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Official name in English: Republic of Kenya
Official name in Swahili: Jamhuri y Kenya
Short form: Kenya
Official languages: English and Swahili
Geography
Size: 582,646 square kilometers (comparable to Texas)
Bordered by: Ethiopia and Sudan (north), Uganda (east), Tanzania (south), Somalia and Indian Ocean (west)
Capital: Nairobi (3-4 million inhabitants)
Other major cities: Mombasa, Kisumu
Climate: arid in the interior, tropical along the coast
Biggest mountain: Mount Kenya (5200 m)
Political system
Form of government: presidential republic – multi-party state with elected parliament
Constitution: adopted on December 12th, 1963. A new constitution was rejected in 2005 by referendum.
Head of state: Mwai Kibaki (since the end of 2002)
Parliament: National Assembly, 224 members who are elected roughly every 5 years (elections were held in 1992, 1997 and 2002)
Voting rights: universal suffrage as of age 18
Political parties: there are two main parties, NARC (National Rainbow Coalition – current President Kibaki’s party) and the ODM (Orange Democratic Movement), which is actually a merger of KANU (the Kenya African National Union) – the party of former strong man Daniel Arap Moi that led the struggle for independence against the British, and ruled Kenya for nearly 40 years – and the Liberal Democratic Party.
Number of provinces: 7 (Nairobi is not a province, but an ‘area’)
Number of districts: 71
People
Population number: estimations are between 32 and 37 million
Number of tribes: 40 to 70, depending how you count!
Main tribes: Kikuyu (22%), Luhya (15%), Luo (14%), Kalenjin (12%), Kamba (11%)
Religion: Protestant 45%, Roman Catholic 33%, Muslim 10%, indigenous beliefs 10%, other 2% (the estimates of the number of Muslims vary widely)
Literacy: 85% of Kenyans over 15
Life expectancy: estimates vary between 46 and 55 years
Infant mortality rate per 1000 births: 58 deaths
Main infectious diseases: AIDS, malaria, diarrhoea, hepatitis A, typhoid fever, schistosomiasis (bilharzia).
Percentage of people with HIV or AIDS: 7%
AIDS deaths per year: 150,000
Transportation
Main airport: Jomo Kenyatta National Airport (Nairobi), the biggest airport in East Africa
Airline: Kenya Airways, nicknamed The Pride of Africa
Length of railways: 2,778 km
Paved roads: 8,933 km
Unpaved roads: 54,332 km
Most popular form of public transport: matatu (public minibuses)
Communications
Internet data code: ke
Internet users: 1 million
Number of phones (landlines) in use: 281,800
Number of mobile phones in circulation: 6 million
Economy
Currency: Kenyan Shilling (KSH) (1 dollar = 70 KSH)
GDP (Purchasing Power Parity): estimates vary from 40 to 80 billion dollars
GDP per capita: estimates vary from 1200 to 2600 dollars
GDP per sector:
Economic growth: 1.4% in 2003, 4.3% in 2004 and 5.8% in 2005
Labour force by occupation: agriculture 75-80%, services and industry 20-25%
Unemployment rate: 40%
Percentage of population below the poverty line: 50%
Inflation rate: 10% per year
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