Location of Kenya

Kenya lies astride the equator on the eastern coast of Africa. The country covers an area of about 586,600km sq. Inland water bodies cover some 10,700km sq, the bulk of this in Lakes Victoria and Turkana. Kenya is bordered by Somalia and the Indian Ocean to the east, Ethiopia to the north, Sudan to the northwest, Uganda to the west and Tanzania to the south. The coastline, about 550km long, faces the Indian Ocean.

Kenya has tremendous topographical diversity, including glaciated mountains with snow-capped peaks, the Rift Valley with its scarps and volcanoes, ancient granitic hills, flat desert landscapes and coral reefs and islets. However, the basic configuration is simple. Coastal plains give way to and inland plateau that rises gradually to the central highlands, which are the result of the relatively recent volcanic activity associated with the formation of the rift valley. To the west the land drops again to the Nyanza plateau that surrounds the Kenyan sector of Lake Victoria; and to the north, to the rugged low country around Lake Turkana.

Facts

• Population: 30,493,792 (official estimate 2001)
• Capital: Nairobi - Population: About 2,400,000
• Government: Republic- Gained independence from the UK in 1963
• Head of State and Government: President Mwai Kibaki since December 2002
• Language: Swahili is the national language and English is the official language. There are over 42 ethnic languages spoken
• Religion: Christian - 66%; indigenous beliefs - 26%; Muslim - 7%, other - 1%

History

Kenya's history dates back to many centuries from the internal diaspora or the early settlements and migrations. Then came the formation of the various language groups who developed their own religions, traditions, governments and ruling systems in which they dictated their way of life and how they managed to keep alive by their trade and occupations.

Kenya has some of the oldest human remains yet found. The present tribes probably began to occupy the country from the 11th century. The coast developed trading links with the Arabs and as far away as India and Indonesia. Gradually Arab influence grew, culminating in the emergence of Mombasa as a major trading centre by 1500 AD. Contact with Europe began in 1498 when the Portuguese arrived and after a period of friendly relations tried to gain control over coastal trading. They were driven out at the end of the 17th century.

British influence dates from the beginning of the 19th century. The interior was opened up to European trade towards the end of the 19th century when the railway from the coast to Uganda was built. Nairobi was founded as a temporary railhead but quickly became the main centre for the interior. In 1895 the British East African Protectorate was declared and European settlement began in earnest. Some of the most fertile farming areas in the centre, known as the white highlands, grew tea and coffee.

From the 1920's African resistance movements grew, culminating in the Mau Mau movement in the 1950's. In 1961 the Kenya Africa National Union was formed and Jomo Kenyatta, a resistance leader who had spent many years in prison, became its leader. Kenya achieved independence, granted in 1963, and today Kenya is an independent republic.

• Capital city
• People
• Economy
• Agriculture
• Kenyan Culture
• Useful Links