Kenya

Full name of country: Republic of Kenya

Region: Africa

Official language: English, Kiswahili

Population: 58,246,378 (2024 est.)

Nationality: Kenyan(s) (noun), Kenyan (adjective)

Land area: 569,140 sq km (219,746 sq miles)

Water area: 11,227 sq km (4,335 sq miles)

Capital: Nairobi

National anthem: "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu" (Oh God of All Creation), by 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

National holiday: Independence Day, December 12(1963); Madaraka Day, June 1(1963); Mashujaa Day, October 20 (2010)

Population growth: 2.06% (2024 est.)

Time zone: UTC +3

Flag: The flag of Kenya is a tricolor design that features three equal and horizontal bands of black (top), red (middle), and green (bottom), with white fimbriations (small stripes of color) between the black and red bands, and the red and green bands. Centered in the flag is a red Masai shield over two crossing white spears. (The Masai are an ethnic group in Kenya.) The colors associated with the flag symbolize the blood shed for independence (red), the fertility of the land (green), and the black majority, while white represents peace.

Motto: “Harambee” (Let us all pull together)

Independence: December 12, 1963 (from the UK)

Government type: republic

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

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

Located on Africa’s eastern coast, Kenya has long been regarded as one of Africa’s favorite tourist destinations and by the 2020s had become the third largest Sub-Saharan economy, despite a high national debt and increasing inflation, as well as a history of ethnic tension, corruption, and political uncertainty. In 2023, Haiti's prime minister requested and the United Nations Security Council approved Kenya's plan to lead a multinational mission to quell gang violence in Haiti and stabilize the country. Although Kenya's parliament approved the nation's deployment of a thousand police officers to Haiti, Kenyan courts temporarily halted it, pending the outcome of a case challenging the constitutionality of sending non-military forces abroad.

Note: unless otherwise indicated, statistical data in this article is sourced from the CIA World Factbook, as cited in the bibliography.

People and Culture

Population: Kenya’s population includes about seventy African tribes. The most significant groups are the Kikuyu (17.1 percent of the population), the Luhya (14.3 percent), the Kalenjin (13.4 percent), the Luo (10.7 percent), the Kamba (9.8 percent), the Kisii (5.7 percent), and the Meru (4.2 percent) (2019 estimates). Somali people, largely refugees, make up 5.8 percent of the population (2019 estimates). Other African peoples and non-Africans (mostly of Asian, European, and Arab descent) account for the remainder of Kenya’s people.

Kenya’s population is about 85.5 percent Christian (2019 estimate). It is estimated that about 33.4 percent of Kenyans belong to Protestant denominations and 20.6 percent to the Roman Catholic Church. However all estimates of Kenya’s religious landscape note the difficulty of determining how many Kenyans are now Muslim or are following tribal belief systems. The coastal and eastern portions of Kenya are predominantly Muslim. Muslims account for about 10.9 percent of the religious population (2019 estimate).

Kenya’s high birth rate (an estimated 25.6 births per 1,000 people in 2024) and an influx of refugees from neighboring countries have resulted in a steadily growing population. However, economic growth has been significantly lower, leaving 36.1 of Kenya’s population living below the poverty line (2015 estimate). Kenya’s infant mortality rate stands at 26.1 deaths per 1,000 births of the population (2024 estimate).

Life expectancy in Kenya is 70.4 years; 72.2 for women and 68.6 for men (2024 estimate). An estimated 1,400,000 people, were living with HIV/AIDS in 2022 (UNAIDS).

Kenya's HDI value for 2022 is 0.601— which put the country in the Medium human development category—positioning it at 146 out of 193 countries and territories.

Indigenous People: Kenya’s African tribes migrated to the area from all over the continent. The Cushitic tribes from Ethiopia were probably first to arrive in the second and first centuries BCE. Over the next 2,000 years, the Cushitic tribes were joined by Bantu speakers like the Gusii, Kikuyu, Akamba and Meru from West Africa. Nilotic speakers like the Maasai, Luo, Samburu and Turkana arrived from the Nile Valley in southern Sudan.

Muslim and Persian (Shirazi) tribes from the Middle East settled along Kenya’s eastern coastline as early as the eighth century.

Education: Kenya’s Ministry of Education oversees a system based on eight years of primary school (standards), four years of secondary school (forms), and four years of college. In addition to its academic secondary schools, Kenya also has technical high schools and technical and vocational secondary schools. All schools give instruction in English, although some schools will provide instruction in local tribal languages during the first three years of primary school.

Kenya’s five public and twelve private universities include the University of Nairobi, Jomo Kenyatta University, United States International University (USIU) Nairobi, Moi University, and Strathmore College.

The Kenyan government’s effort to improve the country’s educational system since independence has raised the average literacy rate to 82.6 percent overall, although literacy is only about 79.8 percent among women, compared to 85.5 percent for men (2021).

Health Care: Kenya’s current health system is inadequate to meet the basic needs of the population. Expensive private insurance plans are not generally available to people outside of Kenya’s urban areas or to high-risk patients. The Kenyan Ministry of Health estimated that only 17 percent of Kenyans had health insurance in 2019.

The government established the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) in 1996 to alleviate health care costs for poorer citizens. Under the corresponding plan, Kenyans can purchase partial health insurance coverage at a rate that is set according to the patient’s income level. The NHIF is the largest insurer in Kenya, covering 16 percent of Kenyans by 2018—about 7.7 million of the 9 million people who were insured.

The Kenyan government and a number of international non-governmental organizations provide free or low-cost basic care in Kenya with the help of charitable funds or government aid grants. Most health care services are focused on improving prenatal, infant, and family care, preventing communicable diseases (particularly HIV/AIDS), and educating the populace about preventative care.

In addition to HIV/AIDS, Kenya struggles with outbreaks of malaria, typhoid, hepatitis A, and a variety of other air- and water-borne diseases. High rates of vitamin deficiencies and malnutrition complicate treatment of these diseases. In part because of the lack of access to Western health care and in part because of traditional belief systems, many Kenyans use Indigenous spiritual or physical health care providers. Kenya ranked 152nd out of 191 countries and territories on the UN Human Development Index for 2021–22.

Food: A maize porridge called ugali makes a filling base for many of Kenya’s traditional dishes. Boiled in water until thick and soft, the ugali is smothered in whatever spicy sauce, vegetables, or stew is available, and is scooped up with two fingers and the thumb from the bowl.

Sukumu wiki, another Kenyan staple, is a green leaf related to kale that Kenyans boil in beef stock.

When available, Kenyans eat goat and beef; near Lake Victoria, people eat fish such as Nile perch and tilapia. Nyama choma, roasted meat, is always made with beef in Kenya. Goat may be added to githeri, a maize and bean-based stew.

Indian cuisine is an important influence on Kenyan food. Samosas (fried dumplings filled with meat or vegetables) are common, as is chapati, an Indian flat bread.

Kenya is also famous for its breweries. Tusker is the country’s largest commercial brewery, but the country boasts plenty of homemade brews made with milk, honey, or other ingredients.

Arts & Entertainment: Music, both traditional and contemporary, is an important part of Kenyan life. While the familiar sounds of popular dance music dominate in urban nightclubs, traditional Kenyan music is still easy to find. Traditional instruments include guitar-like stringed instruments (the nyatiti and the udi), and homemade rattles attached to the ankle for percussion.

Drama and dance are equally appreciated. Performances begin at school age, and dramatic and dance teams travel around the countryside to compete in performance competitions.

Kenyans are also renowned for their craftsmanship. For centuries, the East African country has exported makonde (carvings done in ebony wood), soapstone carvings, beaded and shell covered jewelry, batik fabrics, and sisal rugs and baskets.

Kenyans also have a passion for movies and sports. Football (soccer) is the country’s national sport, but cricket, field hockey, net ball, volleyball, and track and field events are also popular. Kenya’s runners have dominated marathons around the world.

Holidays: In addition to Christian holidays, Kenya also recognizes a series of national holidays, including anniversary of Kenya’s self-government on Madaraka Day (June 1), Labour Day (May 1), the anniversary of Kenyan independence on Jamhuri Day (December 12). Kenyatta Day (October 20) commemorates the birthday of Jomo Kenyatta, the first president of an independent Kenya.

Kenya’s Muslims celebrate Ramadan, a holy month of fasting between sunup and sundown; Eid-al-Fitr, the three-day celebration of giving, feasting, and festivals that marks the end of Ramadan; and other days central to the Islamic calendar.

Kenya has a significant number of Hindus who celebrate their own holidays. The largest of these celebrations is Diwali, the festival lights, in which Hindus hang lamps outside homes and businesses.

Environment and Geography

Topography: Kenya is bounded by the Indian Ocean on its eastern side, and by the countries of Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Tanzania, and Uganda around the periphery.

The country has four primary geographic regions, although there is surprising variety even within these zones. The coastal plain region runs for about 536 kilometers (350 miles) along the shoreline from the southern border with Tanzania to the northern border with Somalia. The land to the south is formed by corals, and features white sandy beaches broken by bays, inlets, and creeks. A long barrier reef extends along the coast, protecting the coastal areas. In the northern part of the coastal plain, the Lamu Archipelago juts out into the Indian Ocean.

North of this coastline, the eastern highlands, or Nyika, is situated on a smooth, but largely barren plateau that extends southward toward the coastline. Broken only by small groups of hills, the eastern highlands host two large, ocean-bound streams, the Tana and Galana.

Kenya’s most dramatic and most photographed landscapes are found in the central interior, where Africa’s Rift Valley helped form the Kenyan Highlands. The Rift Valley is an enormous tectonic fault that runs across eastern Africa and into the Middle East. Tectonic plate movements beginning about 35 million years ago split Kenya’s central plateau down the center, forming the Mau Escarpment and Cherangani Hills to the west and the Aberdare Range, Ngong Hills, and Laikipia Escarpment to the east.

In this eastern section of the highlands, Mount Kenya rises to the highest elevation in the country and the second highest elevation on the continent of Africa. The tallest of Mount Kenya’s snow-covered peaks is Batian, at 5,199 meters (17,057 feet) above sea level. At the foot of the mountains, fertile valleys extend across the highlands.

Kenya’s Lake Victoria Basin lies in the country’s central western region, near where Uganda borders Tanzania. The basin lies on an elevated plateau adjacent to the Rift Valley. At 68,000 square kilometers (42,253 square miles) in area, Lake Victoria is actually an inland sea with shores in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. On its eastern side by the Mau Escarpment, the lake lies at 1,200 meters (3,937 feet) above sea level.

Natural Resources: Kenya has large natural reserves of limestone, salt, gemstones, fluorspar, zinc, and gypsum. The massive expanse of Lake Victoria and its tributaries provide significant hydropower resources. Kenya’s most famous natural resources are the wildlife and dramatic open landscapes that draw safari-goers from around the world.

Plants & Animals: Kenya has ample numbers of the large mammals and exotic species for which Africa is famous. Elephants, lions, rhinoceroses, zebras, buffaloes, and giraffes roam Kenya’s wide, grassy plains in the shadow of sugarbush and beechwood trees.

Kenya’s mountains are home to their own rare species. At lower altitudes, forests of bamboo and moss-covered trees hide leopards, waterbuck, monkeys, bush pigs, hyenas, and bongos (a rare type of antelope). At higher altitudes, the vegetation thins out to occasional African and helichrysum bushes. Few large mammals can survive at these altitudes, but elands and a unique species of high-altitude zebra make their way across the northern moorlands of Mount Kenya.

The humid, sandy beaches of the coast are home to coconut palms, seabirds, and lizards.

In order to protect its many endangered species, Kenya’s government has set aside protected land in areas like Amobseli National Park, Serengeti National Park, Losai National Reserve, and Masai Mara National Reserve.

Climate: Kenya lies on the Indian Ocean coast of east Africa. Straddling the equator, the country has a warm, tropical climate year-round with minimal variation in temperature from season to season, but great variation from region to region and from low altitudes to high altitudes.

Breezes off the Indian Ocean keep the coastline humid, with temperatures ranging from 21° to 28° Celsius (70° to 82° Fahrenheit) throughout the year. The coast is prone to storms and heavy rainfall during the rainy season. Annual rainfall is 1,100 millimeters (43 inches) per year.

The Nyika highlands are arid, with only 350 millimeters (14 inches) of annual rainfall. Temperatures are extreme, ranging from 37° Celsius (99° Fahrenheit) during the hottest days to 21° Celsius (70° Fahrenheit) on cool nights. Temperatures fall to 20° to 30° Celsius (68° to 86° Fahrenheit) in the southeastern area of this region around Mount Kilimanjaro.

The Rift Valley and highlands contain Kenya’s most diverse climates. Around Mount Kenya, the land is covered in large pockets of rainforest, changing to bamboo forest in altitudes above 2,000 meters (6,562 feet). The savannah, which creates a buffer between the rainforests and the semi-desert ecosystems of the north and northeast, receives regular, adequate rainfall. The Lake Victoria Basin also receives substantial rainfall, allowing for an area of tropical rainforest at the base of Mount Elgin.

Temperatures range according to altitude: Nairobi, at 1,700 meters (5,577 feet) above sea level, has an average temperature of 25° Celsius (77° Fahrenheit), although nighttime temperatures can drop to 12° Celsius (54° Fahrenheit). In Mount Kenya’s higher elevations, temperatures drop below 10° Celsius (50° Fahrenheit) at night.

Environmental challenges include water pollution and shortages, flooding, deforestation, soil erosion, desertification, poaching, and a water hyacinth infestation in Lake Victoria.

Economy

Although Nairobi is a financial, transportation, and trading center for East Africa, Kenya’s economic growth has been slow, due in large part to extensive government corruption and foreign debt. The economy relies on agriculture and service industries related to tourism.

In 2023, Kenya’s gross domestic product (GDP, purchasing power parity) was an estimated $314.063 billion, and its per capita gross domestic product was estimated at $5,700 USD. The unemployment rate was estimated at 5.68 percent in 2023.

Industry: Kenya produces an assortment of consumer goods, including plastic, furniture, batteries, textiles, soap, cigarettes, and flour. Other industries include oil refining and commercial ship repair. Key industrial exports include refined petroleum and titanium (2021).

Agriculture: Kenya’s strongest agricultural exports are tea, coffee, and horticultural products (2021). Kenya’s fertile land also produces corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruit, and vegetables, and sustains beef, dairy, pork, and poultry farms.

Tourism: Kenya’s tourist industry has been a feature of the country’s economy since American and European big game hunters made the country a destination at the end of the nineteenth century. The AIDS epidemic and terrorism have weakened the industry in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. In 2019, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council, tourism contributed 8.2 percent of the GDP and supported 1,579,500 jobs, or 8.5 percent of all jobs in the country. About 2 million tourists visited Kenya in 2019, but tourism to the country was heavily impacted with the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic that began the following year. According to Kenya's Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife, by 2022, tourism had increased, though it had yet to reach pre-pandemic levels.

Government

Once a centerpiece of the British Empire’s East African colonies, Kenya won its independence on December 12, 1963, under the leadership of national icon Jomo Kenyatta. Kenyatta served as Kenya's founding president until his death in 1978. In 1969, he outlawed an opposition party so nobody else would run for president. The second president, Daniel arap Moi, stayed in power from 1978 until 2002.

Kenya's constitution was redrafted in 2010 and adopted in a national referendum. The 2010 constitution established a bill of rights and put in place further checks and balances on the power of the executive branch through a decentralized system of government. Certain powers previously held by the executive and legislative branches devolved to 47 new political and administrative counties. The position of prime minister was also eliminated.

Kenya's president is elected by popular vote to a five-year term. Members of the bicameral Parliament (made up of the Senate and the National Assembly) also serve five-year terms. The Senate has 68 seats; of these 47 members are directly elected by a simple majority while the remaining 20 members are directly elected by a proportional representation vote, which ensures 16 seats are given to women, 2 to representatives of the youth, and 2 to representatives of people with disabilities. Of the National Assembly’s 350 members, 290 are directly elected by simple majority; an additional 47 seats are reserved for female candidates, who are also elected by a simple majority vote, and 12 members (6 representives of youth, 6 representatives of people with disabilities) are nominated by the National Assembly, along with one Assembly speaker.

Kenya’s judiciary branch consists of the Supreme Court, which has a chief justice, a deputy chief justice, and five judges; as well as a High Court, Court of Appeal, courts martial, magistrates’ courts, and religious courts. Judges of Kenya’s Supreme Court are nominated by the president from candidates put forth by the Judicial Service Commission, and then appointed by the president, and approved by the National Assembly.

Interesting Facts

• Anthropological findings from the Lake Turkana area show that human beings have been living in the region that is now Kenya for at least 2.6 million years.
• Kenya is one of the world’s largest producers of pyrethrum, a natural mosquito repellant that comes from the dried flowers of a chrysanthemum plant native to the area.
• David Rudisha, the first person ever to run the 800-meter track event in under 1:41 (in 2012), is from Kenya; Kenyans, particularly from the Kalenjin ethnic group, have dominated the world of competitive running since the 1980s.
• In 2023 Kenya became the first African nation approved by the UN Security Council to lead a UN mission.

Bibliography

"Annual Tourism Sector Performance Report 2022 – 22/02/2023." Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife, 22 Feb. 2023, www.tourism.go.ke/annual-tourism-sector-performance-report-2022-22-02-2023/. Accessed 7 Dec. 2023.

"A Case for Increasing Public Investments in Health." Ministry of Health, Kenya, 2019, www.health.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Healthcare-financing-Policy-Brief.pdf. Accessed 6 Jul. 2022.

"Human Development Insights." Human Development Reports, United Nations Development Programme, 13th March 2024, hdr.undp.org/data-center/country-insights#/ranks. Accessed 7 Jan. 2025.

"Kenya." The World Bank 2024, data.worldbank.org/country/kenya. Accessed 7 Jan. 2025.

"Kenya." The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 29 Dec. 2024, www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/kenya/. Accessed 7 Jan. 2025.

"Kenya's Parliament Approves Police Deployment to Haiti." Reuters, 16 Nov. 2023, www.reuters.com/world/kenyas-parliament-approves-police-deployment-haiti-2023-11-16/. Accessed 7 Dec. 2023.

Yuhas, Alan. "Kenyan-Led Security Mission in Haiti: What to Know." The New York Times, 2 Oct. 2023, www.nytimes.com/2023/10/02/world/americas/haiti-kenya-un-vote.html. Accessed 7 Dec. 2023.