Official Name: Known as The Republic of Kenya (locally known as Jamhuri ya Kenya).
Capital city: The capital of Kenya is Nairobi. Nairobi is the largest city of Kenya. Nairobi translates to "the place of cool waters". It was founded in 1899 and became the capital of the British East Africa in 1907. Nairobi, eventually became the capital of a free Kenyan republic in 1963.
Location: Kenya is located in Eastern Africa (on the equator) bordering the Indian Ocean, between Somalia and Tanzania. Situated right along the equator, its coastal region is on the southeast. Ethiopia is to the north, the Sudan is to the northwest and Uganda is directly to the west.
Size: The total land and water area of Kenya is 580,367 sq km. Total land area is 569,140 sq km and the total water area is 11,227 sq km. Placing Kenya as the 55th largest country world wide. Kenya is bigger than Yemen and slightly smaller than Botswana.
Climate: The climate of Kenya is mostly tropical (hot and humid) along the coast, and arid in the interior (dry in the North and Northeast). The country receives a great deal of sunshine all year round while at night and early mornings it will cool down.
Population: Kenya has a gross population of approximately 39,002,772 million people and ranks 34 worldwide. Putting Kenya between Poland and Spain.
Life expectancy at Birth: The total average life expectancy at birth for Kenya is very low at 57.86 years. The life expectancy for males is 57.49 years from birth, while females are at an average of 58.34 years. Kenya is ranked at 188 worldwide for life expectancy putting it between Guinea and Togo.
Prevalence of HIV/AIDS: The prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Kenya is 6.7% putting Kenya very high worldwide at 10th place. Kenya is between the Central African Republic (11th) and Malawi (9th). It is estimated that there are over 1.2 million people living with the HIV/AIDS virus in Kenya.
Major Illnesses: The risk of a major infectious disease in Kenya is very high. Certain food or waterborne diseases including Bacterial and Protozoal Diarrhea, Hepatitis A, and Typhoid Fever are common. Malaria, Rift Valley Fever, Tuberculosis, Yellow Fever, and Schistosomiasis are also prevalent throughout the region.
Ethnic Groups: Kenya boasts a diverse population, with over 40 different tribes with their own language and there own unique culture. The major tribes are; the Kikuyu, the Luyia, Luo, and the most famous the tall Masai who still lead a traditional semi-nomadic lifestyle of cattle-herding along the southern border. There is also a mixture of African and Arab culture called, Swahili, with its own unique language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Indian Ocean coastline from southern Somalia to northern Mozambique (including the Comoros Islands). The major ethnic groups in Kenya are; Kikuyu 22%, Luhya 14%, Luo 13%, Kalenjin 12%, Kamba 11%, Kisii 6%, Meru 6%, other African 15%, non-African (Asian, European, and Arab) 1%.
Languages: Kenya is a multilingual country. Its official languages are; English and Swahili (Kiswahili). There are also over 62 other languages spoken in Kenya. Most are African languages with a minority from the Middle East and Asia.
Religion: Kenya is a majority Christian country. Religions represented in the country are; Protestant at 45% of the population, Roman Catholic at 33% of the population, Islam 10%, and indigenous beliefs at 12%. Christianity was brought to Kenya in the 15th century by the Portuguese followed by Islam from the Middle East and Protestantism (Presbyterian, Baptist, Lutheran and Pentecostal) flourished under the British rule in 1895.
Government: Kenya is a republic, which means the government remains in power in accordance with the wishes of its population. The administrative branch works out of seven provinces and 1 area; Central, Coast, Eastern, Nairobi Area, North Eastern, Nyanza, Rift Valley, and Western.
Head of State: The Head of state in Kenya is The President Mwai Kibaki, Vice President is Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka. The President of Kenya is both the Head of State and Head of government, and of a multi-party system.
Head of Government: The Head of Government in Kenya is President Mwai Kibaki.
Military: The Kenyan Armed Forces consist of: Kenyan Army, Kenyan Navy, Kenyan Air Force. The main mission of the Kenyan military is for the Defence of the country borders. The military enjoys a good reputation and it is regularly deployed in peace keeping missions around the world.
Economy: Kenya is a lower income country, ranked with the 17th poorest economy in the world. Since gaining their independence, the economy of Kenya grew at a rapid pace (1963-1973). However, in 1974, Kenya was faced with a declining economy, internal corruption, severe bad weather conditions causing severe droughts from 1999 to 2000 causing water and energy to be rationed. In 1997 the International Monetary fund (IMF) suspended all lending to Kenya for three years and the World Bank delayed loans pending action by the government on corruption.
GDP: The purchasing power parity of Kenya is US$ 61.83 billion; this ranks Kenya 84th worldwide, putting it slightly above Slovenia and just below Lithuania. Kenya's official growth rate has been at 2.2% ranking Kenya 160th between Antigua and Barbud (2.10%) and Australia (2.21%). Post-election violence in early 2008, coupled with the effects of the global financial crisis on remittance and exports, reduced GDP growth to 2.2% in 2008, down from 7% the previous year.
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