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 of
Kenya
Location:
Eastern Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean, between
Somalia
and
Tanzania
Coordinates:
1 00 N, 38 00 E
Map references:
Africa
Area:
total: 582,650 sq km water: 13,400 sq km land: 569,250 sq km
Area comparative:
slightly more than twice the size of Nevada
Land boundaries:
total: 3,477 km border countries: Ethiopia 861 km, Somalia 682 km, Sudan 232 km,
Tanzania 769 km, Uganda 933 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 extremes:
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: Mount
Kenya
5,199 m
Natural resources:
gold, limestone, soda ash, salt, rubies, fluorspar,
garnets, wildlife, hydropower
Natural hazards:
recurring drought; flooding during rainy seasons
Environment current issues:
water pollution from urban and industrial wastes;
degradation of water quality from increased use of pesticides and
fertilizers; water hyacinth infestation in Lake Victoria; deforestation;
soil erosion; desertification; poaching
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
Population of
Kenya
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)
Median age:
18.2 years
Growth rate:
2.57%
Infant mortality:
59.26 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 48.93 years male: 49.78 years female: 48.07 years
Fertility rate:
4.91 children born/woman
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 former: British East Africa
Government type:
republic
Capital:
Nairobi
Administrative divisions:
7 provinces and 1 area*; Central, Coast, Eastern,
Nairobi Area*, North Eastern, Nyanza, Rift Valley, Western
Independence:
12 December 1963 (from
UK
)
National holiday:
Independence Day, 12 December (1963)
Constitution:
12 December 1963, amended as a republic 1964; reissued
with amendments 1979, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1997, and 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 branch:
chief of state: President Mwai KIBAKI; Vice
President Moody AWORI; 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; vice president appointed by the president.
Legislative branch:
unicameral National Assembly or Bunge (224 seats; 210
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)
Judicial branch:
Court of Appeal (chief justice is appointed by the
president); High Court
Political parties and leaders:
Forum for the Restoration of Democracy-People or
FORD-People [Kimaniwa NYOIKE, chairman]; Kenya African National Union or
KANU [Uhuru KENYATTA]; National Rainbow Coalition or NARC [Mwai KIBAKI] -
the governing party
Political pressure groups and leaders:
human rights groups; labor unions; Muslim organizations;
National Convention Executive Council or NCEC, a proreform coalition of
political parties and 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]
Economy
The regional hub for trade and finance in East Africa,
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.
