from
CIA World Factbook 2006
Kenya
Introduction
Background: Founding president and liberation struggle icon Jomo
KENYATTA led Kenya from independence in 1963 until his
death in 1978, when 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. MOI acceded
to internal and external pressure for political
liberalization in late 1991. The ethnically fractured
opposition failed to dislodge KANU from power in
elections in 1992 and 1997, which were marred by
violence and fraud, but were viewed as having generally
reflected the will of the Kenyan people. President MOI
stepped down in December 2002 following fair and
peaceful elections. Mwai KIBAKI, running as the
candidate of the multiethnic, united opposition group,
the National Rainbow Coalition, defeated KANU candidate
Uhuru KENYATTA and assumed the presidency following a
campaign centered on an anticorruption platform.
Geography
Location: Eastern Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean, between
Somalia and Tanzania
Geographic 1 00 N, 38 00 E
coordinates:
Map Africa
references:
Area: total: 582,650 sq km
land: 569,250 sq km
water: 13,400 sq km
Area - slightly more than twice the size of Nevada
comparative:
Land total: 3,477 km
boundaries: border countries: Ethiopia 861 km, Somalia 682 km,
Sudan 232 km, Tanzania 769 km, Uganda 933 km
Coastline: 536 km
Maritime territorial sea: 12 nm
claims: 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 lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
extremes: highest point: Mount Kenya 5,199 m
Natural limestone, soda ash, salt, gemstones, fluorspar, zinc,
resources: diatomite, gypsum, wildlife, hydropower
Land use: arable land: 8.01%
permanent crops: 0.97%
other: 91.02% (2005)
Irrigated 1,030 sq km (2003)
land:
Natural recurring drought; flooding during rainy seasons
hazards:
Environment - water pollution from urban and industrial wastes;
current degradation of water quality from increased use of
issues: pesticides and fertilizers; water hyacinth infestation
in Lake Victoria; deforestation; soil erosion;
desertification; poaching
Environment - party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate
international Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered
agreements: Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine
Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected
agreements
Geography - the Kenyan Highlands comprise one of the most
note: 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
People
Population: 34,707,817
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into
account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS;
this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant
mortality and death rates, lower population and growth
rates, and changes in the distribution of population by
age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2006
est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 42.6% (male 7,454,765/female 7,322,130)
15-64 years: 55.1% (male 9,631,488/female 9,508,068)
65 years and over: 2.3% (male 359,354/female 432,012)
(2006 est.)
Median age: total: 18.2 years
male: 18.1 years
female: 18.3 years (2006 est.)
Population 2.57% (2006 est.)
growth rate:
Birth rate: 39.72 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death rate: 14.02 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Net migration 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population
rate: note: according to the UNHCR, by the end of 2005 Kenya
was host to 233,778 refugees from neighboring
countries, including Somalia 153,627, Sudan 67,556,
Ethiopia 12,595 (2006 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.83 male(s)/female
total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
Infant total: 59.26 deaths/1,000 live births
mortality male: 61.92 deaths/1,000 live births
rate: female: 56.54 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Life total population: 48.93 years
expectancy at male: 49.78 years
birth: female: 48.07 years (2006 est.)
Total 4.91 children born/woman (2006 est.)
fertility
rate:
HIV/AIDS - 6.7% (2003 est.)
adult
prevalence
rate:
HIV/AIDS - 1.2 million (2003 est.)
people living
with HIV/AIDS:
HIV/AIDS - 150,000 (2003 est.)
deaths:
Major degree of risk: very high
infectious food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal
diseases: diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne disease: malaria is a high risk in some
locations
water contact disease: schistosomiasis (2005)
Nationality: noun: Kenyan(s)
adjective: Kenyan
Ethnic groups: Kikuyu 22%, Luhya 14%, Luo 13%, Kalenjin 12%, Kamba
11%, Kisii 6%, Meru 6%, other African 15%, non-African
(Asian, European, and Arab) 1%
Religions: Protestant 45%, Roman Catholic 33%, indigenous beliefs
10%, Muslim 10%, other 2%
note: a large majority of Kenyans are Christian, but
estimates for the percentage of the population that
adheres to Islam or indigenous beliefs vary widely
Languages: English (official), Kiswahili (official), numerous
indigenous languages
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 85.1%
male: 90.6%
female: 79.7% (2003 est.)
Government
Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Kenya
conventional short form: Kenya
local long form: Republic of Kenya/Jamhuri y Kenya
local short form: Kenya
former: British East Africa
Government republic
type:
Capital: name: Nairobi
geographic coordinates: 1 17 S, 36 49 E
time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC
during Standard Time)
Administrative 7 provinces and 1 area*; Central, Coast, Eastern,
divisions: Nairobi Area*, North Eastern, Nyanza, Rift Valley,
Western
Independence: 12 December 1963 (from UK)
National Independence Day, 12 December (1963)
holiday:
Constitution: 12 December 1963; amended as a republic 1964; reissued
with amendments 1979, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1992,
1997, 2001
Legal system: based on Kenyan statutory law, Kenyan and English
common law, tribal law, and Islamic law; judicial
review in High Court; accepts compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction, with reservations; constitutional
amendment of 1982 making Kenya a de jure one-party
state repealed in 1991
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive chief of state: President Mwai KIBAKI (since 30
branch: December 2002); Vice President Moody AWORI (since 25
September 2003); note - the president is both the chief
of state and head of government
head of government: President Mwai KIBAKI (since 30
December 2002); Vice President Moody AWORI (since 25
September 2003); note - the president is both the chief
of state and head of government
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president
elections: president elected by popular vote for a
five-year term (eligible for a second term); in
addition to receiving the largest number of votes in
absolute terms, the presidential candidate must also
win 25% or more of the vote in at least five of Kenya's
seven provinces and one area to avoid a runoff;
election last held 27 December 2002 (next to be held
December 2007); vice president appointed by the
president
election results: President Mwai KIBAKI elected;
percent of vote - Mwai KIBAKI 63%, Uhuru KENYATTA 30%
Legislative unicameral National Assembly or Bunge (224 seats; 210
branch: members elected by popular vote to serve five-year
terms, 12 so-called "nominated" members who are
appointed by the president but selected by the parties
in proportion to their parliamentary vote totals, 2
ex-officio members)
elections: last held 27 December 2002 (next to be held
by early 2007)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats
by party - NARC 125, KANU 64, FORD-P 14, other 7;
ex-officio 2; seats appointed by the president - NARC
7, KANU 4, FORD-P 1
Judicial Court of Appeal (chief justice is appointed by the
branch: president); High Court
Political Forum for the Restoration of Democracy-People or
parties and FORD-People [Kimaniwa NYOIKE, chairman]; Kenya African
leaders: National Union or KANU [Uhuru KENYATTA]; National
Rainbow Coalition or NARC [Mwai KIBAKI] (the governing
party)
Political human rights groups; labor unions; Muslim
pressure organizations; National Convention Executive Council or
groups and NCEC, a proreform coalition of political parties and
leaders: nongovernment organizations [Kivutha KIBWANA];
Protestant National Council of Churches of Kenya or
NCCK [Mutava MUSYIMI]; Roman Catholic and other
Christian churches; Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims or
SUPKEM [Shaykh Abdul Gafur al-BUSAIDY]
International ACP, AfDB, AU, C, COMESA, EADB, FAO, G-15, G-77, IAEA,
organization IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS,
participation: IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU,
MIGA, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM, ONUB, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNOCI, UPU,
WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO
Diplomatic chief of mission: Ambassador Leonard NGAITHE
representation chancery: 2249 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
in the US: telephone: [1] (202) 387-6101
FAX: [1] (202) 462-3829
consulate(s) general: Los Angeles
Diplomatic chief of mission: Ambassador William M. BELLAMY
representation embassy: US Embassy, United Nations Ave., Gigiri; P. O.
from the US: Box 606 Village Market Nairobi
mailing address: Box 21A, Unit 64100, APO AE 09831
telephone: [254] (20) 537-800
FAX: [254] (20) 537-810
Flag three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and
description: green; the red band is edged in white; a large
warrior's shield covering crossed spears is
superimposed at the center
Economy
Economy - The regional hub for trade and finance in East Africa,
overview: Kenya has been hampered by corruption and by reliance
upon several primary goods whose prices have remained
low. In 1997, the IMF suspended Kenya's Enhanced
Structural Adjustment Program due to the government's
failure to maintain reforms and curb corruption. A
severe drought from 1999 to 2000 compounded Kenya's
problems, causing water and energy rationing and
reducing agricultural output. As a result, GDP
contracted by 0.2% in 2000. The IMF, which had resumed
loans in 2000 to help Kenya through the drought, again
halted lending in 2001 when the government failed to
institute several anticorruption measures. Despite the
return of strong rains in 2001, weak commodity prices,
endemic corruption, and low investment limited Kenya's
economic growth to 1.2%. Growth lagged at 1.1% in 2002
because of erratic rains, low investor confidence,
meager donor support, and political infighting up to
the elections. In the key December 2002 elections,
Daniel Arap MOI's 24-year-old reign ended, and a new
opposition government took on the formidable economic
problems facing the nation. In 2003, progress was made
in rooting out corruption and encouraging donor
support. GDP grew more than 5% in 2005.
GDP $37.89 billion (2005 est.)
(purchasing
power parity):
GDP (official $16.11 billion (2005 est.)
exchange
rate):
GDP - real 5.8% (2005 est.)
growth rate:
GDP - per $1,100 (2005 est.)
capita (PPP):
GDP - agriculture: 16.3%
composition by industry: 18.8%
sector: services: 65.1% (2004 est.)
Labor force: 11.85 million (2005 est.)
Labor force - agriculture: 75%
by occupation: industry and services: 25% (2003 est.)
Unemployment 40% (2001 est.)
rate:
Population 50% (2000 est.)
below poverty
line:
Household lowest 10%: 2%
income or highest 10%: 37.2% (2000)
consumption by
percentage
share:
Distribution 44.5 (1997)
of family
income - Gini
index:
Inflation rate 10.3% (2005 est.)
(consumer
prices):
Investment 17% of GDP (2005 est.)
(gross fixed):
Budget: revenues: $3.715 billion
expenditures: $3.88 billion; including capital
expenditures of $NA (2005 est.)
Public debt: 50.2% of GDP (2005 est.)
Agriculture - tea, coffee, corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruit, vegetables;
products: dairy products, beef, pork, poultry, eggs
Industries: small-scale consumer goods (plastic, furniture,
batteries, textiles, soap, cigarettes, flour),
agricultural products, oil refining; aluminum, steel,
lead; cement, commercial ship repair, tourism
Industrial 4.6% (2005 est.)
production
growth rate:
Electricity - 4.342 billion kWh (2003)
production:
Electricity - fossil fuel: 17.7%
production by hydro: 71%
source: nuclear: 0%
other: 11.3% (2001)
Electricity - 4.238 billion kWh (2003)
consumption:
Electricity - 0 kWh (2003)
exports:
Electricity - 200 million kWh (2003)
imports:
Oil - 0 bbl/day (2003 est.)
production:
Oil - 52,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)
consumption:
Oil - exports: NA bbl/day
Oil - imports: NA bbl/day
Natural gas - 0 cu m (2003 est.)
production:
Natural gas - 0 cu m (2003 est.)
consumption:
Current $-1.543 billion (2005 est.)
account
balance:
Exports: $3.173 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Exports - tea, horticultural products, coffee, petroleum
commodities: products, fish, cement
Exports - Uganda 13.9%, UK 10.5%, US 9.5%, Netherlands 8.2%,
partners: Egypt 5.1%, Tanzania 4.7%, Pakistan 4.5% (2005)
Imports: $5.126 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Imports - machinery and transportation equipment, petroleum
commodities: products, motor vehicles, iron and steel, resins and
plastics
Imports - UAE 13.6%, Saudi Arabia 9.9%, US 9.8%, India 8.3%,
partners: South Africa 7.9%, China 7.1%, UK 5.4% (2005)
Reserves of $1.799 billion (2005 est.)
foreign
exchange and
gold:
Debt - $7.391 billion (2005 est.)
external:
Economic aid - $453 million (1997)
recipient:
Currency Kenyan shilling (KES)
(code):
Currency code: KES
Exchange Kenyan shillings per US dollar - 75.554 (2005), 79.174
rates: (2004), 75.936 (2003), 78.749 (2002), 78.563 (2001)
Fiscal year: 1 July - 30 June
Communications
Telephones - 281,800 (2005)
main lines in
use:
Telephones - 4.612 million (2005)
mobile
cellular:
Telephone general assessment: unreliable; little attempt to
system: modernize except for service to business
domestic: trunks are primarily microwave radio relay;
business data commonly transferred by a very small
aperture terminal (VSAT) system
international: country code - 254; satellite earth
stations - 4 Intelsat
Radio AM 24, FM 18, shortwave 6 (2001)
broadcast
stations:
Radios: 3.07 million (1997)
Television 8 (2002)
broadcast
stations:
Televisions: 730,000 (1997)
Internet .ke
country code:
Internet 13,274 (2006)
hosts:
Internet 65 (2001)
Service
Providers
(ISPs):
Internet 1,054,900 (2005)
users:
Transportation
Airports: 225 (2006)
Airports - total: 15
with paved over 3,047 m: 4
runways: 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 4
914 to 1,523 m: 5
under 914 m: 1 (2006)
Airports - total: 210
with unpaved 1,524 to 2,437 m: 11
runways: 914 to 1,523 m: 115
under 914 m: 84 (2006)
Pipelines: refined products 894 km (2006)
Railways: total: 2,778 km
narrow gauge: 2,778 km 1.000-m gauge (2005)
Roadways: total: 63,000 km (interurban roads)
paved: 7,623 km
unpaved: 55,377 km
note: there also are 100,000 km of rural roads and
14,500 km of urban roads for a national total of
177,500 km (2004)
Waterways: part of Lake Victoria system is within boundaries of
Kenya (2003)
Merchant total: 3 ships (1000 GRT or over) 6,049 GRT/7,082 DWT
marine: by type: passenger/cargo 2, petroleum tanker 1
registered in other countries: 6 (Bahamas 1, Comoros 1,
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 2, Tuvalu 1, unknown
1) (2006)
Ports and Mombasa
terminals:
Military
Military Kenyan Army, Kenyan Navy, Kenyan Air Force (2006)
branches:
Military 18 years of age (est.) (2004)
service age
and
obligation:
Manpower males age 18-49: 7,303,153
available for females age 18-49: 7,083,726 (2005 est.)
military
service:
Manpower fit males age 18-49: 3,963,532
for military females age 18-49: 3,471,926 (2005 est.)
service:
Military $280.5 million (2005 est.)
expenditures -
dollar figure:
Military 1.6% (2005 est.)
expenditures -
percent of
GDP:
Transnational
Issues
Disputes - Kenya served as an important mediator in brokering
international: Sudan's north-south separation in February 2005; Kenya
provides shelter to approximately a quarter of a
million refugees including Ugandans who flee across the
border periodically to seek protection from Lord's
Resistance Army (LRA) rebels; the Kenya-Somalia border
is open to pastoralists and is susceptible to
cross-border clan insurgencies; Kenya's administrative
limits extend beyond the treaty border into the Sudan,
creating the Ilemi Triangle
Refugees and refugees (country of origin): 153,627 (Somalia) 12,595
internally (Ethiopia) 67,556 (Sudan)
displaced IDPs: 360,000 (KANU attacks on opposition tribal groups
persons: in 1990s) (2005)
Trafficking in current situation: Kenya is a source, transit, and
persons: destination country for men, women, and children
trafficked for forced labor and sexual exploitation;
children are trafficked within the country for domestic
servitude, street vending, agricultural labor, and
sexual exploitation; men, women, and girls are
trafficked to the Middle East, other African nations,
Western Europe, and North America for domestic
servitude, enslavement in massage parlors and brothels,
and manual labor; Chinese women trafficked for sexual
exploitation reportedly transit Nairobi and
Bangladeshis may transit Kenya for forced labor in
other countries
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Kenya is placed on the
Tier 2 Watch List due to a lack of evidence of
increasing efforts to combat severe forms of
trafficking
Illicit drugs: widespread harvesting of small plots of marijuana;
transit country for South Asian heroin destined for
Europe and North America; Indian methaqualone also
transits on way to South Africa; significant potential
for money-laundering activity given the country's
status as a regional financial center; massive
corruption, and relatively high levels of
narcotics-associated activities