulmonary failure of other underlying cause (1), and acute appendicitis (1).

[113] The mountain is prominently featured in Ernest Hemingway's 1936 short story The Snows of Kilimanjaro, which was adapted into a 1952 film starring Gregory Peck.

[113] Writer Douglas Adams climbed the mountain in a rubber rhinoceros suit to raise money for African rhino conservation efforts.