General Information


Official Name: Kenya
Area: 582,646 sq. km. (224,960 sq mi.); slightly smaller than Texas.
Cities: Capital--Nairobi (pop. 2.1 million). Other cities--Mombasa (665,000), Kisumu (504,000), Nakuru (1.2 million).
Terrain: Kenya rises from a low coastal plain on the Indian Ocean in a series of mountain ridges and plateaus which stand above 3,000 meters (9,000 ft.) in the center of the country. The Rift Valley bisects the country above Nairobi, opening up to a broad arid plain in the north. Mountain plains cover the south before descending to the shores of Lake Victoria in the west.
Climate: Varies from the tropical south, west, and central regions to arid and semi-arid in the north and the northeast.
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Kenyan(s).
Population (2004 est): 29.7 million. Annual growth rate (1996 est.): 2.4%.
Ethnic groups: African--Kikuyu 21%, Luhya 14%, Luo 13%, Kalenjin 11%, Kamba 11%, Kisii 6%, Meru 5%. Non-African--Asian, European, Arab 1%.
Religions: Indigenous beliefs 10%, Protestant 40%, Roman Catholic 30%, Muslim 20%.
Languages: English, Swahili, more than 40 local ethnic languages.
Education: Years compulsory--None, but first 8 years of primary school are provided through cost-sharing between government and parents. Attendance--73% for primary grades. Literacy (in English)--59%.
Health: Infant mortality rate--115/1,000. Life expectancy--49 yrs.
Work force (1.7million wage earners): Public sector 30%; private sector 70%. Informal sector workers--3.7 million. Services--45%; industry and commerce--35%; agriculture--20%.

History


Fossils found in East Africa suggest that pre humans roamed the area more than 20 million years ago. Recent finds near Kenya's Lake Turkana indicate that hominids lived in the area 2.6 million years ago. Cushitic-speaking people from northern Africa moved into the area that is now Kenya beginning around 2000 BC. Arab traders began frequenting the Kenya coast around the first century A.D. Kenya's proximity to the Arabian Peninsula invited colonization, and Arab and Persian settlements sprouted along the coast by the eighth century. During the first millennium A.D., Nilotic and Bantu peoples moved into the region, and the latter now comprises three-quarters of Kenya's population.

The Swahili language, a mixture of Bantu and Arabic, developed as a lingua franca for trade between the different peoples. Arab dominance on the coast was eclipsed by the arrival in 1498 of the Portuguese, who gave way in turn to Islamic control under the Imam of Oman in the 1600s. The United Kingdom established its influence in the 19th century. The colonial history of Kenya dates from the Berlin Conference of 1885, when the European powers first partitioned East Africa into spheres of influence. In 1895, the U.K. Government established the East African Protectorate and, soon after, opened the fertile highlands to white settlers. The settlers were allowed a voice in government even before it was officially made a U.K. colony in 1920, but Africans were prohibited from direct political participation until 1944.

Type:


Republic. Independence: December 12, 1963. Constitution: 1963. Branches: Executive--president (chief of state, head of government, commander in chief of armed forces). Legislative--unicameral National Assembly (parliament). Judicial--Court of Appeal, High Court, various lower courts. Administrative subdivisions: 69 districts, joined to form 7 rural provinces. Nairobi area has special status. Political parties: Registered political parties, 41. Ruling party, Kenya African National Union. Suffrage: Universal at 18. The unicameral assembly consists of 210 members elected to a term of up to 5 years from single-member constituencies, plus 12 members nominated by political parties on a proportional representation basis. The president appoints the vice president and cabinet members from among those elected to the assembly. The attorney general and the speaker are exofficio members of the National Assembly.

Principal Government Officials


President: Mwai Kibaki (since 30 December 2002)
Vice President: Kalonzo Musyoka (since 25 September 2003)
Prime Minister: Raila Odinga Amollo
Minister of Foreign Affairs: Moses Wetangula
Ambassador to the United States: Leonard Ngaithe
Ambassador to the United Nations: Bob Jalango


Since independence, Kenya has maintained remarkable stability despite changes in its political system and crises in neighbouring countries. Particularly since the re-emergence of multiparty democracy, Kenyans have enjoyed an increased degree of freedom. A cross-party parliamentary reform initiative in the fall of 1997 revised some oppressive laws inherited from the colonial era that had been used to limit freedom of speech and assembly. This improved public freedoms and contributed to generally credible national elections in December 1997.

In December 2002, Kenya held democratic and open elections and elected Mwai Kibaki as their new president. The elections, which were judged free and fair by local and international observers, marked an important turning point in Kenya's democratic evolution. President Kibaki has focused his efforts on generating economic growth, combating corruption, and improving education. Kenya is also in the process of rewriting its constitution.

GDP (2004):


$11.4 billion. Annual Growth Rate (2004): 1.2% . Per Capita Income : $271 . Natural resources: Wildlife, land. Agriculture: Products--tea, coffee, sugarcane, horticultural products, corn, wheat, rice, sisal, pineapples, pyrethrum, dairy products, meat and meat products, hides, skins. Arable land--5%. Industry: Types--petroleum products, grain and sugar milling, cement, beer, soft drinks, textiles, vehicle assembly, paper and light manufacturing.

Trade (2004):


Exports--$1.9 billion: tea, coffee, horticultural products, petroleum products, cement, pyrethrum, soda ash, sisal, hides and skins, fluorspar. Major markets--Uganda, Tanzania, United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Egypt, South Africa, United States. Imports--$3.7 billion: machinery, vehicles, crude petroleum, iron and steel, resins and plastic materials, refined petroleum products, pharmaceuticals, paper and paper products, fertilizers, wheat. Major suppliers--U.K., Japan, South Africa, Germany, United Arab Emirates, Italy, India, France, United States, Saudi Arabia. Between 1974 and 1990, however, Kenya's economic performance declined. Inappropriate agricultural policies, inadequate credit, and poor international terms of trade contributed to the decline in agriculture. Kenya's inward-looking policy of import substitution and rising oil prices made Kenya's manufacturing sector uncompetitive. The government began a massive intrusion in the private sector. Lack of export incentives, tight import controls, and foreign exchange controls made the domestic environment for investment even less attractive.

Despite internal tensions in Sudan and Ethiopia, Kenya has maintained good relations with its northern neighbours. Recent relations with Uganda and Tanzania have improved as the three countries work for mutual economic benefit. The lack of a cohesive government in Somalia prevents normal contact with that country. Kenya serves as the major host for refugees from turmoil in Somalia and also hosts a significant number of refugees from the civil war in Sudan.

Kenya maintains a moderate profile in Third World politics. Kenya's relations with Western countries are generally friendly, although current political and economic instabilities are sometimes blamed on Western pressures. Kenya serves as a major host for refugees from Somalia and Sudan and currently has troops in two UN peacekeeping operations.