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Kenya is an East African country. Located to the south
of the so-called Horn of Africa, it is bathed by the
Indian Ocean in the southeast, and borders Ethiopia in
the north, Somalia in the east, Tanzania, in the south,
Uganda in the west, and Sudan, northwest. It covers an
area of 582 650 km2. The main cities are
Nairobi, the capital, with 2 504 400 inhabitants (2004),
Mombasa (777 100 inhab.), Nakuru (256 300 inhab.),
Kisumu (227 100 inhab.) And Machakos (33 800 inhab.).
In the western half of Kenya there are several
high-altitude lakes, the formation of which is related
to the region's tectonic activity.
From the point of view of the relief, the southwest
region stands out, with high plateaus, in which there
are several mountains of volcanic origin, such as Mount
Kenya (with an altitude of 5199 meters). This plateau
extends to other neighboring countries, such as
Tanzania, whose best known volcanic summit is Mount
Quilimanjaro (the highest point in Africa, at 5895
meters), located on the border with Kenya.
Climate
The dominant climate is tropical. On the coast, it has
characteristics of humid tropical, while in the North it
is distinctly dry tropical. The higher regions have a
tropical altitude climate, where temperatures are much
more moderate.
Economy
Kenya is not a mineral-rich country. The basis of the
economy is agriculture, although only 4% of the land is
arable. Tea is the main export product, with the
cultivated area having increased considerably between
1991 and 1995. Although with a much lower production
than tea, coffee appears immediately
afterwards. However, tourism is the main source of
foreign exchange in the country. Several natural parks
were created, whose revenues have been increasing and
being shared with the local population, which, in this
way, collaborates in the maintenance of this
resource. Poaching is one of the problems to be solved
within natural parks whose main tourist attraction
consists of safaris to observe and photograph lions,
leopards, elephants, buffalo, gazelles, crocodiles, wild
dogs and many other species. The country's largest
manufacturing unit is the oil refinery in Mombasa, the
most important port in East Africa. Kenya's main trading
partners are the United Kingdom, Germany, the United
Arab Emirates and Japan.
Environmental indicator: the value of carbon dioxide
emissions, per capita (metric tons, 1999), is
0.3.
Population
The population is 34 707 817 inhabitants (2006), which
corresponds to a population density of 58.06 inhab./km2. The
birth and death rates are respectively 39.72% and
14.02%. Average life expectancy is 48.93 years. The
value of the Human Development Index (HDI) is 0.489 and
the value of the Gender-adjusted Development Index (IDG)
is 0.488 (2001).
There are more than 30 ethnic groups that are
distinguished by language and culture. Tribal tensions
have always threatened to provoke deep divisions within
the country. The most numerous groups are the Kikuyu
(18%), the Luhya (12%), the Luo (11%), the Kalenjin
(10%) and the Kamba (10%). The most representative
religions are Catholicism (27%), Protestantism (19%) and
traditional beliefs (19%). Dialects belonging to various
language groups are spoken, but Swahili and English are
the official languages.
History
This African country is entirely a colonial creation,
first under the control of the British East African
Company and then, from 1895, in the form of a British
protectorate. In 1920, the territory became an English
colony and, in 1963, it became independent following the
action of a nationalist movement that led the first
African armed struggle for independence. |
