|
|
|
Eastern Africa > Kenya > People, Geography and History |  |
| ! |
This information is current as of Monday, January 5, 2009 - 11:00:05 KENYA November 14, 2008 The U.S. Department of State warns U.S. citizens of the risks of travel to Kenya. American citizens in Kenya and those considering travel to Kenya should evaluate their personal security situation in light of continuing threats from terrorism and the high rate of violent crime. This replaces the Travel Warning of August 22, 2008, to note increased security concerns in northeast Kenya near the Somali border. The ... Read this Article
|
| Global Cost of Living Rank |
| CIA Background Information |
Founding president and liberation struggle icon Jomo KENYATTA led Kenya from independence in 1963 until his death in 1978, when President Daniel Toroitich arap MOI took power in a constitutional succession. The country was a de facto one-party state from 1969 until 1982 when the ruling Kenya African National Union (KANU) made itself the sole legal party in Kenya. MOI acceded to internal and external pressure for political liberalization in late 1991. The ethnically fractured opposition failed to dislodge KANU from power in elections in 1992 and 1997, which were marred by violence and fraud, but were viewed as having generally reflected the will of the Kenyan people. President MOI stepped down in December 2002 following fair and peaceful elections. Mwai KIBAKI, running as the candidate of the multiethnic, united opposition group, the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC), defeated KANU candidate Uhuru KENYATTA and assumed the presidency following a campaign centered on an anticorruption platform. KIBAKI's NARC coalition splintered in 2005 over the constitutional review process. Government defectors joined with KANU to form a new opposition coalition, the Orange Democratic Movement, which defeated the government's draft constitution in a popular referendum in November 2005. KIBAKI's reelection in December 2007 brought charges of vote rigging from ODM candidate Raila ODINGA and unleashed two months of violence in which as many as 1,500 people died. UN-sponsored talks in late February produced a powersharing accord bringing ODINGA into the government in the restored position of prime minister.
| U.S. State Department Description |
Country Description:
Kenya is a developing East African country known for its wildlife and national parks. The capital city is Nairobi. The second largest city is Mombasa, located on the southeast coast. Tourist facilities are widely available in Nairobi, the game parks, the reserves, and on the coast. Read the Department of State Background Notes
on Kenya for additional information.
ENTRY/EXIT REQUIREMENTS: A passport and visa are required. Visas should be obtained in advance, although airport visas are available. Travelers who opt to obtain an airport visa should expect delays upon ... Read this Article
People
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Kenyan(s).
Population (June 2007 est.): 37.9 million.
Major ethnic groups: Kikuyu 22%, Luyia 14%, Luo 14%, Kalenjin 11%, Kamba 11%, Kisii 6%, Meru 5%.
Religions: Christian 80%, Muslim 10%, traditional African religions 9%, Hindu/Sikh/Baha'i/Jewish 1%.
Languages: English (official), Swahili (national), over 40 other languages from the Bantu, Nilotic, and Cushitic linguistic groups.
Education: First 8 years of ... Read this Article
| |
Location: Kenya is Eastern Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean, between Somalia and Tanzania See Map
Capital: name: Nairobi
geographic coordinates: 1 17 S, 36 49 E
time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Currency (Code): Kenyan shilling (KES) ...More
Area: total: 582,650 sq km , land: 569,250 sq km , water: 13,400 sq km ( 1 sq km is approximately 0.4 sq miles or 250 acres)
Area Comparison: slightly more than twice the size of Nevada
Elevation Extremes: lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m , highest point: Mount Kenya 5,199 m (1 meter = 3.28 feet)
Population: 37,953,840
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2008 est.)
Unemployment: 40% (2001 est.)
Ethnic Groups: Kikuyu 22%, Luhya 14%, Luo 13%, Kalenjin 12%, Kamba 11%, Kisii 6%, Meru 6%, other African 15%, non-African (Asian, European, and Arab) 1%
Religion: Protestant 45%, Roman Catholic 33%, Muslim 10%, indigenous beliefs 10%, other 2%
note: a large majority of Kenyans are Christian, but estimates for the percentage of the population that adheres to Islam or indigenous beliefs vary widely
Languages: English (official), Kiswahili (official), numerous indigenous languages
More Statistics
|
| History
Fossils found in East Africa suggest that protohumans 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 what is now Sudan and Ethiopia moved into the area that is now Kenya ... Read this Article
|
| Geographic Info for Kenya : |
Geography
Area: 582,646 sq. km. (224,960 sq mi.); slightly smaller than Texas.
Cities: Capital--Nairobi (pop. 2.9 million; 2007 est.). Other cities--Mombasa (828,500; 2006 est.), Kisumu (650,846; 2005-6), Nakuru (1.3 million; 2005-6), Eldoret (193,830; 1999).
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 ... Read this Article
|
|
|
|
|
Not sure where to go?
Check out the survey
results and find out which countries you should consider based on your personal preferences.
Add a Review!
Review Statistics
|
|
