Map of Kenya | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024 | More stats

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Background: Revered president and liberation struggle icon Jomo KENYATTA led Kenya from independence until his death in 1978 when current 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.


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Location

Geographic coordinates

Map reference

Area

Land boundaries:

Coastline: 536 km

Maritime claims
Extended economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: varies from tropical along coast to arid in interior

Terrain: low plains rise to central highlands bisected by Great Rift Valley; fertile plateau in west

Elevation

Natural resources: gold, limestone, diotomite, salt barytes, magnesite, feldspar, sapphires, fluorspar, garnets, wildlife

Land use: 3% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 7% meadows and pastures; 4% forest and woodland; 85% other; includes NEGL% irrigated

Irrigated land

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography
Note: the Kenyan Highlands is one of the most successful agricultural production regions in Africa


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Population: 24,346,250 (July 1989), growth rate 4.2% (1989)

Nationality: noun - Kenyan(s; adjective - Kenyan

Ethnic groups: 21% Kikuyu, 14% Luhya, 13% Luo, 11% Kalenjin, 11% Kamba, 6% Kisii, 6% Meru, 1% Asian, European, and Arab

Languages: English and Swahili (official; numerous indigenous languages

Religions: 38% Protestant, 28% Roman Catholic, 26% indigenous beliefs, 6% Muslim

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate

Birth rate: 51 births/1000 population (1989)

Death rate: 9 deaths/1000 population (1989)

Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1000 population (1989)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: unique physiography supports abundant and varied wildlife of scientific and economic value; deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; glaciers on Mt. Kenya

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 70 deaths/1000 live births (July 1989)

Life expectancy at birth: 59 years male, 63 years female (July 1989)

Total fertility rate: 7.8 children born/woman (1989)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: 47%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Kenya

Government type: republic within Commonwealth

Capital: Nairobi

Administrative divisions: 7 provinces and 1 area*; Central, Coast, Eastern, Nairobi Area*, North-Eastern, Nyanza, Rift Valley, Western

Dependent areas

Independence: 12 December 1963 (from UK; formerly British East Africa)

National holiday: Independence Day, 12 December (1963)

Constitution: 12 December 1963, amended as a republic 1964; reissued with amendments 1979 and 1983

Legal system: based on English common law, tribal law, and Islamic law; judicial review in High Court; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations; constitutional amendment in 1982 made Kenya a de jure one-party state

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: universal over age 18

Executive branch: Chief of State and Head of Government - President Daniel Teroitich arap MOI (since 14 October 1978; Vice President Dr. Josephat KARANJA (since 24 March 1988)

Legislative branch: Kenya Army, Kenya Navy, Air Force; paramilitary General Service Unit

Judicial branch

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: AfDB, CCC, Commonwealth, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IRC, ISO, ITU, IWC - International Wheat Council, NAM, OAU, UN, UNDP, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us: Ambassador Denis Daudi AFANDE; Chancery at 2,249 R Street NW, Washington DC 20,008; telephone (202) 387-6,101; there are Kenyan Consulates General in Los Angeles and New York; US - Ambassador Elinor G. CONSTABLE; Embassy at the corner of Moi Avenue and Haile Selassie Avenue, Nairobi (mailing address is P. O. Box 30,137, Nairobi or APO New York 9,675; telephone Õ254å (2) 334,141; there is a US Consulate in Mombasa

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and green; the red band is edged in white; a large warrior's shield covering crossed spears is superimposed at the center

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: A serious underlying economic problem is Kenya's 4.2% annual population growth rate - one of the highest in the world, which if continued would lead to a doubling of population every 17 years. Meantime, GDP growth in the near-term has kept slightly ahead of population - about 5% in 1988 compared with 4.8% in 1987 and 5.6% in 1986. In 1989, GDP growth will be sustained through foreign and domestic borrowing, a prudent monetary policy, and domestic credit and structural reforms inspired by the IMF and World Bank. Undependable weather conditions and a shortage of arable land: hamper long-term growth in agriculture, the leading economic sector.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate

Real gdp per capita

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: main cash crops - coffee, tea, sisal, pyrethrum (insecticide made from chrysanthemums), cotton, livestock; food crops - corn, wheat, sugarcane, rice, cassava; largely self-sufficient in food; an illegal producer of cannabis; some international drug trade trafficking

Industries: small-scale consumer goods (plastic, furniture, batteries, textiles, soap, cigarettes, flour), agricultural processing, oil refining, cement, tourism

Industrial production growth rate: 4.8% (1987 est.)

Labor force:

Unemployment rate: NA%, but there is a high level of unemployment and underemployment

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues $2.3 billion; expenditures $2.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $0.71 billion (FY87)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $1.2 billion (f.o.b., 1987)
Commodities: coffee 20%, tea 18%, manufactures 15%, petroleum products 10% (1987)
Partners: Western Europe 45%, Africa 22%, Far East 10%, US 4%, Middle East 3% (1987)

Imports: $1.8 billion (c.i.f., 1987)
Commodities: machinery and transportation equipment 36%, raw materials 33%, fuels and lubricants 20%, food and consumer goods 11% (1987)
Partners: Western Europe 49%, Far East 20%, Middle East 19%, US 7% (1987)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $5.0 billion (December 1988)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Kenyan shillings (KSh) per US$1 - 18.739 (January 1989), 17.747 (1988), 16.454 (1987), 16.226 (1986), 16.432 (1985)


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Electricity
Capacity: 587,000 kW capacity; 2,147 million kWh produced, 90 kWh per capita (1988)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: NA

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 247 total, 215 usable; 16 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways over 3,659 m; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 46 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Heliports

Pipelines: refined products, 483 km

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: part of Lake Victoria system is within boundaries of Kenya; principal inland port is at Kisumu

Merchant marine

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: international boundary and Administrative Boundary with Sudan; possible claim by Somalia based on unification of ethnic Somalis

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs