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

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Background: Trade centers such as Mombasa have existed along the Kenyan and Tanzanian coastlines, known as the Land of Zanj, since at least the 2nd century. These centers traded with the outside world, including China, India, Indonesia, the Middle East, North Africa, and Persia. By around the 9th century, the mix of Africans, Arabs, and Persians who lived and traded there became known as Swahili ("people of the coast") with a distinct language (KiSwahili) and culture. The Portuguese arrived in the 1490s and, using Mombasa as a base, sought to monopolize trade in the Indian Ocean. The Portuguese were pushed out in the late 1600s by the combined forces of Oman and Pate, an island off the coast. In 1890, Germany and the UK divided up the region, with the UK taking the north and the Germans the south, including present-day Tanzania, Burundi, and Rwanda. The British established the East Africa Protectorate in 1895, which in 1920 was converted into a colony and named Kenya after its highest mountain. Numerous political disputes between the colony and the UK subsequently led to the violent Mau Mau Uprising, which began in 1952, and the eventual declaration of independence in 1963.


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Location: Eastern Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean, between Somalia and Tanzania

Geographic coordinates: 1 00 N, 38 00 E

Map reference: Africa

Area
Total: 580,367 km²
Land: 569,140 km²
Water: 11,227 km²
Comparative: five times the size of Ohio; slightly more than twice the size of Nevada

Land boundaries
Total: 3,457 km
Border countries: (5) Ethiopia 867 km; Somalia 684 km; South Sudan 317 km; Tanzania 775 km; Uganda 814 km

Coastline: 536 km

Maritime claims
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation

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
Highest point: Mount Kenya 5,199 m
Lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
Mean elevation: 762 m

Natural resources: limestone, soda ash, salt, gemstones, fluorspar, zinc, diatomite, gypsum, wildlife, hydropower

Land use
Agricultural land: 48.1% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land arable land: 9.8% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land permanent crops: 0.9% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land permanent pasture: 37.4% (2018 est.)
Forest: 6.1% (2018 est.)
Other: 45.8% (2018 est.)

Irrigated land: 1,030 km² (2012)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²: Atlantic Ocean drainage: (Mediterranean Sea) Nile (3,254,853 km²)

Total water withdrawal
Municipal: 500 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
Industrial: 300 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
Agricultural: 3.23 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources: 30.7 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Natural hazards: recurring drought; flooding during rainy seasons

Geography
Note: the Kenyan Highlands comprise one of the most successful agricultural production regions in Africa; glaciers are found on Mount Kenya, Africa's second highest peak; unique physiography supports abundant and varied wildlife of scientific and economic value; Lake Victoria, the world's largest tropical lake and the second largest fresh water lake, is shared among three countries: Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda


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Population
Distribution: population heavily concentrated in the west along the shore of Lake Victoria; other areas of high density include the capital of Nairobi, and in the southeast along the Indian Ocean coast as shown in this [link]: 57,052,004 (2023 est.)
Growth rate: 2.09% (2023 est.)
Below poverty line: 36.1% (2015 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Kenyan(s)
Adjective: Kenyan

Ethnic groups: Kikuyu 17.1%, Luhya 14.3%, Kalenjin 13.4%, Luo 10.7%, Kamba 9.8%, Somali 5.8%, Kisii 5.7%, Mijikenda 5.2%, Meru 4.2%, Maasai 2.5%, Turkana 2.1%, non-Kenyan 1%, other 8.2% (2019 est.)

Languages: English (official), Kiswahili (official), numerous indigenous languages
Major-language samples:

Religions: Christian 85.5% (Protestant 33.4%, Catholic 20.6%, Evangelical 20.4%, African Instituted Churches 7%, other Christian 4.1%), Muslim 10.9%, other 1.8%, none 1.6%, don't know/no answer 0.2% (2019 est.)

Demographic profile: Kenya has experienced dramatic population growth since the mid-20th century as a result of its high birth rate and its declining mortality rate. Almost 40% of Kenyans are under the age of 15 as of 2020 because of sustained high fertility, early marriage and childbearing, and an unmet need for family planning. Kenya’s persistent rapid population growth strains the labor market, social services, arable land, and natural resources. Although Kenya in 1967 was the first Sub-Saharan country to launch a nationwide family planning program, progress in reducing the birth rate has largely stalled since the late 1990s, when the government decreased its support for family planning to focus on the HIV epidemic. Government commitment and international technical support spurred Kenyan contraceptive use, decreasing the fertility rate (children per woman) from about 8 in the late 1970s to less than 5 children twenty years later, but it has plateaued at about 3 children as of 2022.

Age structure
0-14 years: 36.45% (male 10,447,425/female 10,349,611)
15-64 years: 60.26% (male 17,196,347/female 17,185,035)
65 years and over: 3.28% (2023 est.) (male 855,757/female 1,017,829)

Dependency ratios
Total dependency ratio: 70.2
Youth dependency ratio: 65.3
Elderly dependency ratio: 4.8
Potential support ratio: 20.7 (2021 est.)

Median age
Total: 20.9 years (2023 est.)
Male: 20.8 years
Female: 21 years

Population growth rate: 2.09% (2023 est.)

Birth rate: 26 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.2 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Population distribution: population heavily concentrated in the west along the shore of Lake Victoria; other areas of high density include the capital of Nairobi, and in the southeast along the Indian Ocean coast as shown in this [link]

Urbanization
Urban population: 29.5% of total population (2023)
Rate of urbanization: 4.09% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Major urban areas
Population: 5.325 million NAIROBI (capital), 1.440 million Mombassa (2023)

Environment
Current issues: water pollution from urban and industrial wastes; water shortage and degraded water quality from increased use of pesticides and fertilizers; flooding; water hyacinth infestation in Lake Victoria; deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; poaching
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
International agreements signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Air pollutants
Particulate matter emissions: 12.52 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)
Carbon dioxide emissions: 17.91 megatons (2016 est.)
Methane emissions: 37.65 megatons (2020 est.)

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.84 male(s)/female
Total population: 1 male(s)/female (2023 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth: 20.3 years (2014 est.)
Note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-49

Maternal mortality ratio: 530 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 26.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)
Male: 29.9 deaths/1,000 live births
Female: 23.9 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 70 years (2023 est.)
Male: 68.3 years
Female: 71.8 years

Total fertility rate: 3.23 children born/woman (2023 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate: 64.6% (2020)

Drinking water source
Improved urban: 91.3% of population
Improved rural: 63.3% of population
Improved total: 71.2% of population
Unimproved urban: 8.7% of population
Unimproved rural: 36.7% of population
Unimproved total: 28.8% of population (2020 est.)

Current health expenditure: 4.3% of GDP (2020)

Physicians density: 0.16 physicians/1,000 population (2018)

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access
Improved urban:
Unimproved urban:

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases
Degree of risk: very high (2023)
Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
Vectorborne diseases: malaria, dengue fever, and Rift Valley fever
Water contact diseases: schistosomiasis
Animal contact diseases: rabies
Note: on 31 August 2023, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Asia; Israel is currently considered a high risk to travelers for circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPV); vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) is a strain of the weakened poliovirus that was initially included in oral polio vaccine (OPV) and that has changed over time and behaves more like the wild or naturally occurring virus; this means it can be spread more easily to people who are unvaccinated against polio and who come in contact with the stool or respiratory secretions, such as from a sneeze, of an “infected” person who received oral polio vaccine; the CDC recommends that before any international travel, anyone unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or with an unknown polio vaccination status should complete the routine polio vaccine series; before travel to any high-risk destination, the CDC recommends that adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine

Obesity adult prevalence rate: 7.1% (2016)

Alcohol consumption
Per capita total: 1.68 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita beer: 0.81 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita wine: 0.04 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita spirits: 0.81 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita other alcohols: 0.03 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

Tobacco use
Total: 11.1% (2020 est.)
Male: 19.5% (2020 est.)
Female: 2.7% (2020 est.)

Children under the age of 5 years underweight: 10.1% (2022)

Education expenditures: 4.8% of GDP (2021 est.)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 82.6%
Male: 85.5%
Female: 79.8% (2021)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment
Rate ages 15 24 total: 13.8% (2021 est.)
Rate ages 15 24 male: 12.8%
Rate ages 15 24 female: 14.9%


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Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of Kenya
Conventional short form: Kenya
Local long form: Republic of Kenya (English)/ Jamhuri ya Kenya (Swahili)
Local short form: Kenya
Former: British East Africa
Etymology: named for Mount Kenya; the meaning of the name is unclear but may derive from the Kikuyu, Embu, and Kamba words "kirinyaga," "kirenyaa," and "kiinyaa" - all of which mean "God's resting place"

Government type: presidential republic

Capital
Name: Nairobi
Geographic coordinates: 1 17 S, 36 49 E
Time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Etymology: the name derives from the Maasai expression meaning "cool waters" and refers to a cold water stream that flowed through the area in the late 19th century

Administrative divisions: 47 counties; Baringo, Bomet, Bungoma, Busia, Elgeyo/Marakwet, Embu, Garissa, Homa Bay, Isiolo, Kajiado, Kakamega, Kericho, Kiambu, Kilifi, Kirinyaga, Kisii, Kisumu, Kitui, Kwale, Laikipia, Lamu, Machakos, Makueni, Mandera, Marsabit, Meru, Migori, Mombasa, Murang'a, Nairobi City, Nakuru, Nandi, Narok, Nyamira, Nyandarua, Nyeri, Samburu, Siaya, Taita/Taveta, Tana River, Tharaka-Nithi, Trans Nzoia, Turkana, Uasin Gishu, Vihiga, Wajir, West Pokot

Dependent areas

Independence: 12 December 1963 (from the UK)

National holiday: Jamhuri Day (Independence Day), 12 December (1963); note - Madaraka Day, 1 June (1963) marks the day Kenya attained internal self-rule

Constitution
History: current constitution passed by referendum on 4 August 2010
Amendments: amendments can be proposed by either house of Parliament or by petition of at least one million eligible voters; passage of amendments by Parliament requires approval by at least two-thirds majority vote of both houses in each of two readings, approval in a referendum by majority of votes cast by at least 20% of eligible voters in at least one half of Kenya’s counties, and approval by the president; passage of amendments introduced by petition requires approval by a majority of county assemblies, approval by majority vote of both houses, and approval by the president

Legal system: mixed legal system of English common law, Islamic law, and customary law; judicial review in the new Supreme Court established by the new constitution

International law organization participation: accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

Citizenship
Citizenship by birth: no
Citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Kenya
Dual citizenship recognized: yes
Residency requirement for naturalization: 4 out of the previous 7 years

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President William RUTO (since 13 September 2022); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government
Head of government: President William RUTO (since 13 September 2022)
Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president, subject to confirmation by the National Assembly
Elections/appointments: president and deputy president directly elected on the same ballot by majority vote nationwide and at least 25% of the votes cast in at least 24 of the 47 counties; failure to meet these thresholds requires a runoff between the top two candidates; election last held on 9 August 2022 (next to be held in 2,027)
Election results:

Legislative branch
Description:
Elections:
Election results:

Judicial branch
Highest courts: Supreme Court (consists of chief and deputy chief justices and 5 judges)
Judge selection and term of office: chief and deputy chief justices nominated by Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and appointed by the president with approval of the National Assembly; other judges nominated by the JSC and appointed by president; chief justice serves a nonrenewable 10-year term or until age 70, whichever comes first; other judges serve until age 70
Subordinate courts: High Court; Court of Appeal; military courts; magistrates' courts; religious courts

Political parties and leaders:
Note: includes only parties with seats in the Senate and National Assembly

International organization participation: ACP, AfDB, ATMIS, AU, C, CD, COMESA, EAC, EADB, FAO, G-15, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCT, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MONUSCO, NAM, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNISFA, UNMIL, UNMISS, UNOOSA, UNSOM, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Lazarus Ombai AMAYO (since 17 July 2020)
In the us chancery: 2,249 R St NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 387-6,101
In the us FAX: [1] (202) 462-3,829
In the us email address and website:
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Margaret "Meg" WHITMAN (since 5 August 2022)
From the us embassy: P.O. Box 606 Village Market, 00621 Nairobi
From the us mailing address: 8,900 Nairobi Place, Washington, DC 20,521-8,900
From the us telephone: [254] (20) 363-6,000
From the us FAX: [254] (20) 363-6,157
From the us email address and website:

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and green; the red band is edged in white; a large Maasai warrior's shield covering crossed spears is superimposed at the center; black symbolizes the majority population, red the blood shed in the struggle for freedom, green stands for natural wealth, and white for peace; the shield and crossed spears symbolize the defense of freedom

National symbols: lion; national colors: black, red, green, white

National anthem
Name: "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu" (Oh God of All Creation)
Lyrics/music: Graham HYSLOP, Thomas KALUME, Peter KIBUKOSYA, Washington OMONDI, and George W. SENOGA-ZAKE/traditional, adapted by Graham HYSLOP, Thomas KALUME, Peter KIBUKOSYA, Washington OMONDI, and George W. SENOGA-ZAKE
Note: adopted 1963; based on a traditional Kenyan folk song

National heritage
Total World Heritage Sites: 7 (4 cultural, 3 natural)
Selected World Heritage Site locales:


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Economy overview: fast growing, third largest Sub-Saharan economy; strong agriculture and emerging services and tourism industries; current account deficit and high debt; broadband and mobile-money platform investments; surging inflation due to oil and food hikes; new investor-friendly incentives; environmentally fragile economy

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Note: data are in 2017 dollars

Real gdp growth rate:

Real gdp per capita:
Note: data are in 2017 dollars

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use
Household consumption: 79.5% (2017 est.)
Government consumption: 14.3% (2017 est.)
Investment in fixed capital: 18.9% (2017 est.)
Investment in inventories: -1% (2017 est.)
Exports of goods and services: 13.9% (2017 est.)
Imports of goods and services: -25.5% (2017 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 34.5% (2017 est.)
Industry: 17.8% (2017 est.)
Services: 47.5% (2017 est.)

Agriculture products: milk, tea, beef, maize, sugar cane, tomatoes, mangoes/guavas, potatoes, beans, bananas

Industries: agriculture, transportation, services, manufacturing, construction, telecommunications, tourism, retail

Industrial production growth rate: 7.17% (2021 est.)

Labor force: 23.915 million (2021 est.)

Unemployment rate:

Youth unemployment
Rate ages 15 24 total: 13.8% (2021 est.)
Rate ages 15 24 male: 12.8%
Rate ages 15 24 female: 14.9%

Population below poverty line: 36.1% (2015 est.)

Gini index
Coefficient distribution of family income: 40.8 (2015 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10%: 1.8%
Highest 10%: 37.8% (2005)

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $16.885 billion (2019 est.)
Expenditures: $24.271 billion (2019 est.)
Surplus  or deficit: -6.7% (of GDP) (2017 est.)

Taxes and other revenues: 14.3% (of GDP) (2020 est.)

Public debt:

Revenue
From forest resources: 1.3% of GDP (2018 est.)
From coal: 0% of GDP (2018 est.)

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:
Partners: Uganda 14%, Pakistan 8%, Netherlands 8%, United States 8%, United Kingdom 7% (2020)
Commodities: tea, cut flowers, coffee, refined petroleum, titanium (2021)

Imports:
Partners: China 27%, India 11%, United Arab Emirates 7%, Japan 4%, Saudi Arabia 3% (2020)
Commodities: refined petroleum, palm oil, broadcasting equipment, packaged medicines, cars (2020)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

Debt external:

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates:


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Electricity
Access population without electricity: 12 million (2020)
Access electrification-total population: 76.5% (2021)
Access electrification-urban areas: 97.5% (2021)
Access electrification-rural areas: 68.1% (2021)
Installed generating capacity: 3.304 million kW (2020 est.)
Consumption: 8.243 billion kWh (2019 est.)
Exports: 16 million kWh (2019 est.)
Imports: 277 million kWh (2019 est.)
Transmission/distribution losses: 2.724 billion kWh (2019 est.)
Generation sources fossil fuels: 8.3% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources solar: 1% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources wind: 10.7% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources hydroelectricity: 32.6% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources tide and wave: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources geothermal: 46.2% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources biomass and waste: 1.2% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)

Coal
Production: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
Consumption: 821,000 metric tons (2020 est.)
Exports: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
Imports: 822,000 metric tons (2020 est.)
Proven reserves: 0 metric tons (2019 est.)

Petroleum
Total petroleum production: 0 bbl/day (2021 est.)
Refined petroleum consumption: 116,400 bbl/day (2019 est.)
Crude oil and lease condensate exports: 0 bbl/day (2018 est.)
Crude oil and lease condensate imports: 0 bbl/day (2018 est.)
Crude oil estimated reserves: 0 barrels (2021 est.)

Crude oil

Refined petroleum
Products production: 13,960 bbl/day (2015 est.)
Products exports: 173 bbl/day (2015 est.)
Products imports: 90,620 bbl/day (2015 est.)

Natural gas
Production: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
Consumption: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
Exports: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
Imports: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
Proven reserves: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)

Carbon dioxide emissions: 17.709 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
From coal and metallurgical coke: 1.25 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
From petroleum and other liquids: 16.459 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
From consumed natural gas: 0 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)

Energy consumption per capita: 6.31 million Btu/person (2019 est.)


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Telephones
Fixed lines total subscriptions: 63,107 (2022 est.)
Fixed lines subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: (2021 est.) less than 1
Mobile cellular total subscriptions: 65,085,720 (2021 est.)
Mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 123 (2021 est.)

Telephone system

Broadcast media: about a half-dozen large-scale privately owned media companies with TV and radio stations, as well as a state-owned TV broadcaster, provide service nationwide; satellite and cable TV subscription services available; state-owned radio broadcaster operates 2 national radio channels and provides regional and local radio services in multiple languages; many private radio stations broadcast on a national level along with over 100 private and non-profit regional stations broadcasting in local languages; TV transmissions of all major international broadcasters available, mostly via paid subscriptions; direct radio frequency modulation transmissions available for several foreign government-owned broadcasters (2019)

Internet
Country code: .ke
Users total: 15.37 million (2021 est.)
Users percent of population: 29% (2021 est.)

Broadband fixed subscriptions
Total: 674,191 (2020 est.)
Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 1 (2020 est.)


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Military expenditures:

Military and security forces: Kenya Defense Forces (KDF): Kenya Army, Kenya Navy, Kenya Air Force (2023)
Note 1: the National Police Service maintains internal security and reports to the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government; it includes a paramilitary General Service Unit and Rapid Deployment Unit
Note 2: the Kenya Coast Guard Service (established 2018) is under the Ministry of Interior but led by a military officer and comprised of personnel from the military, as well as the National Police Service, intelligence services, and other government agencies

Military service age and obligation: no conscription; 18-26 years of age for voluntary service for men and women (under 18 with parental consent; upper limit 30 years of age for specialists, tradesmen, or women with a diploma; 39 years of age for chaplains/imams); 9-year service obligation (7 years for Kenyan Navy) and subsequent 3-year re-enlistments; applicants must be Kenyan citizens (2023)

Space program
Overview: has a national space strategy focused on acquiring and applying space technologies and applications for agriculture, communications, disaster and resource management, security, urban planning, and weather monitoring; jointly develops and builds nanosatellites with foreign partners; operates satellites; researching and developing satellite payloads and imagery data analysis capabilities; has cooperated on space issues with China, Japan, Italy, and the US, as well as African partners; developing a satellite imagery/geospatial analysis and data sharing portal that contains 17 years of satellite imagery for other African countries, including Ghana, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania; cooperating with Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Sudan, and Uganda to establish a joint remote sensing (RS) satellite to monitor climate changes on the African continent (African Development Satellite program) (2023)
Overview note: further details about the key activities, programs, and milestones of the country’s space program, as well as government spending estimates on the space sector, appear in space programs

Terrorist groups
Terrorist groups: al-Shabaab; Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)/Qods Force
Note: details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in terrorist organizations


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National air transport system
Number of registered air carriers: 25 (2020)
Inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 188
Annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 5,935,831 (2018)
Annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 294.97 million (2018) mt-km

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix: 5Y

Airports: 197 (2021)
With paved runways: 16
With paved runways note: paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)
With unpaved runways: 181
With unpaved runways note: unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control

Heliports

Pipelines: 4 km oil, 1,432 km refined products (2018)

Railways
Total: 3,819 km (2018)
Standard gauge: 485 km (2018) 1.435-m gauge
Narrow gauge: 3,334 km (2018) 1.000-m gauge

Roadways
Total: 161,452 km (2018)
Paved: 14,420 km (2017) (8,500 km highways, 1,872 urban roads, and 4,048 rural roads)
Unpaved: 147,032 km (2017)

Waterways: (2011) none specifically; the only significant inland waterway is the part of Lake Victoria within the boundaries of Kenya; Kisumu is the main port and has ferry connections to Uganda and Tanzania

Merchant marine
Total: 25 (2022)
By type: oil tanker 3, other 22

Ports and terminals
Major seaports: Kisumu, Mombasa
Lng terminals import: Mombasa


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Disputes international: Kenya-Ethiopia: their border was demarcated in the 1950s and approved in 1970; in 2012, Kenya and Ethiopia agreed to redemarcate their boundary following disputes over beacons and cross-border crime

Refugees and internally displaced persons
Refugees country of origin: 290,635 (Somalia), 170,292 (South Sudan), 58,824 (Democratic Republic of the Congo), 21,847 (Ethiopia), 8,392 (Burundi), 5,756 (Sudan) (2023)
IDPs: 30,000 (election-related violence, intercommunal violence, resource conflicts, al-Shabaab attacks in 2017 and 2018) (2022)
Stateless persons: 16,779 (2022); note - the stateless population consists of Nubians, Kenyan Somalis, and coastal Arabs; the Nubians are descendants of Sudanese soldiers recruited by the British to fight for them in East Africa more than a century ago; Nubians did not receive Kenyan citizenship when the country became independent in 1963; only recently have Nubians become a formally recognized tribe and had less trouble obtaining national IDs; Galjeel and other Somalis who have lived in Kenya for decades are included with more recent Somali refugees and denied ID cards

Illicit drugs: a transit country for illicit drugs and precursor chemicals; domestic drug consumption of cannabis and miraa (khat) is growing; heroin enters Kenya via Tanzania and in shipments across the Indian Ocean from Southwest Asia mostly destined for international markets, principally Europe; cocaine enters Kenya primarily via transshipment through Ethiopia